Honour and Respect

Michelle Hayes shares a photo of her father-in-law, Leo Benedict Hayes, and his two great grandsons, cadets Kameron, 14, (right) and Owyn Hayes, 12. The photo was taken on Father’s Day, 2014, in Amherstburg, Ont.

“This all started this past Father’s Day when we were having our usual Father’s Day barbecue,” explains Michelle. “Two of my grandsons were having their annual inspection for their army corps that same day. Knowing that those boys would be arriving in full uniform, I thought it would be nice when we picked up Leo at the nursing home to get him dressed in his Legion jacket with his army medals and his beret so we could take some casual photos of the three of them together in uniform.”

Michelle also shares a photo of her father-in-law in uniform during the Second World War. “Leo was born in Tay Settlement, York County, N.B.,” she explains. “At the age of 18 he volunteered to join the army. He spent his basic training in Camp Gagetown, N.B., and took advanced training at Camp Borden in Ontario. In the spring of 1942 he was shipped to England and was a motor ambulance convoy driver.”

Leo served in Northwest Europe, including France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. “He remained in Holland for six months after the war, driving around army officers, including one officer he remembers as Bailey from Saint John, N.B. He then went home to Tay Settlement until 1951 when he moved to Windsor, Ont., and raised four children while working as a heavy machinery operator/maintenance at the Windsor airport,” says Michelle.

Michelle also shares photos of her father’s pay books.

We thank Michelle for sharing these photos and encourage others with wartime or peacetime photos to do the same. Please mail them to Find-Share-Discuss c/o Legion Magazine, 86 Aird Place, Kanata, ON, Canada, K2L 0A1 (photos will not be returned) or by email (large file JPEG) to magazine@legion.ca. Please include your daytime phone number and mailing address along with a description of the photo, its date and the location and the identity of the people (first names and last) and where they are in the photo. Have questions? Call us at 1-613-591-0116.