Elwood Webb, 89 years old, discusses his time in World War II. He joined the army in 1942 and mentions visiting his family doctor who recommended he think on his decision to join the army, but Elwood felt it was his duty. He then traveled to the Exhibition grounds in Toronto and received his uniform there and stayed for two months. There was a terrible snow storm that year and the new recruits were taken to the corner of Bloor and Yonge to help clear the road. From there he went to Brantford for 8 weeks of basic training, and then to Base Borden for almost two years. From there he took the train from Barrie Station and traveled to Halifax, then took the third largest ship (which carried 18 000 soldiers) to Scotland. The ship was too big to come far into the harbour so it remained largely in the ocean while smaller watercraft unloaded the troops. From there he traveled to Aldershot, England for one week, and then transferred again across England until D-Day. He then went to Normandy approximately 1.5 months after D-Day but the weather was so bad that he ended up staying on the Isle of Wight for three days before landing in Normandy. It took all day for all 810 men of the regiment to arrive. They stayed on the beach for 24 hours and then walked further inland (32 miles) - they walked in three groups so that if a bomb hit, only one third of the regiment would be lost. They traveled into No Man's Land and recounts the German troops opening fire there before they retreated. At one point during their movement through France, he and three other soldiers took 1200 prisoners in one day. They traveled along the Seine River, which was full of dead horses and cattle, but they eventually crossed the Seine and went up hill 88 where he was wounded in the arm. He was taken by stretcher to the river where the boat operator was Don Beatty from Innisfil. It took 5 days from when he was wounded to be taken to a tent hospital on Normandy beach where he received shots of penicillin every 3 hours. The next soldier to come in was Ernie Aikens off the 12th Line, who was killed approximately 13 days before the end of the war. Mr. Webb is featured in a book, Innisfil Veterans: Their Lives and Memories published by the Innisfil Historical Society. Born in 1923, Mr. Elwood Webb passed away on May 22, 2014.
