Christmas, 1943
Christmas 1943 and New Year's Eve were spent in Fraserburg and it was great to receive all the parcels from the folks over home. One smart thing I did was to have a standing cigarette order at the Canadian Legion overseas headquarters in London. They forwarded a carton of Canadian cigarettes every two weeks for a very nominal charge and although I didn't smoke they became a great bargaining tool. One day when my bike was U/S (unserviceable) I took it down to the bike shack and one pack of cigs put me at the head of the long line while another took care of the repair cost.
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Monte Brunton from Kincardine at Fraserburg
New Year's Eve in Scotland is the big day of the year, surpassing Christmas by far. There was a large party in the town square to which all the station personnel not on duty were invited. After dancing and partying under a full moon we all took off to go "first-footing" which meant we visited several different homes in the village to be served a hot toddy and wished "Happy New Year" in each. It was a great night and there were several wobbly bike riders on the road back to the station. Each New Year's I have
The thirteen of us who were posted to Fraserburg lived in a long and narrow Nissan hut which was heated by an old coal stove situated in the center of the building. On cold nights we filled the stove to the top with coal and the fellows sleeping in the first four beds next to the fire were too hot, while the next four were just right, while the ones at the end were frozen by morning. Guess who was stuck with a bed right next to the drafty door! We did have lots of fun though, and all became good friends. Unfortunately only four of the thirteen survived the war.
If we had a weekend off we would take the train or hitch a flight to Aberdeen, a beautiful city down the coastline about 80 miles. It was called the "Granite City" due to its architecture and it was very clean with wide streets and lovely parks. We would usually take in a movie and a dance and enjoy some good food, especially the cream cakes. The Scotch people are very friendly and we received a few invitations for dinner or to spend weekends and these were real treats.
However, the one place that I became really attached to in Aberdeen was a small family hotel run by Mrs. Wood for Canadian servicemen on leave. After my first visit to her lovely three story, 10 bedroom hotel, situated in a nice parkland area near the city center, I always returned and must have visited with her at least 15 times in the next 18 months. She became a second mother to many of us. At the end of a night on the town, several of us would gather in the hotel lounge by the fireplace and over some hot chocolate discuss with her our conquests and rejections of that evening.
While at Fraserburg our group purchased a small portable radio on the understanding that the last person to be posted would keep the radio. Although well worn and quite battered we got great use out of it especially for the late night news. Near the end of our stay I was transferred to a Beam Approach Flying School at Edzell, in Angus which was in southern Scotland near Dundee for a two week course on instrument flying. Upon my return I was extremely disappointed to learn that my twelve buddies had been posted to a Bomber Command O.T.U. in Yorkshire, England. My only consolation was that I got to keep the radio.
The thirteen of us who were posted to Fraserburg lived in a long and narrow Nissan hut which was heated by an old coal stove situated in the center of the building. On cold nights we filled the stove to the top with coal and the fellows sleeping in the first four beds next to the fire were too hot, while the next four were just right, while the ones at the end were frozen by morning. Guess who was stuck with a bed right next to the drafty door! We did have lots of fun though, and all became good friends. Unfortunately only four of the thirteen survived the war.
If we had a weekend off we would take the train or hitch a flight to Aberdeen, a beautiful city down the coastline about 80 miles. It was called the "Granite City" due to its architecture and it was very clean with wide streets and lovely parks. We would usually take in a movie and a dance and enjoy some good food, especially the cream cakes. The Scotch people are very friendly and we received a few invitations for dinner or to spend weekends and these were real treats.
However, the one place that I became really attached to in Aberdeen was a small family hotel run by Mrs. Wood for Canadian servicemen on leave. After my first visit to her lovely three story, 10 bedroom hotel, situated in a nice parkland area near the city center, I always returned and must have visited with her at least 15 times in the next 18 months. She became a second mother to many of us. At the end of a night on the town, several of us would gather in the hotel lounge by the fireplace and over some hot chocolate discuss with her our conquests and rejections of that evening.
While at Fraserburg our group purchased a small portable radio on the understanding that the last person to be posted would keep the radio. Although well worn and quite battered we got great use out of it especially for the late night news. Near the end of our stay I was transferred to a Beam Approach Flying School at Edzell, in Angus which was in southern Scotland near Dundee for a two week course on instrument flying. Upon my return I was extremely disappointed to learn that my twelve buddies had been posted to a Bomber Command O.T.U. in Yorkshire, England. My only consolation was that I got to keep the radio.
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The former Dormy House, Aberdeen
