A Disclaimer, of sorts ....
I wish to make it clear that nothing that follows is fiction. Everything that is
contained in this record is true, to the best of my recollection. If I have
offended anyone, or if you think that I have defamed your character,
please believe that such an intention was furthest from my thoughts. I love
all my comrades, and would not seek to do them harm either by word or
by deed.
contained in this record is true, to the best of my recollection. If I have
offended anyone, or if you think that I have defamed your character,
please believe that such an intention was furthest from my thoughts. I love
all my comrades, and would not seek to do them harm either by word or
by deed.
If, perchance, you should read these lines, I beg you, be kind in your
criticism. I am no a writer, and this, apart from a few hastily, and
sometimes ill-advised letters to the editor, is my first attempt at publishing.
Another point I want to make at the outset: I do not plan to dwell on he
inhumanity of our captors or the grievous wrongs that were visited upon us
during our stay in the prison camps. That has been done often enough. I
do not wish to treat our experiences in a frivolous manner, however. That
would be an affront to the memory of all those brave men who left their
bones in a foreign land, and those who survived and are still suffering in
mind and in body.
No, the attitude that brought me through those trials, I firmly believe, was
my ability to search for the bright side of the situation. Sometimes I found
it, sometimes I even found humour. That is the theme that I want to follow
in the simple lines written here.
criticism. I am no a writer, and this, apart from a few hastily, and
sometimes ill-advised letters to the editor, is my first attempt at publishing.
Another point I want to make at the outset: I do not plan to dwell on he
inhumanity of our captors or the grievous wrongs that were visited upon us
during our stay in the prison camps. That has been done often enough. I
do not wish to treat our experiences in a frivolous manner, however. That
would be an affront to the memory of all those brave men who left their
bones in a foreign land, and those who survived and are still suffering in
mind and in body.
No, the attitude that brought me through those trials, I firmly believe, was
my ability to search for the bright side of the situation. Sometimes I found
it, sometimes I even found humour. That is the theme that I want to follow
in the simple lines written here.
The Sound of a
Distant Bugle Calls
Distant Bugle Calls
The sound of a distant bugle floating through the long grass at Quite Viti,
where we were on some sort of manoeuvre, haunts my memory, haunts
my dreams. It is a sound I shall never forget. It seemed to signal a farewell
to my innocence, for soon thereafter my youth was swept away, replaced
by the struggle to survive. For four years all my efforts would be
concentrated on the determination to overcome the brutal conditions
under which I was forced to spend my youth. It would be four long years
until I saw Canada again and returned to a normal life. I cannot
understand why I, at 87 years of age, am in such relatively good health,
and looking forward to the future when so many of my comrades have
gone beyond the veil. I am blessed. How long will it last? That I shall not
dwell on.
where we were on some sort of manoeuvre, haunts my memory, haunts
my dreams. It is a sound I shall never forget. It seemed to signal a farewell
to my innocence, for soon thereafter my youth was swept away, replaced
by the struggle to survive. For four years all my efforts would be
concentrated on the determination to overcome the brutal conditions
under which I was forced to spend my youth. It would be four long years
until I saw Canada again and returned to a normal life. I cannot
understand why I, at 87 years of age, am in such relatively good health,
and looking forward to the future when so many of my comrades have
gone beyond the veil. I am blessed. How long will it last? That I shall not
dwell on.