Halton Hills Newspapers

Independent & Free Press (Georgetown, ON), 11 Apr 2007, Acton Free Press, p. 1

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Vimy has special meaning for local men TED BROWN Staff Writer There may have been thousands of people at the 90th anniversary commemoration of the battle of Vimy Ridge Monday in France, but no one in attendance was prouder than two Georgetown men. Dave Williams, and his son Gerald, were on hand to witness the ceremony at the newly-refurbished memorial, near Arras, for one specific reason-- Dave's father, Claude Vivian Williams, fought at Vimy, Easter Monday, April 9, 1917. Dave and Gerald traveled to France with the Keeping the Memory Alive tour-- this time with the trip's focus being the First World War and, more specifically, Vimy Ridge's 90th anniversary. The Williams wanted to see where their father/grandfather had served, and more importantly, to stand on the land he defended and took that day, which resulted in him receiving the Military Cross decoration. Many older Georgetown residents will know Claude Vivian LT. CLAUDE Williams under another name-- WILLIAMS he was the warm-hearted Dr. Williams, who carried on a practice in Georgetown for many years following his service to his country. Born in Hatley, Quebec in the Eastern Townships in 1896, Williams lived in Quebec City and Winnipeg (where he attended Wesley College-University of Manitoba and met his wife-to-be Audrey Parlee). In September, 1914, he was accepted at Medical College, University of Toronto, only a month after the war had broken out on August 4. As time went on, the war became more real to Williams and his class of medical students. Regiments paraded through the university campus to inspire students to enlist to fight for their King and Williams signed up. He later wrote in his memoirs: See `THE', pg. 3 Dave Williams (right) and his son Gerald were among the many who placed a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier during the 90th anniversary commemoration of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, Monday in France. Dave's father, Lt. Claude Williams (later known as Dr. Williams to many in Georgetown) was decorated with the Military Cross, for his bravery that day, 90 years ago. Photo by Ted Brown Ex-Acton resident survives bomb blast in Afghanistan LISA TALLYN Staff Writer A former Acton man is lucky to be alive after the armoured vehicle he was traveling in as part of a security convoy in Afghanistan Easter Sunday detonated a roadside-bomb killing six soldiers and wounding two others on board. Master Corporal Brian McCallum, 31, who grew up in Acton, was one of the injured men. McCallum was the commander of the lead LAV-III and was standing in the turret looking for landmines at about 1:30 p.m. when the massive explosion occurred, said his father, Bob McCallum of Milton. "He said they thought initially they had hit something. The whole vehicle just went up in the air," said Bob, who spoke to his son Monday. See FORMER, pg. 4

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