Calgary Tank/Dieppe POW artifacts rescued

[WJ Miller]

... from the landfill!

I heard this story on the radio coming home from work. Unbelievable that anyone would not see any value whatsoever in this memorabilia and throw these items out Thankfully, the items were found at the last minute by an ex-soldier and recognized for what they were...

From the Calgary Herald today.
Albertan rescues precious military artifacts from dump


By Emily Kreiberg, Calgary HeraldJune 3, 2011 7:59 PM

Thanks to the thoughftul actions of a good Samaritan, a precious piece of Canada’s military history has been salvaged from the dump.

In March, Sylvan Lake resident Cade Graville found a scrapbook and a row of medals from the Second World War at Red Deer’s municipal waste management facility.

This week, Graville brought the artifacts into the King’s Own Calgary Regiment Museum.

The exceptional find has stunned officials of the Calgary museum.

“To have something recovered from a landfill of this importance is incredible,” said Bruce Graham, collections manager for the museum.

“How it ended up there, we have no idea.

“It’s lucky that someone found it in the first place, and lucky that someone recognized its value and turned it in. With the rains lately, it could have been destroyed.”

The yellowed, leather-bound notebook was sent out by the War Prisons Aid of the YMCA to Trooper R.H. Hill, a former prisoner of war and member of the Calgary Regiment (Tanks), now called the King’s Own Calgary Regiment (RCAC).

Robert Henry Hill was 27 at the time he was captured by the Germans on Aug. 19, 1942, at Dieppe, France.

For the next 33 months, Hill bided his time filling in the book’s pages at Stalag VIII-B, a notorious German army prisoner-of-war camp near the town of Lamsdorf (now called ambinowice) in Silesia.

The weathered scrapbook contains journal entries, photos, drawings, dog tags, prison money, military records and personal items from Hill’s experiences.

“12-2 at noon is the only time they allow you to lie on your bed,” Hill wrote. “Try climbing onto a top bunk with your hands tied. It is lots of fun.”

Poems such as “A tribute to her” are raw with the soldier’s emotions.

“Why do I weep, why do I cry?” Hill writes. “My love’s asleep so far away, he played his part that August day and left his heart at Dieppe Bay.”

“This discovery is literally priceless,” said Graham. “We know about Dieppe, the events and the battles that took place, but to have such a detailed and personal account is incredible.”

The last article in the book is a picture of a headstone with Hill’s year of death, 2002.

Since the items were turned in, museum officials have yet to locate any of Hill’s family members, but are hoping to make contact.

“There’s not much we can do with the scrapbook until we have legal possession of it,” said Graham.

“We’re going to try and talk to the family and see what we can work out as far as keeping it on display here.”

On Sunday, Hill’s scrapbook and medals will be on exhibit in the atrium at the Military Museums’ annual open house,

“People are thinking about the military this week, that’s for sure,” said Graham.

“It’s interesting that this artifact is related to the Dieppe raid. Although many consider Dieppe to be a faliure, Canada learned a lot of lessons that they applied on D-Day.”

Monday marks the 67th anniversary of D-Day.

ekreiberg@calgaryherald.com
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