Blue Bakelite emergency bowls and cutlery provided by the WWII British Ministry of Food. Imperial War Museum, London.
(P. Ferguson image, March 2017)
Doing Their Bit
Not every night do I find what I seek. Searching through the records of the Canadian Directorate of History and Ancestry, to find the actions of earlier times to help for today, is a lengthy process. One though that I am only too happy to plow through. (I have always meant to do this). Steady on…and from across these digitized pages I am occasionally rewarded with what I seek, nevertheless I also prepare a list of other findings for another time…these exercises are never in vain.
This evening I turn my zig-zag walk through ginnels, paths and quiet streets. Promptly at seven the clanging of pots and pans and car horns fills the air. I see a few people…we say hi from a distance…they are smiling – doing their bit.
Like my searching I am not always sure what it is I seek on these walks…exercise yes…answers perhaps…time to think a little deeper (definitely). As I channel the night’s thoughts the buffered, hyper-sound of sonic wings in flight…a Hummingbird, heard before it is seen, perches in front of me then rises to a higher branch for a better viewing. It is this night’s reward, it is what I seek. So too observing Skip the Dishes arrive at its destination bringing much needed nourishment to someone perhaps isolated.
For those who prepare and provide….the food of the day…
for what we are about to receive…thank you.
Private (Cook) Alfred John Bender
A-19 Royal Canadian Army Service Corps T.C.
Awarded the British Empire Medal
On the night of 17th April, 1942 at approximately 2415 hours a barrack room in the area occupied by A-19 Royal Canadian Army Service Corps (Advanced) Training Centre Camp Borden, Ontario, where personnel were sleeping, took fire. Private Bender, employed as a cook in a nearby kitchen saw the flames, which then enveloped the front entrance. Running around to the side door he proceeded to the blazing end of the building and there removed from their beds several men who were overcome and would otherwise probably have perished. It is considered that not only these men but many others might have been seriously burned had not Private Bender aroused the entire hut by his prompt action and courage. Private Bender himself painfully burned.
Tags: A-19 Training Centre, Alfred John Bender, British Empire Medal, Camp Borden (Ontario), Cook, COVID-19, Do Your Bit, Emergency Services, Ministry of Food, Royal Canadian Army Service Corps
This entry was posted by pferguson
on Saturday, April 4th, 2020 at 8:21 pm and is filed under Inspired By a True Story.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
About The Author
Paul has worked with the Paradigm Motion Picture Company since 2009 as producer, historian and research specialist. Paul first met Casey and Ian WIlliams of Paradigm in April 2007 at Ieper (Ypres), Belgium when ceremonies were being held for the re-dedication of the Vimy Memorial, France.
Paul's sensitivity to film was developed at an early age seeing his first films at RCAF Zweibrucken, Germany and Sardinia. Paul returned to Canada in 1967 and was captivated by David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Bridge on the River Kwai". Over time Paul became increasingly interested in storytelling, content development, character, direction, cinematography, narration and soundtracks.
At the University of Victoria, Paul studied and compared Japanese and Australian film and became interested in Australian film maker Peter Weir and his film "Gallipoli" (1981). Paul was inspired when he learned Weir visited the beaches, ridges and ravines of the peninsula. "Gallipoli", the film, led Paul on many journeys to sites of conflict in England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Malta, Hawaii, Gallipoli, North Macedonia and Salonika.
When Paul first watched documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, "The Civil War", Paul understood how his own experience and insight could be effective and perhaps influential in film-making. Combining his knowledge of Museums and Archives, exhibitions and idea strategies with his film interests was a natural progression.
Paul thinks like a film-maker. His passion for history and storytelling brings to Paradigm an eye (and ear) to the keen and sensitive interests of; content development, the understanding of successful and relational use of collections, imagery and voice. Like Paul's favorite actor, Peter O'Toole, Paul believes in the adage “To deepen not broaden.”
While on this path Paul always remembers his grandmother whose father did not return from the Great War and how his loss shaped her life and how her experience continues to guide him.
Comments