Canadian soldiers in Aldershot - A childs view

I recall the Canadian soldiers who attended the Baptist Church nearby were very good at giving us sweets, which was something we couldn’t get many of during the war.

Once or twice a year, I think on Canadian Independence Day and at Christmas, they threw a party where they’d take groups of school children to. In those days nobody had a car, but they turned up at Church with a lorry and we were all driven down Grosvenor Road to their barracks where they threw a party in the old stable. Two things stick in my mind: it was a Christmas party and there was a fake chimney in the corner with a lot of black dust, followed by Father Christmas with a present for everybody. Secondly, amongst my present one year was an apple. I don’t know why it sticks in my mind but I was presented with a big red apple by these Canadians. Later on I found out they usually gave people oranges for Christmas but I remember big red apples.

We used to have a lot of Canadians in the area ,and they were very big, but as a small child they probably would have been to me. They always wore big boots, as I remember.

One evening that does stick in my mind is one night after the war in Europe was over in 1945. Canadians who wanted to go home but had been delayed in Aldershot, wrecked the town and broke windows. I was just coming out of the cinema and can still remember the police arriving and throwing the soldiers into lorries, back to the barracks where they couldn’t cause any more trouble. The next day my dad took me into town to have a look and the street which was covered in a sheet of glass, top to bottom. Lots of the windows had to stay boarded up for weeks (bearing in mind glass was very difficult to get hold of). I understand that the Canadian government did pay for the damage.

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.