Training days in Western Canada, the face of a young private,

and a telegram announcing an upcoming visit to North Bay, Ont.

Cheryl Oattes of Brantford, Ont., shares two photos and a telegram from her father’s time in the Second World War.

Cheryl says her father, Les Scott, joined the Canadian Army in the summer of 1943 at age 18. After training in Dundurn, Sask., he travelled by troop train to Halifax for deployment overseas. While travelling through Ontario, the young private wondered if he might be able to say a quick hello to his older sister and her family who lived in North Bay, Ont. He mentioned to his sergeant that he had not seen his sister in years.

“Dad expected to wave and say hello from the train, but his sergeant arranged for the train to stop for a few minutes and Dad was able to spend a few quality minutes with his sister, her husband and their two boys. What a compassionate gesture from a sergeant who accompanied these very young men to an unknown fate,” says Cheryl.

Les Scott served five months in Belgium and Holland with the Lincoln and Welland Regiment. He returned home to Norwich, Ont., in the spring of 1946 after serving a year as part of the army of occupation. Today, Les Scott is enjoying “active retirement” in Brantford, Ont.

We thank Cheryl for her contributions to Find-Share-Discuss, and invite readers to turn to our website, www.legionmagazine.com, for more Find-Share-Discuss photos. We also welcome your submissions of wartime and peacetime photos and memories.