My Grandfather, Albert Henry Speed, enlisted in the Canadian Army on November 11, 1941 at
the Hotel Vancouver at the young age of 38. Certainly not the prime age to go off to war. He left his wife and 8 year old son for over three years to serve in the war. He did his basic training in Vernon British Columbia from January
13, 1942 to March 16, 1942. Albert left Vernon for Dundurn Saskatchewan to complete his
training with the Royal Canadian Engineers. He was in Dundurn from
March 18, 1942 to April 23, 1942. After this
training he was given the rank of "Sapper" and ready to go overseas. He was given orders to go overseas and was transferred to No. 6
District Depot in Halifax Nova Scotia. In Halifax, Albert was granted
sick leave because of a tooth problem so he returned to Vancouver for some
rest before returning to Halifax. Once in Halifax he was given his
orders to go to England. On June 14, 1942 Albert left Halifax for
Britain arriving in Gourock, Scotland June 25, 1942. For two years Albert worked in a Canadian Army Hospital as a Steam Engineer in England until 1944 when he followed his company, the Royal Canadian Engineers
33rd Field Company to France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. His main job with the engineers was to build bailey bridges. He returned from Europe in September 1945.
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| Standing at attention in downtown Vernon |
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| Albert and friends in front of the train to Dundurn Saskatchewan |
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On the Train
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| Newspaper Article from a Rotherham Yorkshire newspaper |
