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- This
column by John Cosway, is a mix of 50 years of media memories
and 15 years of buying and selling experiences via live and online
auctions, flea markets, antique stores and markets etc.
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- By John Cosway
My late uncle, William John Cosway, became a media darling
in the years before he died in 1994 at age 94.
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- Toronto Sun columnist Mark Bonokoski devoted a full
column to his service in World War 1, as did Rosie DiManno
at the Toronto Star. Documentary footage taped in 1993 is being
shown in an audio/visual exhibit at Ottawa's new Canadian War
Museum.
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- The bond between my uncle and the media was more than him
being among the dwindling number of Canadian survivors of a world
war fought so many decades earlier. It was his sharp mind, a
vivid memory and the urge to tell it like it was in battle.
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- That honesty about the horrors of war, and atrocities committed
by both sides on the battlefields, led to telephone threats -
in his 90's, on the telephone at Sunnybrook Hospital's veterans
wing, but he never flinched.
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- Uncle Bill had been a soldier's soldier, lying about his
age at 17 to join the 180th Sportsmen's Battalion in Toronto.
He was shipped overseas on March 6, 1916. Two years later, in
a key battle at Amiens, near Paris, a bullet shattered his left
elbow, leaving his arm partially paralyzed for the rest of his
life.
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- To add insult to injury, the Silver Key pub on High Street
in Bristol, England, where he was born on April 19, 1899, was
demolished in a German bombing raid during World War II.
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- My uncle's WW1 injury and a WW2 injury that cost a family
friend, Harry Bow, a leg, gave us children in the late
1940's and 1950's, a clear sense of Canada's participation in
both world wars.
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- War movies churned out by the Hollywood propaganda machine
would have impressionable young minds believe Americans won both
wars and Canada had little, if any, roll in the victories.
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- Hollywood is still producing propaganda war movies, but Canadians
are much more aware of Canada's contribution. John Wayne,
meet Uncle Bill and the legions of other Canadians from 20th
century battles.
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- As Remembrance Day 2006 approaches, the thoughts of all Cosway
family tree members, including my uncle's children and grandchildren,
will be with Canada's veterans, especially the three remaining
Canadian veterans of WW1.
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- Veterans Affairs Canada says the last three known Canadian
veterans of WW1 are: Lloyd Clemett of Toronto, born in
Omemee, Ontario, in 1899; John F. Babcock of Spokane,
Washington, born in Ontario in 1900, and P. Dwight Wilson
of Oshawa, born in Vienna, Ontario, in 1901.
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- Two WW1 veterans who died late in 2005, Clarence (Clare)
Laking and William "Duke" Procter, were
both 106.
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- "VAC has been handed a sacred trust to honour and remember
those who have given so much to Canada in its time of need,"
Connie Livingston, program officer for VAC's Canada Remembers
Division, told the Wayback Times. "Having accepted this
responsibility, VAC will continue to do its utmost to ensure
that the selfless dedication of veterans is remembered for generations
to come."
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- War souvenirs forever linked to personal sacrifice
- War is hell - and very collectible. From battlefield souvenirs,
to medals, books, wartime food and liquor ration stamps, sheet
music, photographs, vintage airplanes, recruiting posters, media
advertising etc.
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- Name a wartime souvenir and you are sure to find it a store,
a market or in one of the many online auctions.
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- The Internet has hastened the exchange of war souvenirs from
all sides and all wars, from the Civil War to 21st century conflicts.
If there were a Top 10 list for in-demand war souvenirs, it would
include Civil War and German WW1 and WW2 items.
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- One Kingston, Ontario, dealer is aggressively soliciting
German war memorabilia on the Internet, with a posting declaring:
"Wanted! I buy all German WW1 and WW2 war souvenirs ...
daggers, visor caps, bayonets, swords, uniforms, flags, helmets
medals etc. Turn those old war souvenirs into cash."
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- But before you turn those war souvenirs in your possession
into cash, take them to professional appraisers. And if your
war souvenirs include explosives, such as bullets, shells or
grenades, call a munitions expert to have them officially declared
harmless.
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- The International Red Cross Committee says large numbers
of civilians worldwide are killed or injured each year by "explosive
remnants of war." They include artillery shells, hand grenades
and mortar shells kept as war souvenirs.
- In Canada and the United States, bomb experts are still being
called out to examine WW2 war munitions stored in cupboards and
attics, or buried in backyards, for decades by vets and discovered
by family members after they die.
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 There were few
controls when it came to Canadian soldiers returning home after
WW2 with war souvenirs, says Ted Doyle, who shares his
experiences on the HMCS Iroquois stories web site.
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- (Ted, pictured here wearing a souvenir German uniform and
carrying a German rifle, says Trophies of War were plentiful.)
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- "To the best of my knowledge, there were no written
rules with respect to acquiring 'battlefield' souvenirs, although
obviously there were some common sense restrictions," the
Belleville-born WW2 vet told the Wayback Times. "For example,
the 'powers that be' would frown upon the idea of bringing home
a German tank."
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- Doyle, a retired Toronto engineering/construction company
executive, tells of post VE Day meetings with Canadian Army personnel
aboard the Iroquois in port at Wilhemshaven, Germany, where "war
souvenirs" exchanges were plentiful.
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- In Wilhemshaven, Iroquois crew mingled with Canadian Army
soldiers on their ship after offloading 3,000 German troops being
repatriated to Germany. The soldiers were "a great source
of (war) souvenirs; flags, bayonets, helmets and the most favoured
of all - guns of any description. The latter came aboard in great
quantities (including ammunition) so that when we left to return
to (Halifax), there was enough artillery aboard to start a civil
war."
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 Doyle said the RCMP would board
the ship in Halifax, pile all of the 'souvenir' weapons on the
quarterdeck and examine every weapon. Trophy of War permits (pictured
at left) were issued for non-automatic weapons, while unacceptable
weapons were 'broken apart' and dumped into Halifax harbour.
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- Add the cleared Iroquois weapons and other war souvenirs
to those acquired by the tens of thousands of other returning
Canadian service men and women and you have a fair idea of the
volume of war souvenirs in Canada.
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- All of the wartime mementos are linked to the personal service
and sacrifice of friend and foe, on and off the battlefields.
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- Other articles by John Cosway
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