As the years go on many of the brave men and women who fought and died for our freedom in World War II are becoming more scarce, leaving us to dig in and make an effort to recognize those sacrifices.
Often, even when they are with us, they are hesitant to share those memories and experiences for a myriad of reasons.
Robbie Britton’s father, Robert Britton, has a long military history and was never one to talk about it much. She has taken it upon herself to request his service records and learn more about the years he spent overseas and then back home.
“All he ever said was ‘it all wasn’t that bad,’” said Robbie. “There’s a lot of history buried in these cemeteries.”
Robbie said she always wanted to learn more about her father’s service and she requested the documentation from Ottawa, she said it took about a year and a half to get it.
Robert Thomas Britton enlisted in the Military in June of 1940, at about the age of 22. He was from Snowflake, Manitoba and joined with the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders out of Winnipeg.
In the documentation, his reason for joining was “Patriotic.”
According to his military records, he spent some time in Lethbridge, Winnipeg, and Shilo, Manitoba before he sailed from Halifax on the SS Monarch of Bermuda in October of 1941. He was fully trained in Infantry in Canada and he was transferred to Ordinance.
It appears, from his records, he spent much of his time overseas in England. He worked for eight months as a carpenter in the Mobile Bath Section of the Medical Corps. In December 1943 he was in France, and then by July 1944, he was in Italy.
While in Italy, the records are vague but he was a casualty. He suffered burns to his back and arms.
His service record showed 66 months of total services.
The records show an application for permission to marry Iris Lora Spink. She was born in London and was working in the Highgate Hospital in London. There was a note on his file that she would not marry until she finished her nurse’s training, and he did not wish to stay in England. He was granted permission to marry in September of 1945.
He returned to Canada in November of 1945 and was discharged in December. He was awarded the 1939-1945 Star, the Italy Star, the France –Germany Star the Defence Medal, CVSM and Clasp, and the 1939-1945 War Medal.
There is documentation he planned to apply to the Veteran’s Land Act (VLA) to secure land for farming, and even had a quarter section on the mind in Snowflake, Manitoba that adjoined land of his father and brother. While it does not show whether he was able to secure land under the VLA, he did take up residence in Winnipeg where he worked for Winnipeg Central Heating.
In 1950, he ventured back to the military. His wife passed away, and he married Edith Patricia.
Robbie was born in Edmonton.
“My dad was part of the Royal Canadian Ordinance Corps after the military, so we moved around because of that,” said Robbie.
He stayed with the military until at least 1965.
“When the prison opened here in Drumheller, they hired mostly military personnel so a lot of us moved here,” she said.
She undertook the exercise of requesting the documents to learn more about her father.
“Now that I am a young senior, I don’t have stories for my kids, so I have those documents and have them copied, and I am going to give them each a copy and try to find some information so we have some sort of history,” she said. “It has helped me understand.”
