In the fall of 1942, at the age of 18, Doug joined
the army, the
Carleton and York Regiment.
 |
Doug and his mother, Rena Daggett
|
He and a friend, Shorty (Thornton)
Small, joined up in Fredericton and received part of their basic training there. He moved
on to Camp Utopia, in Charlotte County, where he continued training. When he received
the overseas call, he trained further in Woodstock, Ontario before travelling to England on
the "Mauritania". More training followed in England.
 |
Lester Wilson, Walter Griffin and Doug in England
|
From England, he travelled by ship to Naples, Italy,
where he spent over two years. There are many stories
of his life in Italy, much too long to include here,
some of them remembered with fondness and some of them
horrifying. Doug was a front line runner in "D"
Company in such battle as The Gully, Ortona, Monte
Cassino, the Gustav Line, the Liri Valley, the Hitler
Line, Melfa River and the Gothic Line.
 |
L. to R.-?, Cyr (1st killed), Laird (from Saint
John), Lt. Bill McGrath, Irv Schriver
(from
Fredericton), Doug, Mel Schriver (from Fredericton),
Jim Giddens (from St. Stephen), Mel Donovan
(from Miramichi area) |
In the summer
of 1944, he moved to Brigade Headquarters and took
the job of driving jeeps for several officers,
including Major Arthur Edgar. In the winter of 1945,
he moved up through France to Holland, and after the
war was over spent several months in Germany.
He returned to Canada in January, 1946, andreceived his discharge in March.
Even though Doug left the army in 1946, he was always
first and foremost a soldier. He remembered every part
of his army life as if it had happened yesterday.
Nearly every Sunday morning, after breakfast, we
lingered at the kitchen table with coffee, while he
told me stories of his experiences in Italy and spoke
of his friends so that I felt I knew them -
Irv Schriver
, who died from injuries received at the Hitler Line,
May 27, 1944; his brother
Mel, died in 1976; Gus Hargreaves, died soon after
returning home from the war; Earl Shields, who he
did not meet again until I took him to Sussex to the
Carleton and York Reunion in 1995.
Doug and Earl at the Legion in Sussex
He devoured books on the Canadians at war, especially in Italy. He always wanted to
return to Italy, yet was afraid to. I bought him a round trip ticket to Rome when he retired,
but he never used it.
Sybil, Doug and Brock at Doug's retirement party
1987
THE SOLDIER'S CHRISTMAS
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