Robert Rae of Toronto and a conducting officer for war correspondents in the fall of 1944, relates this story told by Seaghan Maynes of Reuters news agency.

Somewhere in Holland, a Canadian soldier was in a thickly strewn minefield, swinging a detector to and fro and pointing out to his mates the location of the mines to be lifted.

A horrified local was watching the operation at a safe distance. When the soldier took a break, the local approached and said: “That’s terrible work you have to do.”

“Yes,” said the Canadian, “I get the damnedest blisters on my hands.”