What I wanted to write about was my experiences in historical research. This evening, I was processing the pictures of wargraves that I took at Barvas this afternoon. I came across one, for Donald McDonald Paterson, who died on 30 November 1944. He served with the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps, and was 48 years of age.
Trying to get more information about this man is proving a challenge. Veteran Affairs Canada is my first port of call for any Canadian casualty. All Canadian personnel that signed up for the First World War have their attestation papers (signing up papers) shown on the web. Not so for the Second World War - I presume for reasons of privacy. You have to travel to Ottawa to see those. Well, I do intend to visit Canada one day, but not at the moment. So, I am now looking closer to home. The Isle of Lewis has a dozen historical societies (Comunn Eachdraidh in Gaelic), and I have just emailed the one that covers Barvas, to see if they can shed further light on Private Paterson.
I, for one, am NOT surprised that you are already on your 500th post. You are a very prolific blogger! I hope you are able to find the information you seek for that veteran without having to wait until you visit Canada.
ReplyDeleteGuido.. congrats. I am not surprised you've reached 500, I'm not even close. If you EVER get to Canada you best let me know when and where I'm 20 minutes from the border and just south of Toronto :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats ! And remember how distressed all of us were last October? I wasn't even home...I was in California and even though they said they'd help me with the transfer, I was still very nervous about loosing everything. Robin down in Florida was finally able to move my stuff over to blogger as I was unable to do it on a borrowed laptop. Linda in Washington
ReplyDeletePost 5oo! What an accomplishment! I have the time to blog more than I do but am not terribly inclined to.
ReplyDeleteI do like to stop by & check in. If I'm very far behind, I may not comment, just ready and check up on things with you. I wish you luck on your Verteran's research. Ny father was in WWII and when he passed what little memorabilia that he had, my brother took. Which upset me a little. My brother nor his son was interested in the Army or our Dad's war stories for that matter. Whereas my husband & all 3 of our kids were in the military...our 2 sons in the Army & our daughter, the Navy. I did get my Dad's Army uniform and the flag off his coffin. So when someone else takes interest in anything military, it makes me proud. I don't remember the exact phrase but it is something, Unless we remember the past we are destined to repeat it. Or something like that. Good luck again with your researching.
Barb in soggy (finally) West TX
(((Guido)))
ReplyDeleteHappy 500!
You and I are both history buffs. When I'm picking out something to read, I'm always stuck on a good history book (reading on Pearl Harbor), or just a good book (reading The Partner) or having one of my several Writing/Grammar/English books. I'm such a nerd! (lol)
Take good care :)
Huggers, Gayla
Congrats Guido!
ReplyDeleteHugs, Rose
500 wow well done Guido, I have barely done more than that in 3 1/2 years blogging ..love Jan xx
ReplyDelete