Veterans remember val our
Second World War veterans take part in Remembrance Day event at St. Joseph’ s at Fleming home
Don Phillips seemed to have luck at his side during the Second World War.
After being shot in the arm in Cannes, Phillips was sent back to England to get patched up before returning to the frontlines.
He was later the victim of a bombing.
“A bomb went off, picked me up and threw me to the ground,” said Phillips.
That injury left with him with a metal plate in his leg.
Phillips ,92, laid the wreath during the annual Remembrance Day ceremony Thursday at St. Joseph’ s at Fleming long-term-care home on Brealey Drive.
The father of two has been a resident of the home for about two years. He said in a wheelchair at the back of the room, dressed in uniform, with his son and daughter-in-law by his side.
Phillips was one of 16 veterans residing at St. Joe’s to attend the ceremony. The home lost five veterans earlier this year.
A cadet growing up, Phillips lied about his age to enlist in the army – he was 17 at the time. He was stationed in Holland for about a year and was in the second wave of troops on Juno Beach on D-Day.
But he doesn’t really talk about those days anymore. His son Go rd Phillips said that many years ago his dad told him about having to walk over dead bodies on Juno Beach. In recent years, however, Don has kept war stories to himself.
Fellow veteran and St. Joe’ s resident Betty Taylor sat front row for the service.
The 97-year-old has lived at the home for just over a year.
Taylor joined the air force in England when she was 19, a year after the war broke out.
She said it was the “excitement” of it all that drew her in.
The mother of four served as a dispatcher and fabric worker repairing planes.
For part of her service, she was stationed in Scotland. That’s where she met her husband, who was also in the air force.
Remembrance Day is a day of reflection for Taylor.
“It makes me think of people I used to know, it’s sad.”
The city’s Remembrance Day service is happening on Nov. 11 at the Cenotaph in Confederation Square, starting at 10 a.m. with a parade followed by a service at 10:45 a.m.
The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 52 in Peterborough has also begun its annual poppy drive. Veterans and cadets will be at several stores in the city over the weekend selling poppies to help fund programs for veterans.