Second World War vet, 100, says ‘It’s always nice when people remember us’
Junior members of Moose Lodge honoured a 100-year-old veteran of the Second World War with a heartfelt gift of thanks on Sunday. Over 40 people, many of them veterans, participated in the third annual Honour of Duty Veterans Brunch, following a bagpiper through the lodge and into a dining room where a slide show played featuring photos of servicemen and servicewomen. “We’re very proud and honoured to do this type of thing for the community,” said Dan Batson, administrator of Moose Lodge, a fraternal organization that does charitable work.
“We think it’s really important that the kids interact with this really worthwhile project. It has to stay alive, and it keeps the kids focused into it.”
Men and women in uniform watched the group of four junior lodge members bring a wreath of paper poppies to the podium. The kids then presented a wrapped gift of thanks to the family of Art Anderson, a 100-year-old Second World War veteran. Unable to attend the ceremony due to an adverse reaction to a flu shot, Anderson sent his son Russ and daughter Darlene in his place. “He said: ‘It’s always nice when people remember us,’ ” Russ said, passing along the message from his father.
Born in Winnipeg, Anderson joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1941 and became a navigator at 22 years of age. During the Battle of Arnhem in 1944, his C-47 Dakota was shot down and crashed behind enemy lines. The crew survived and hid in a tarpcovered hole in a forest.
The Dutch underground kept the four men alive for two months. They became prisoners of war after stumbling upon a German patrol while attempting to flee back to the Allied position.
In January 1945, Anderson and the other prisoners were marched 250 kilometres through the freezing cold to a camp near the Polish border while their captors fled the advancing Soviets.
In April 1945, the Russian Army liberated the prisoners.
Now a dedicated member of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 143, Anderson has led the legion’s annual poppy campaign at the Real Canadian Superstore on Dougall Avenue for many years.
“He loves anything to do with poppies, and anything to do with his fellow veterans,” said Russ. “If can do it, he’ll be out here helping, it’s in his heart.”
Russ questioned whether his father would be healthy enough to participate in the poppy campaign this year, but he said Anderson has been the top Windsor fundraiser for the past 15 years or so. “He always remembers the guys that have never come back,” said Darlene.
“That’s why he sells poppies every year.”