Shoulder Patch

By Doug Hall

The author describes his father's service with the Royal Canadian Regiment and the First Special Service Force (the Black Devils or the Devils Brigade) during World War II. Particular emphasis is placed upon the beachhead established at Menton, France by the First Special Service Force where after two days of fighting his father's platoon is very nearly wiped out to the last man. He also served in Italy and Holland with the Royal Canadian Regiment and was wounded in Holland. At the war’s end he was in a hospital in Belgium. Following the war he worked in the mines at Kirkland Lake, Virginiatown, Bancroft, Sudbury and Manitouwadge. This is an excerpt from the ebook, "Haywire My Life in the Mines".

• Language: English
• Publisher: Doug Hall
• Release date: Jan 13, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301276127

Doug Hall

Doug Hall had an ancestor who fought at the Battle of Waterloo and another who was a veteran of the Crimean War. His maternal grandfather was a veteran of the First World War and his father a veteran of the Second World War having served with the Royal Canadian Regiment and the First Special Service Force (the Devil’s Brigade). Two uncles served with the Canadian Forces during World War II. One was raked by a machine gun on Juno Beach; the other suffered a shrapnel wound to his neck and had the heel of his boot shot off. His mother was raised in a log cabin built out of necessity during the dark days of the Great Depression. Doug spent five years working in the mines in Northern Ontario and had many “close calls”. He then spent many years working in factories in Southern Ontario. He has drawn upon these experiences to write the book, “Haywire My Life in the Mines”.

Book preview

Shoulder Patch

By Doug Hall

Copyright 2013 by Doug Hall

Smashword’s Edition

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Shoulder Patch is an excerpt from the book, Haywire My Life in the Mines which is available from fine ebook retailers.

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Contents

The Story of Gordon Stanley Hall from Hillsburgh Ontario during World War II

Postscript I (June 2009)

Postscript II (April 2010)

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Pictures

Father

Shoulder Patch

Father in the American Army

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Father

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Shoulder Patch

This shoulder patch was in father's kit bag. He would have worn it while serving with the First Special Service Force (the Devil's Brigade) during World War II.

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These are father’s recollections from WW II. Father served with the First Special Service Force during World War II and was attached to the American Army for all purposes except pay and record-keeping. As a result of this service in the American Army, father was awarded the U.S. army's Combat Infantry Badge. This was later converted to the Bronze Star but only for those past members of the F.S.S.F. who were still living. Unfortunately father had already passed on by that time.

Postscript: As I write this in December 2012 there is a motion before Congress in the United States to award the First Special Service Force the Congressional Gold Medal. This is the highest civilian award for meritorious service that can be awarded by the U.S. Congress.

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