There’s nothing like knowing a friend has your back, and is there for you in even the most difficult times. A simple gesture can stay with you for a lifetime.
For Dickies From Gunton: Canadian Brothers in Two World Wars, the memory of someone in the US Army Air Corps lingered long after the Victory in Japan marked the end of the Second World War 80 years ago. But who was he?
Could he have been a man named John Martin who would long be privately remembered but never really spoken about? Will we ever know?
Earl Dickie and fellow members of the Winnipeg Grenadiers and Royal Rifles of Canada were among the Canadian troops sent to defend the British colony of Hong Kong, only to be defeated in battle and taken prisoner on Christmas Day, 1941.
Survivors were in a terrible state when the Americans arrived in Japan. According to his prisoner of war card, Earl was “handed over to John Martin at Iwataki Station” on Sept. 9, 1945.
Imagine you manage to survive a bloody battle only to be forced to surrender and taken prisoner. For nearly four years, you suffer. You don’t know if you will live to see the end of the war and your family again. And then, your friends and allies come to help you begin your repatriation process.
Earl knew the Americans were our friends and allies. Sure, Americans are different. They have their own country and their own ways. But they are and would always be our allies and friendly neighbours. Of that, he was certain.
Earl was a proud Canadian. Born early in the 20th century in Manitoba, to first generation Canadian parents who were born around the years of Canadian confederation (1867) and Manitoba becoming a province (1870). With proud Scottish and English roots. And friends and fellow soldiers of both similar and different backgrounds including Indigenous (then called Indian) people.
Earl and his older brother, Percy, lived their lives as Canada developed as a nation. Technically, they were born British subjects. Canadian citizenship would only be introduced shortly after the Second World War. They served under a different flag- the Union Jack and then, the Red Ensign, which included the Union Jack and the Canadian coat of arms. Earl would never live to know the Canadian Flag we have today. O Canada would only officially become the Canadian national anthem years later. Canada would only get its own constitution in 1982.
But they were Canadian, proud Canadians.
In daily life, they weren’t overtly patriotic, randomly waving the flag and singing God Save the King. But they did serve their country in time of need, marching into service, serving with allies from the Commonwealth and other nations including the US, friends when it really counted. Including John Martin.