LCdr Amber Comisso is a member of Canada’s present day forces, serving her nation in the navy. She visited Crestwood in April 2019, at which time she shared her experiences with Mr. Birrell’s Geography 9 class. She is originally from the GTA, and the military was not in her sights until the time for university […]
Clayton Hayes was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and he grew up in the Prairies, first in Saskatchewan and later in Brandon, Manitoba. The Depression was a difficult time for the family; his father’s business went bankrupt, and the family moved to improve their prospects. When the war came, Clayton’s older brother joined the navy, […]
Garfield Harris was born in Newfoundland in 1923, at a time when Newfoundland was still a British colony. But just as the Great War did so much damage to a generation of young Newfoundlanders, it also hurt Garfield’s father, who’d run a prosperous fishing fleet before the war. He made the decision to head west […]
Suzie Stohn was born in Toronto, growing up in the “Village”, not too far from Russell Hill Road in the city’s north end. Her family was well off, fortunately insulated from the effects of the Depression. Suzie lived a good life, enjoying school at BSS and in a boarding school in Quebec’s Eastern Townships. From […]
Kien Le spent his early life in Vietnam, growing up as the American phase of the war was coming to an end. He recalls that he was not too impacted by the war in the early years, but since his father was in the navy, he and his family were on the move as the […]
Andy Barber is from Montreal, where he grew up during World War Two. Not one for school, he left to find employment in the CN rail yards of Point St-Charles, where he found work as a carman’s apprentice. But the lure of the navy proved strong, and Andy joined up just as the Korean War […]
Mike Vencel served in the Canadian Navy during the Cold War era. He joined up in the 1950s, fresh out of high school in southern Ontario, with the goal of pursuing a trade. Mike set his sights on becoming an electrician’s mate, and he served in this capacity on several ships, notably the HMCS Assiniboine […]
Jim Warford was in the Canadian army during World War Two. Born in England in 1922, Jim grew up in Hamilton, Ontario, against the backdrop of the Great Depression, attending school and very active in sports. Jim and a friend joined the militia before the war, knowing that war was on the way. When his […]
Paul Murphy served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. Paul served aboard several ships, notably the Cobalt and the Wallaceburg, and he was involved in the RCN’s convoy system in the western Atlantic, working the triangle between New York City and Newfoundland. Paul’s ships would escort convoys in that zone, both […]
Ron Kirk served in the Canadian Forces in the post-WW2 period, when Canada’s peacekeeping reputation was being established. Ron served in the navy, and he spent time in Korea during that nation’s 1950-53 war. Ron and his shipmates patrolled the Korean west coast, doing their part to counter North Korea’s efforts to export communism. He […]
L Cdr Bill Sanson is a member of the present-day Canadian Forces, serving in the Canadian Navy, where he helps to respond to the many crises where intervention is necessary. As L Cdr Sanson notes, Canada is a maritime nation, and the nature of the interconnected maritime world makes the Canadian Navy very relevant, from […]
The Crestwood Oral History Project is hard at work this month. World War Two veterans and Holocaust survivors have been visiting with the CHC2D students, helping them to complete their oral history interviews. Earlier this week Mr. Masters and Mr. Hawkins took 21 students to Sunnybrook, where 5 veterans were interviewed. They included army, navy […]
Carl Boggild was born November 3, 1922; he originally came from Denmark, but his parents moved to Canada when he was only one year old, so his real formative experiences took place in Nova Scotia, where his parents settled. Carl grew up in the southern part of the province, where he and his family lived […]
George Kerr hails from Glasgow, Scotland. He grew up in a working class neighbourhood between the war, when he remembers a life playing football and enjoying his friendships against the backdrop of the Great Depression. When the war came, George chose the Royal Navy, where he was trained as an engineer and became an officer. […]
Richard Ratcliffe was born on the 16th of June 1928, in Haileybury, Ontario. After his father died in 1938 his family moved to St.Catharines, Ontario. He joined the Navy in 1945 when he was 17 years old. He went to Naval College in Royal Rhodes in BC and graduated as a midshipman. He went to […]
