Bob Chartre grew up in prewar Quebec, one son in a very large family. He remembers well the difficulties of the Great Depression, and even recalls that his father was happy when he and two of his brothers were called up for the war as that meant fewer mouths to feed! When Bob went into […]
Peter Castellan was born in Toronto in 1918, making him one of the centenarians that we have interviewed for the Crestwood Oral History Project. Peter grew up in the east end of Toronto, in the Gerrard/Broadview neighbourhood, where he remembers days spent at the YMCA and the local firehall, as well as the many local […]
Ardwell Eyres served in the Canadian Army during the Second World War. Born in Cameron, Ontario, Ardwell grew up against the backdrop of the Great Depression. His father was a farmer, so Ardwell remembered that they always had food to eat, but he was aware of the economic circumstance that befell others. Ardwell did go […]
Jim McPhee served in the RCAF during the Second World War. Jim grew up in northern Ontario, not too far from the Sault; Jim came from a large family, and lived not too far from Bruce Mines . Jim remembers going to a one-room schoolhouse in his early years, as well as work on the […]
Gord Allen served in the Canadian Army during the Second World War. He was born October 2, 2022 and grew up in prewar Toronto, where he remembers the tough times of the Great Depression; Gord recalls his father being out of work, and he remembers that he and his friends used to bring food to […]
Harry Preston served in the Canadian army during World War Two. He grew up in western Canada, in and around Winnipeg, where Harry and his family experienced the realities of the Depression. Harry kept himself busy though, and with friends, he got involved in the militia and the Sea Cadets, where he was able to […]
Richard Field served in Canada’s 2nd Division during World War Two. He grew up in Toronto during the Depression years, where he was able to finish school and join the prewar militia and sea cadets, two organizations that would teach him many valuable lessons in the upcoming war years. When Richard moved into the regular […]
Dr. Stephen O’Rourke is the grandfather of Crestwood student Ella Lee-O’Rourke. Dr. O’Rourke originally hails from Ireland, where he grew up on a farm during the wartime years. Blessed with academic ability, his parents made sure he attended school, and Dr. O’Rourke’s education in both public and high school came courtesy of the Christian Brothers. […]
Herb Pike is a Canadian veteran of the Second World War, and a proud member of the 48th Highlanders. Born February 12, 1924, Herb grew up in prewar Toronto, where he remembers living a relatively good life, even against the backdrop of the Great Depression. When in Toronto, Herb attended Bowmore Road Public School, and […]
Russell Smith was born in 1919 in Toronto, and he grew up in Toronto during the interwar years. Russell remembers well the difficulties of those Great Depression years, especially as he grew up in a family of eleven children, and his single mother needed all the help she could get. The third eldest, Russell left […]
Meng Fan was born in 1926 in Sumatra, Dutch East Indies, which now is Indonesia. Later he moved to Hong Kong. When war came, Hong Kong had to support in war efforts. However, Hong Kong was lacking resources such as food. Meng Fan volunteered to join the army. He started with training and was barely […]
Lou Hoffer was born in the northern province of Bukovina, Romania in a small town called Vijnitz. His exact date of birth is uncertain; however, it was around 1927. In 1939, the Russians and the Germans had invaded Poland making the neighbours to the north no longer under Polish rule but Russian. A year later […]
Gord Cameron was born September 4, 1921 in Toronto, Ontario. Gord lived in the west end with his dad, mom, and sister. Gord went to the University of Toronto school. When the war came, his medical school and internship were accelerated, as the army wanted him in their service. By the time he was ready, […]
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 […]
Chang Shiying grew up in the Chinese city of Nanjing, where his family held a prominent position in the community. Born in the early 1930s, Mr. Chang was a child of 4 when the War of Japanese Aggression reached his city. Unlike so many others, the Chang family had heard the news of the Japanese […]
Larry Bunston was born March 25, 1923 in Saskatoon, but early in his life his father made the decision to take the family to Ontario, hopefully to make a better life for his family. Larry grew up in different parts of Ontario, notably Oshawa and Brantford, where he and his four brothers played sports and […]
