FOCUS - SEPTEMBER 2016 45 FOCUS - NOVEMBER 2017 45 World War soldiers stayed in. The wash basins were out on the veranda. No lights; no hot water. “I was put on draft for Italy, but I sprained my ankle. Dr. Matthew Diamond was my medical doctor. I was there six weeks. “I went to the R. H. L. I. in February. We were in Quonset huts near Horsham, England. After that, we went into tents near Dover. It rained nearly every day. I was there until we left for France on July 1, 1944. It was a smooth crossing. “The first thing we did was dig a slit trench. I dug a lot of them. We moved further up to the front. Our first casualty was Switzer. He lost a leg from shrapnel. When those shells hit the hard road, they sure do spread. It’s hot when it hits you. I helped to bury two dead Germans at Carpiquet Airport. We attacked many places during July. An artillery shell landed five feet from my trench. It made quite a hole. We would sleep there in the daytime when we could. I had to do guard duty all night. My partner couldn’t stay awake. He was too old. We were so dirty, tired and hungry. We were advancing day and night. “Another artillery shell landed three feet in front of my trench. It blew the Bren gun 30 feet over the top of our heads. It cracked one of my ear drums. “Our first big battle was at Verrieres. We had 53 killed there and 100 wounded. We were the only ones to hold our posi- tion. We lost most of our officers and a sergeant took over. We got a medal for bravery. We knocked out two German tanks with the PIAT gun. You had to be within 45 yards of the tank in order for it to reach its target. We were there for 10 days. The shell fire was fierce. We had three brothers in our regiment. Two got killed so they took the other one out. “They took us out of there for the breakout at the Falaise gap. We lined up in three long lines of tanks and vehicles. We were the spearhead. We drove right through the German lines for six miles. The tanks at front had chains on the front to knock out the mines. We, the infantry, rode on half-track vehicles. It was the first ride we had after walking half way across Normandy. My sergeant got killed there. He was a married man. “We got orders to come back to France to take a town called Bergues near Dunkirk. There is also a town called Bray Dunes near there. We are probably con- nected to the Normans. I almost got killed in my namesake town. “Bergues had a stone wall built around the town. We were to blow a hole through the wall. On the way up across a field at 3 a.m., 14 men ahead of me, single file, we all stopped. In a few seconds, bang! I was standing on a mine. It lifted me off the ground and knocked the guy down behind me. I split my heel bone open right through the heavy army boot. The first aid man put my field dressing bandage on it and then they all went on and left me there, out alone in a field at 3 a.m. I crawled back to the road, probably 40 rods. I stopped two soldiers walking on the road. We had a different password every night. That night it was ‘Winter Wind.’ They helped me down the road, one on each side of me, to a farm house. It must have been over half a mile. Then I sat on the Jeep and put my foot out over the hood. The driver made a wrong turn down into a ditch. It was 5 a.m. I finally got a shot of morphine. The next 22 hours I was in an ambulance going to a hospital in Dieppe, our Canadian hospital in tents. That was a great feeling to get to a bed (the first in over six months.) Canadian nurses. White sheets.” That was the end of Stewart Bray’s army career. During the next 13 months he was in and out of hospital, praying he would never have to go to the front line again. And his prayers were answered. By Lynn Campbell, Focus on Scugog Stew seated beneath his banner at the Sunderland Veteran’s Dinner on Saturday September 30th, 2017. 1/3 Page Horizontal Get Your Back 1831 Scugog St., Hwy. 7A, Port Perry 905-982-2087 Simcoe St. Scugog St. John St. High St. Mari-Ann Britt, DD DENTURE CLINIC Your Smile Makeover Specialist • Same Day Repairs & Relines • Teeth Whitening • Implant Retained Dentures • Full/Partial Dentures • Mouth Guards T H ANK Y O U V ETERA N S