“Digger” Gorman served in the Canadian Navy during the Second World War. Originally from New Brunswick, the future geology student – that’s where the name “Digger” came from – Digger was deep in his studies when the war approached. As a science/engineering student, Digger’s enlistment was originally deferred, but like many in his generation, he […]
Janet Watt was one of so many women who entered the armed forces during the Second World War. Janet chose to go in the navy, and she became one of the WRENs. As Janet entered the services at the end of the war, her time in the military was limited, though her experiences are very […]
Gord Casey was born July 20, 1923 in Toronto, Ontario. While working in many different capacities during his life such as a cab owner, bus driver, transport truck driver, scuba diver and bar manager at O’Malley’s Tavern, Casey is best known as a Navy man. In 1941, Gordon Casey proudly joined the Canadian War effort […]
Craig Kingsley is an active member of the Canadian Forces. He served aboard the HMCS Athabaskan in a 2000 action called Operation Megaphone, where crew from the Canadian destroyer boarded the Katie, a freighter returning Canadian military supplies to Canada after the Kosovo mission. Craig was a member of the boarding party, and he helped […]
Ray Cameron is a veteran of the Merchant Navy. When the war came he was living in Lindsay, Ontario, where he had been on the farm and had worked on the Great Lakes as a seaman. When Norway was pulled into the war, the Norwegian merchant marine made the decision to recruit in Canada, and […]
Yitzchak Kalev was born in Jerusalem, Palestine. He has lived there for all his life. During WW2 he served in the Royal Navy on a minesweeper. He remembers seeing the German paratroopers land in Crete and the bombers on D-Day. He also fought in the IDF for many years in the War for Independence. He […]
Israel Glassman was born in Montreal, Quebec on April 22nd, 1924, six months after his mother landed in Canada. He was not born in a very good period: the Great Depression hit Canada in 1929 and 1930. During that time, Mr. Glassman played street hockey and baseball with his friends for fun. He also did many […]
The Crestwood Oral History Project is in the midst of its busy season! The CHCs are completing their oral history interviews – all 80+ of them. In the last week, we have had 2 in class visitors, and done one in home visit. Students from Mr. Masters’ class went to visit Kelman Cohen in his […]
COMING SOON and JUST IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAYS! A new Parent Association initiative is arriving soon! Navy and white plaid pajama pants are currently at the printers and will be available for purchase within the next 1-2 weeks. These comfy pants are available in Youth L, Adult S, M, L & XL sizes, […]
Charles Butts was born in Woburn, Massachusetts in 1926. He spent his early years on the outskirts of Boston, growing up against the backdrop of the Great Depression. After graduating from high school, Charles attended Middlebury College, as he was given an educational deferment from the draft. He did end up in the U.S. Navy, but […]
Roy Earle was born in 1924 in Montclair, New Jersey, and he grew nearby in the city of Bloomfield, where he graduated from high school in 1942. Knowing he would soon be drafted, he made the decision to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps in late 1942, eleven months after the U.S. joined the conflict. […]
LCdr LeFresne enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces as a MARS (Maritime Surface-Subsurface) Officer in June 1997. After 4 Years at the Royal Military College (RMC), he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Military and Strategic Studies and was posted to Victoria, BC to complete bridge officer training. Upon completion of this training, LCdr LeFresne […]
Jack Reid was born in Toronto, and joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1943. Working as a depth charge operator on the HMCS Longueil, Mr. Reid participated in numerous convoys of military and supply ships making the treacherous journey across the north Atlantic. After the end of the war (and one last convoys across the […]
Dennis and Raybell Gould are the grandparents of Crestwood student Sarah Gould. Dennis and Raybell grew up in wartime England, where they experienced the bombings, the rationing, and the general anxiety of life in England at war. Dennis enlisted in the Royal Navy near the end of the war, and he served aboard the HMS […]
We met Les Fontaine at the Sunnybrook Veterans’ Wing in the fall of 2012, when he was interviewed by grade 11 students Sarah Mainproze, Steph Erdman, and Kristen Stribopoulos. Les served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War, and he shared with the girls his memories of the Great Depression, as well […]