Ikeda Koiichi was connected to the Japanese military during the Second World War, serving in a procurement capacity for the overseas army. He was born in the Maijuru region, where he remembers growing up poor. When the opportunity came, he began his time overseas, originally serving in Manchuria, and that is where he spent most […]
Gerry Grossmann was born May 8, 1925 in Dusseldorf, Germany, into a prosperous Jewish family. Gerry remembers his childhood in fond terms, as his parents created a home where he and his brother had so many opportunities. 1933 saw a dramatic change though; with the election of Hitler, things changed for the Grossmanns and for […]
John Rowe was born in 1925 in Toronto, and he grew up in the city’s east end, in the Beach. John shared with us his memories of interwar Toronto, and what it was like growing up against the backdrop of the Great Depression. He remembered it as a time when everyone was the same, not […]
Norm Short served in the Canadian Army during the Second World War. Born in Cornerbrook, Newfoundland, the young Norm moved to Quebec along with his family when they settled in Shawinigan Falls. When the war came, Norm joined up in Montreal, as part of the Essex Scottish Regiment. he completed his basic training and waited […]
Kaneko Eishi served in the Japanese Imperial Army during World War Two. From a working family near Kyoto, he grew up learning the traditions of interwar Japan, and he was imbued with the Shinto faith and an ardent athlete. When the war came, he was identified as a strong math student, so the army prepared […]
Mel Prideaux was born in Regina, Saskatchewan. He grew up during the Great Depression, and had to face many challenges that an average family had to face. He enlisted in the army with a couple friends before they were to go to university , but Mel was encouraged to become a training officer instead of […]
Michael Zarembo is a Lithuanian Jew, one of so many overwhelmed with the terrible events that befell his people and region during the war. 1941 saw the initiation of that horror…Germany initiated Operation Barbarossa, and within days Michael’s family was under the heel of the Nazi regime. Life became increasingly difficult in the ghettos that were […]
Eugene Katz was born in Dyszna, Poland in in 1927. He was one of five children, growing up in a Jewish family not too far from Vilna; he recalls a difficult life, beset by hunger and poverty, but also filled with family and friends. When war came in 1939, Eugene’s family was in eastern Poland, […]
Pham Cong Lien lives outside Hanoi, Vietnam, in a state-sponsored home for the veterans of what the Vietnamese call the “American War”. Mr. Pham turned eighteen and was conscripted by the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) in 1967-68, just as the American involvement was reaching its apex. Forced to leave school and his family behind, he […]
John Boyd was born January 26, 1913 in Alberta. He grew up against the backdrop of the Great Depression, though he said he was lucky to have been sheltered from the toughest times. The harsh conditions did push his politics to the left, and John was attracted to the leftist ideals of the time. After […]
Mary Jarvis grew up in Ontario in the prewar era, in the Markham area just north of Toronto. She grew up in a conservative, church-going family, in what was then a largely rural community, and Mary recalls chafing just a bit against those restrictions; like her friends, she would have loved to enjoy the movies and […]
Ken Allen is a Toronto resident in his 101st year, interviewed in April 2017 by Masters at the McCowan Retirement Residence. Ken had many stories to share about his long life in and around Toronto. Ken was born in the then village of Todmorden, in today’s Broadview-Danforth neighbourhood. He remembers a very different Toronto, one […]
Jack Lewis was born in Montreal in 1925, the youngest in a family where both parents were war veterans. His father was a doctor, and his mother was a nurse, and they’d met in the battlefield hospital near Boulogne. They spent much of the Great War in that one location, and Jack remembers that in […]
Bill Tymchuk was born in Ukraine, when it was under Polish control; he went to school there for 2 years and immigrated to Canada in 1930 (his father had settled down in Canada in 1928). His family was on the farm, and he started school and learned English quickly. Later his family went to Stayner, Ontario and […]