Robert (Bob) Thomas was born December 18, 1942 in Montreal.  He grew up in the NDG neighbourhood, and his father was a police officer in Westmount.  Bob had many family members connected to the war, and he developed an interest in the Cadets when he attended Westhill High School.  Bob left home when he was just 14, and he left school early too, though his education was far from over.  He lied about his age in order to be able to join the Royal Canadian Service Corps Transport Column when he was just 15, and when he was 18 he joined the full time forces.   He had hoped to continue in the Service Corps, but their complement was full at that time, so Bob opted for the Provost Corps.  At the time he joined the Cold War was in full swing and Bob remembers many of those key events, from Igor Gouzenko to the Cuban Missile Crisis; he also recalls the nuclear-chemical-biological training that came with it, not to mention the social changes of the 1950s.  In the Provost Corps Bob became involved in many aspects of policing, including traffic and accident investigations, rules of evidence, and Military law.  That training followed him to Cyprus when he was deployed there as part of the United Nations contingent.  Bob’s task in Cyprus was to keep the warring Greeks and Turks apart, and to investigate crimes and accidents as needed.  After his time in Cyprus Bob returned to Canada for a time, and then he was deployed to the Sinai, where he worked to keep the peace in the Gaza Strip and Beirut.  Bob had an opportunity there to gain insights into a complicated area of the world, and into the operations of the UN itself.  He returned to Canada after that, but with the 1968 integration of the Canadian Forces underway, he opted for new pathways, going into policing and insurance and Simpsons-Sears.  He also became actively involved in the Legion and as a volunteer in his community.  Bob Thomas was interviewed by Scott Masters at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #551 in Waterdown, Ontario in December 2024.  We thank the Royal Canadian Legion and the Memory Project for their assistance in setting up this interview.