Sherman Tank - a personal connection

Charles and a Sherman Tank

My dad was in the Canadian Forces; first with the air force and later with the army.  I spent my formative years growing up in Camp Borden.  It is a military community located north west of Toronto, about half an hour out of Barrie, Ontario.

As a preteen, I embraced all things military.  We would go to Bordon's amazing tank park and pretend we were in battles.  There is nothing like playing on a real tank to pretend that your actually around one.

Although I always was awed by the power and reputation of the German tanks, like the renowned Tigers, it was the Sherman tanks that I always felt a connection to.  They weren't as tough as the heavy tanks marshaled by the enemy, but they did the job and did it well.  The US and Canada had many hundreds of them.  We poured them into battle one after another, and in my mind I was often there with them.

Then, one day, not so long ago, I learned something about my grandfather; my dad's dad.  He was in the Canadian Army during the war.  He fought the Germans on their doorstep all the way to the homeland.  And he did it in a Sherman.

Apparently, so I am told, my grandfather was a landed immigrant to this country.  He came, as many others did, to work the land and raise a family.  He met my grandmother and my father eventually came about.  Then the unthinkable happened; Germany went to war.

Denmark was conquered and in the process my great grandmother, my grandfather's mother, was killed.  That was the only invitation he needed to join the fight.  Although he was much older than the average person joining up to take on the invading hordes, he was not about to let them get away with destroying the family that raised him.

I do not know of any specific stories of my granddad, but I do know that he was in a Sherman tank and that he came back home to raise more children.  Is it possible that, all those years ago when I was playing tank commander, that I unconsciously felt a connection between my granddad and me?  Probably not, but still, to this day, I am very fond of the Shermans, there legacy, and I am thankful that they brought my grandfather back home.