Legion members surprise 99-year-old Second World War veteran
Gather at Bill Saunders' house to sing him ‘Happy Birthday’
There’s not much that can surprise Second World War Navy veteran Bill Saunders. He turned 99 on Friday. He was caught off guard, however, when members of Branch 1, Royal Canadian Legion in St. John’s showed up in front of his house to sing “Happy Birthday.”
Saunders opened the garage door in his home and stood there in pyjama pants and a sweater to greet his friends. If he’d known they were coming, family members said, he’d have dressed in his legion uniform and pinned his service and legion medals to his chest.
“I never expected this,” he said to the group, nodding to each member.
Saunders is still a member of Branch 1.
“I’ve been 70 years a member of the Royal Canadian Legion,” he said. “On the board of trustees until last year.”
Granddaughter Jenna Fitzpatrick said the visit by legion members made her grandfather's day.
“He was surprised, and I think it's fantastic,” she said. “Normally, we go out for a buffet every year — the whole family — to celebrate his birthday, so not being able to do that this year (due to COVID-19 restrictions) was disappointing, so this was a wonderful surprise.
“The legion is his second family.”
Saunders was 18 when he joined the Navy in 1939. He was a gunner on a ship that took part in the June 6, 1944 D-day invasion force in France. His legs still show the marks of wounds he suffered when a shell exploded near him.
He recalls pulling bodies and body parts out of the waters off Normandy, and being on alert for U-boats and enemy aircraft. He also served on ships protecting convoys crossing the Atlantic, and on ships that sailed to Asia and Australia.
He's seen a lot, heard a lot and sometimes the memories of what he's seen and heard during the war are too much.
“I don't think about it much,” he said. “I want to forget about it.”
Fitzpatrick said Saunders was sergeant-at-arms at the legion for nearly 30 years. He has also visited schools leading up to
Remembrance Day each year. And, if not for COVID-19, he'd still be active.
“That's how a lot of my friends know him, through his visits to my schools during Remembrance Day time,” she said. “He's still involved with the legion. He still goes to the war memorial every Remembrance Day (and) he never misses a year. If it weren't for the COVID-19 restrictions he'd be super involved still. He still can get around on his own, and is healthy.
“He's doing absolutely fantastic.”
After singing to Saunders, one legion member asked him, “What are you going to do when you turn 100?”
“Start over again,” quipped Saunders.
Saunders said his father, William Sr., was a member of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment during the First World War, fighting in the Battle of Somme, and suffered wounds during that war. His father joined up again when the Second World War broke out, serving on the homefront.
“My father died when he was 56,” Saunders said. “He died from infection from his war wounds, the shrapnel still inside his body.”
Saunders said he keeps his mind active by reading.
Currently, he said, he's reading a book about the Royal Naval Reserves in the First World War, “All the Newfoundlanders.”
“A lot of what they went through was the same as we did, but we had different armaments and things,” he said.
Saunders said one thing he has learned is you have to deal with whatever comes in your path.
Like the current pandemic. “You put up with it now whatever comes,” he said. “There was a new case of Covid-19 (Friday), wasn't there?”