Military service is a family vocation for Robert, whose grandfather was a corporal in the Canadian Army Medical Corps in World War I, and whose father landed at Normandy on D-Day (June 6, 1944) during World War II.

Robert started his training as an officer at the School of Infantry at Camp Borden, near Barrie, Ontario and in 1959, at 18 years of age, he became a second lieutenant after which he was stationed in Edmonton, Alberta.

In the early 1960s, Robert spent three years in Germany as part of the British Army of the Rhine, which during the Cold War was attached to NATO’s Northern Army Group and tasked with defending the northern part of Western Germany. Officers brought their families with them, and in fact Robert’s son with his wife MaryEllen was born in Germany (they also have a daughter).

While Robert did not see active service on the battlefield during his military career, he supported multiple exercises to prepare for battle.

He describes one experience in Germany as particularly sobering: “I was an officer in command of reconnaissance as part of our annual emergency deployment procedures. We drove up close to the eastern border to the same positions we would deploy to if there were hostilities,” Robert says. “Afterwards, I was talking with the major in charge and told him I could see how we would get to where we needed to go, but I couldn’t see how we would get out. That was the first time I realized how precarious a situation we and our dependents were in,” he adds.

After returning to Edmonton in 1966, Robert was accepted into training to be a pilot and spent 12 years flying for the armed forces. He flew the de Havilland Buffalo, a twin-engine, fixed-wing aircraft, and later trained to fly helicopters including the Chinook, a tandem-rotor model.

His flying assignments included everything from transporting heavy machinery to the Arctic, to supporting army exercises in Jamaica and Europe, to one notable pick-up and delivery of alcohol to the Canadian Embassy in London.

Robert retired from the army in the early 1980s after being offered a job with Okanagan Helicopters, based out of Alberta. He had many interesting adventures while flying, including recovering a plane that had sunk in an icy lake, and flying in heavy equipment to a bridge building project in the Yukon.

Robert says he is grateful for his 23 years in the Canadian military. He says he and MaryEllen were given enough leave time while stationed in Germany to be able to travel all over Europe in their Volkswagen. “Being immersed in European culture was a learning experience,” he says.

However, he is also keenly aware of the sacrifices made by his own family members and others. “My father left in 1941 to go overseas, and I was born in 1940, so I had no recollection of him,” Robert says. Fortunately, Robert’s father did come home from the war.

“I think it’s important to remember the sacrifices of those who went over, who left family, and went into the unknown, as it were,” Robert says.

A member of the Billy Bishop / Kerrisdale Legion (BC/Yukon No. 176), Robert joins his fellow Veterans every year to watch Remembrance Day services. He has also contributed to the display of military memorabilia featured as part of the annual marking of the day at Tapestry at Arbutus Walk, where he and MaryEllen live.

A tour of Robert’s “army room” in his Tapestry suite brings up many memories. Included are photos and diagrams of the military and civilian craft that Robert flew, and framed displays of the medals that he, his father and grandfather were awarded.

Each year Tapestry observes Remembrance Day, a time when all Canadians pay tribute to men and women in uniform – both past and present – who have so selflessly served their country to protect and defend our freedom. We thank Robert, his father and grandfather, and all our Veterans, for their service.