I was going through my office two weeks ago — looking for the little information I had collected about my grandfather Wilms. Unlike, my maternal grandfather, whom I based my book The Grain Fields on, I didn't get a chance to speak to him about his time during the Second World War. He died of Alzheimers when …
Dear Opa,
'Opa, we packed up our bags and came home.' "Across the Atlantic." "'Your girl' came with me." "We walked the same roads." "We found your house." "Made with sticks, clay and brick." …
Going ‘home’ to find his voice
In the beginning of May I took my significant other 'home.' It had been a few years since I had been back and I needed to show her where my hero grew up. I needed to feel the dirt between my toes, the sun on my face, the grasses amongst my fingers and the beer …
Harry John Giesbrecht
Death is an unwanted guest. It comes in the middle of the night, in the middle of the day or in the early morning hours. It comes into your house and you are never the same. When someone close in your life dies, a part of you breaks, cracks and fragments in the loss. Every …
‘Il Porto’
So, two weeks ago I talked about my adventure to Sicily and how I met two people that changed the entire layout of my trip. Last week I told you about Guiseppe the police officer who took me out for some horrible scotch the night I arrived into Palermo. This week, in the final week …
Trapani
So, this week is going to be a little different. As many know in weeks prior I have been sharing my grandfather's stories from his time in Europe during the Second World War. For the most part I have completed his stories during the war. Actually, I should clarify, I have concluded all the stories …
‘Arbeit Macht Frei’
Last night on the History Channel, I watched the film, 'Schindler's List.' I hadn't planned on watching the film, but turned on the television at 9 p.m. and found the masterpiece playing. It was played straight, with no commercials - a recognition of its importance. I have seen it many times, but every time I …
“Young Follower”
So after two weeks of some CreComm adventures I return this week to my grandfather's story. I left off last time with his participation in the Battle for Bastogne. In early January my Opa was injured and taken back to a military hospital in Wurzburg. There he spent three weeks recovering from the shrapnel he took to the leg …
Bastogne
So this week, I return to my grandfather's story. I left off before my history lesson, with my grandfather in what is now Slovakia. It was there that he had his SS boot camp. His training was held at a Castle a top a hill that the Germans revered as sacred. They called it 'Holy …
History Lesson # 2
It is time for another history lesson. This week I am going to once again catch everyone up with what was happening in around the rest of Europe during the time of my grandfather's stories. My last history lesson began with the rise of the Third Reich and saw them advance very quickly through France, …