WW II Veteran Russell Kaye reflects
on the tragedy of war
Margaret Patricia Eaton
“I turned 18 on the ninth of
February in 1942 and I joined up
on the eleventh,” says Russell
Kaye, recalling that “life was dull”
on the River Glade farm, “and war
seemed like a chance for adventure.
Most of the young fellows joined
up and away we went.”
We’re sitting in Kaye’s Riverview
apartment as he recalls the invasion
of Normandy on June 6, 1944
and his recent return to the 10 km
stretch, code-named Juno Beach,
for the first time in 75 years.
First came training in Fredericton
and Petawawa, a brief stint in
Debert, more training in England
at Camp Borden where he was
assigned as a gunner to the 12th
Field Artillery, “and the next thing
I know we’re on a boat crossing
the English Channel. We’d gone
out on dry runs, but this time when
we got part way out, the officer in
charge opened the papers and said
‘this is the real thing.
We’re going.’”
“And the next thing we were on
the beach in France. We were
on landing craft tanks, with our
artillery guns mounted on a tank
Russell Kaye joined the Canadian Army
on February 11, 1942, two days after
his 18th birthday.
PHOTO: Submitted by son Chris Kaye
chassis and we had to drive them
off. We got all 24 guns lined up
while the Germans were shooting at
us and we were shooting back from
the boats.”
“Anyone looking at it would say
it was chaos, but actually it was
organized chaos and the plan
worked. We were hoping it
would, but we didn’t know what
would happen. You just do the
best you can. I was one of the
lucky ones. If I had put one foot
to the right or one to the left, I
might not be sitting here
talking to you.”
“You act on adrenaline and
training. Those are the two
motivating factors. I can hardly
remember anything about
the landing. I have very little
memory other than the fact that
I did it. I guess I have a knack of
rubbing things out of my mind. I
never dwelt on it too much after.”
“We made our way inland. We
advanced a fairly good distance
that first day and then we ran
into resistance and everything
wasn’t roses, I can tell you. But
slowly and surely the Allied forces
kept gaining ground — British on
the left, Americans on the right and
there were French forces too. Our
aim was to get to Caen, but it took
much longer than expected.”
He pauses as he unfolds a map,
showing the departure point in
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PrimeTime FALL/AUTOMNE 2019