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ment in a Mosquito bomber. Fortunately, the doctors were able to repair the damage an clear him for return to duty. “My unit was still in Burma, so I was assigned to the 2nd Armoured Division. I trained as part of a five-man crew. We manned a ‘crab’ Sherman tank specially equipped with a flail for clearing mine fields.” The Second Armoured was mobilized for D-Day, landing on Sword Beach a day after the main invasion. His unit joined the thrust across the Euro- pean continent. Doug’s war would end on the Dutch-German border. “I certainly remember the elation and relief we felt on VE-Day,” he says. Correspondence throughout the years of war warmed the embers of Doug's rela- tionship back home. Eight weeks after the surrender, Doug returned to England and to his Jenny. “She waited for me,” he remembers with a Jump in his throat. Doug trained as a psychiatric nurse while Jenny raised three daughters. “But I was always sick. England’s damp- ness, after so many years in warm climates, In 1941, Doug Franks shipped out from Liverpool, England for India didn’t agree with me. When J heard Canada where he was assigned to the 2nd Armoured Division in Burma. was offering opportunities in my field, we jumped at it. That was April, 1957.” Doug cradles a picture from his war years. “1 used to have lots of them,” he recalls. “But for Jenny, she said she’d done her duty, and when the war was over, it was over. Before we came to Canada, we burned them all.” One proudly-displayed shot is modern. “That's my grandson, Jeff Heard. He’s a Master Corporal at Borden, carrying on the military tradition. He went in to become an electrician, and eventually signed on for 20 years with the Army.” Doug’s career at the Whitby Psychiatric Hospital ended in 1980. He and Jenny pursued a shared pas NS = 231 Water St., Port Perry 905 9857 7686 www.scugoglibrary.ca Please turn to page 44 THANK YOU to every past, present and future soldier who has, and is helping, to defend our freedom. Sard ) OP |e TAYLOR FORD 1565 Hwy. 7A, Port Perry (Right beside Walmart) 905-985-3655 FOCUS - NOVEMBER 2014 43