One of Dad's most memorable Christmases spent Overseas was in the Winter of '44 spent on Base in Northern Scotland and although I pieced the events together not from him himself but from a compilation of the actual event as recounted by various other members of his crew ...
Assigned to Base with no leave for the Holidays, the Canadian contingent of the crew assembled all the packages and parcels sent to them from home and held a party in the Skipper's Hut where they gorged themselves silly on a variety and assortment of morsels and treats. Of course, the beverage of choice to wash it all down was beer and in those days smoking was pretty near the norm so with bellies crammed full of food stuffs and amply lubricated with Christmas spirits they passed a Christmas Eve together far from home. The air inside the quarters was blue with smoke and well sated and all quite sleepy at the end of a long evening's celebration of the Festive Season, the Skipper quietly drew his Grandfather's Luger pistol from the First World War and without warning fired a shot off into the overhead which in the confined quarters of the Nissen Hut pretty near deafened everyone completely and most certainly rang in the Holidays with a bang ...
Apparently the shot that rang out at midnight was to mark the conclusion of Christmas Eve and the crew withdrew forthwith for a much needed change of linen ...
Dad never mentioned any of this himself but the rest of the crew did over the course of years. I'm sure for all of them it became one of those events that made the passing of a time far from home and family a memorable if not unforgettable Christmas Eve ...
To Matt & Linda whose hard work, dedication and efforts make this site such a glowing tribute to the stories and sacrifices of all those who served may this Christmas be an especially warm and wonderful time with family and friends and may the New Year and all it brings be kind.
Linda R Ibrom
