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LLOYD BRAWN HELPED TO KEEP TROOPS SUPPLIED “A thundering clash next to my tent, woke me with a start and I knew the end was here. Lloyd Brawn sat quietly in his Epsom home, staring into the past. His reference was to the end of World War II, which he experi- enced from the inside of an army tent somewhere in France all those many years ago. “They blew up a munitions dump, right next to us. The ground. shook and we knew the war was over,” he recalled. Lloyd Brawn was born in Sedley, Saskatchewan at a time when the Prairies were faced with very tough conditions. Drought and insects added to an already stressed economy but Lloyd chooses to remember the good times. Lloyd has fond memories of his youth growing up in Sedley. “I remember we used to get a few gallons of water and haul them on asmall wagon out to the fields. We would look for gopher holes and pour a little water down them. Our collie (dog) would grab the gopher as it stuck its head out and shake it hard. We used to cut off the tail, put it in a cigar box and walk into town. The general store would pay us a penny for every tail we caught. When we got to ten cents we would buy a large bag of candy,” he smi He was still a youngster when his family moved from Saskatch- ewan to a farm in the Raglan/Columbus area, south of Port Perry. Lloyd enlisted in the Canadian army when he was 18 years old and left the family farm to head for basic infantry training in Corn- wall. From there it was off to Red Deer, Alberta where Lloyd began training to drive large army transports. Like most soldiers at that time, their final Canadian destination was Nova Scotia before being shipped overseas. Lloyd left Debert, NSS. in 1943 en route to Aldershot, England, 50 km south of London. Loyd Brawn “] think they chose the area because it was very remote and if you thought about running away they knew you would never make it,” Lloyd chuckled, as he described his trek to Europe. From the U.K. he was sent to the Netherlands where he drove for the army. “We could see the planes flying overhead and it was quite common to watch them go out in the morning and return at Please turn to page 26 Remembering Women’s Military Roles = the Second World War. The Canadian Women's Amy Corps (CWACS) had 21,600 members. The vomen 's Division, Royal Canadian Air Force (WDs) had 17,400. mem The fe 's Royal Canadian Naval Service (Wrens) had 7,100 members. ‘Women in the services filled many positions, including mechanics, parachute riggers, wireless operators, clerks, and photographers. TF TAYLOR FORDER ams INSURANCE BROKERS LTD. 169 North Street, Port Perry * 905-985-8416 Over 50,000 women served in the armed forces during SS ae" far. ” = P Photo: RCAF Women's division, National Archives of Canada/PA 133631 FOCUS - NOVEMBER 2010 23