McEwan wedding

April 1942
England

Wartime Wedding
The mostly young and single troops of the Canadian Army lost little chance to socialize with British women. Many meetings led to weddings. Young Canadian solider Robert "Bob" McEwan, from Barrhead, serving in England with The Edmonton Regiment, married an English girl, Gladys "Garry" Ashford, of Oxted, in April 1942. At the end of June 1943, Garry watched her husband board the ship taking him to the invasion of Sicily.  She would never see him again.  Bob was killed in action.

Private Bob McEwan marries before shipping out

Thompson gun in air raid

1941
England

Thompson gun in air raid
This photo with the Thompson pointed in the air is stated to be taken during an actual air raid. The model is the original &quot;civilian&quot; version, bought in quantity by the military because they were readily available &quot;off the shelf&quot;. By the time the troops reached Italy they were using the military model Thompson with a stick magazine, and a forestock instead of the forward pistol grip. A Mark III Lee-Enfield rifle can be seen behing the &quot;tommygun&quot;.  The chance of hitting anything within 100 yards would be very slight, but just the act of firing at low flying German fighters would be a reassuring act...The .303 in the background would have a better chance of hitting something as long as the man led the target.

LOYAL EDDY THOMPSON FIRING AT AIRCRAFT

October 1943
Italy

A Canadian Sherman tank of the 14th Armoured Regiment (The Calgary Regiment) overlooks the town of Potenza, which had been captured on September 20.