World War II Veteran’s Widow- Lorna Hoggins’ Memories of the War

World War II Veteran’s Widow- Lorna Hoggins’ Memories of the War

Rosanne Fortier News Correspondent

Lorna Hoggins is a resident of Heritage House now but Lorna is also the proud widow of World War II Veteran, George Hoggins.

George was born on October 18, 1921 and he passed away on March 29, 2015. George trained and then served from 1939-1945 in Canada, England, France, Germany, Holland, Britain, and Belgium.

George served in the infantry in WWII before transferring to be with his brother in the engineering corps where he was in the 4th Armour Division R.C.E Royal Canadian Engineer. The medals he received were 1939-45 Star, France and Germany Star, Defense Medal, Medal in Defense in Britain, C.V.S.M, and Coronation Medal.

Lorna met George after the war in 1947 at her graduation. So, she doesn’t remember George speaking too much about his time serving in the war. She did remember him saying a few times how the conditions were brutal for soldiers during the war.

However, Lorna recalled fondly how George was in France when France was liberated from the Germans during World War II. George earned a medal for this. George was also excited to have marched in the parade past the Queen during peacetime after the war.

“I remember watching wartime newsreels at the Vimy Theatre, now the Capitol Theatre, before the movie started. Many were of bombed out buildings in Europe, some of which I saw in the mid-50s during a trip through Belgium. We were living in Germany at the time while George was stationed there during the Canadian army peacekeeping missions.”

George recalled a time during the war when he got out of a vehicle he had been driving and hung his helmet on the vehicle door. When he returned to the vehicle, his helmet had a hole in it and there was a piece of shrapnel on the ground that was still hot to touch . He escaped injury or death.

Lorna was too young to remember World War II when it happened but she said wars are unnecessary as they take so many lives.