Chapter ten

“Anyone who has looked into the glazed eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war.”

Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismark (1815-1898)

After Hitler had invaded the Ruhr Valley in 1937 and Czechoslovakia in 1939 with little response from the Allied Powers, the British Government warned him that any further aggression would mean war. Hitler decided to ignore this and on September 1^st 1939, Hitler’s Armies invaded Poland and simultaneously, the armies of the Soviet Union invaded from the East. Poland tried to fight back but was easily overpowered. The whole country was destroyed and many were killed or simply ‘disappeared’. Britain and France declared war on Germany.

Fortunately Britain had anticipated war for several years and was building its armaments. They had developed aircraft, notably the Spitfire, and an early version of radar that was still top secret. Winston Churchill was appointed as First Lord of the Admiralty and immediately set about building warships and refitting older ones from WWI. He also fortified the big naval base at Scappa Flow. He was aware that Germany had a strong submarine fleet and prepared defenses against them.

British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned and Churchill was appointed to the post. He soon declared a unity government with the Labour Party under Clement Atlee. Then nothing happened for a while.¹ During this period, the German Navy had so-called ‘Pocket Battleships’ with the speed of a cruiser and the gunnery of a battleship. They were marauding the oceans. When the Royal Navy detected the Graf Spee in the southern Atlantic, they gave chase. The Graf Spee took refuge in Montevideo Harbour in Uruguay, a country that was officially neutral but was known to favour Germany. Eventually the Graff Spee was forced out of harbour but as it reached international waters it was scuttled and sank. This became known as the battle of the River Plate.

In early 1940, Germany’s Wehrmacht invaded Denmark and Norway. It was well planned and British efforts to prevent it were unsuccessful. Then in May 1940, the Wehrmacht invaded Belgium, threatening France. France called on Britain for help but Britain was bracing for invasion, so could only offer a small force. Germany then invaded France and over the next few months it was apparent that France would fall. This left Britain standing alone and Churchill gave a series of speeches that inspired the nation to fight back and “never surrender”.

Bill followed this with great interest and concern. His family could see how worried he was and he threw himself into his work with redoubled vigour. His work in pathology continued but under more difficult circumstances. He still had to cover a wide area when many co-workers were overseas or employed elsewhere. He kept in touch with his friends. His friend Philip Manson-Bahr wrote back that he understood Bill’s concerns because they were under direct attack and yet his offers to contribute were rebuffed. He said: “We all here are champing and fretting too – but we are just too old & we are out of it. They just don’t want us & say that, quite frankly, there is nothing whatever for us old fogies to do.” Philip also commented that he had had similar letters from other old friends. So he was trying to be supportive. He commented further that his son-in-law² “had been sent to a place that no-body knows about and I, physically fit as I am, just sit here & carry on.”

Bill signed up to return to active service but he was too old for regular duties so he was assigned as a Recruiting Officer for the Hamilton district. He served in this capacity for the duration and retired in 1945. He got a letter from Colonel Gorssline, Department of National Defense in Ottawa to express his appreciation for Bill’s presence at a meeting of senior officers of the service. He thanked Bill for making the point that age was not necessarily a bar to useful service. In 1941, Bill wrote to the Director-General of the Royal Army Medical Services in London. No reply is recorded.

In February 1942, Bill received a letter from Professor Gallie, Chair of the Senate’s Committee on Medical Studies at the U of T. Attached was a Report on medical studies with proposed changes. Bill had been on the University Senate for many years. He replied that due to pressure of work, he could not attend. In 1943, Bill had extensive correspondence with Dr. William Robinson, the Director of the Banting Institute in Toronto. They compared notes on many issues including filing systems.

Bill had remained in touch with Frederick Banting, the co-discoverer of insulin.³ During the war, Frederick had been employed in secret work with the Department of Defence in Ottawa and the British War office. On February 21^st he died in a plane crash off Musgrave Harbour, Newfoundland. Bill was shocked and saddened by his death. Just before this he had invited his friend to speak in Hamilton to a medical group and this had to be cancelled.

In June 1944, the Staff of the City Hospital Laboratory Service received a commendation from the Board of Governors. Also, Bill sent a proposal to the Hospital Building Committee for an Institute of Pathology and Bacteriology with a detailed list of what was included. They were under consideration for some time but nothing was done until after the war.

Rationing

Rationing was introduced in 1940. It included food and gas rationing. Bill was only assigned an A Book. Since he was driving to inquests throughout the region, he used this up in about 3 months. Then he had a long hassle to get it upgraded to a D Book which was the most generous one. Even this was not enough so he took the bus or train to Niagara or to Waterloo many times. The Willys got an A Book, later changed to AA. Bill sometimes used that book if he was desperate.

Our lives slipped into a new routine. Bill was still in the militia and he volunteered to help in the war effort. He was assigned to the Hamilton recruitment centre and served there until nearly the war’s end. He was also the editor of the Journal of Canadian Medical Services, published by the Canadian Army Medical Corps. At that time he formally retired from service after some 30 years. Bill wrote to the Mayor of Hamilton and to the Chairman of the Hospital Board see if the terms of the agreement in 1937 could be fulfilled. The response was disappointing. He was told that it was a gentleman’s agreement and could not be enforced due to the War. He gained some income from his position as a Recruiting Officer but not much.

He was working seven days a week at the lab and at inquests and hearings. He was in constant touch with his friends. The correspondence file is full. In January 1940 he wrote to his friend Philip Manson-Bahr who was much closer to the action and told him that he had received encouraging letters from friends in the U.S. who were supportive. His work as Recruiting Officer kept him busy a couple of days a week. And he continued to give speeches and publish papers, both medical and political. At this point they were mainly in aid of the war effort.

His family became concerned that his health would begin to suffer. He was a heavy smoker from his days in the First World War but he claimed he never inhaled so he hoped that his lungs were not affected. He was pictures with a cigarette in his mouth and a long curl of ash sliding down the front of his suit. The staff in the lab had a Christmas Party every year to which the family was invited. One year, he received as a gift a cigarette holder with a large spoon attached underneath. This brought a laugh from all assembled.

When he returned from the war, Bill described himself as ‘painfully thin’. Pictures of him at the time showed him as trim but not too thin. He had deliberately overeaten for some time to develop a ‘bay-window’ as it was called. Helene called it ‘stout’. His friends were the same and it was felt that those who were thin were ill or did not have enough to eat. It is interesting that today, the well-to-do are more fit. It seems that the old adage has reversed. Also during the war, his teeth had been neglected. If you complained of a tooth ache, the Army dentists just pulled it out. So Bill had very bad teeth through most of his life. Eventually they all had to be extracted.

Other Activities

Bill was an active member of the Hamilton Rotary Club and was President for several years. On April 29^th 1943 he introduced the speaker who was giving an address to the club on “Our Department of Health in Wartime”. There is a list of many members who took part that included many prominent Hamiltonians. He seemed to know everyone in Hamilton and became close friends with many important people.

In 1943 he became a Fellow in the American Public Health It was some years before he received similar recognition in Canada. It was some years before he received similar recognition in Canada..Over the next few years he joined many other American and international associations but similar honours from Canada came much later.

In June 1944, the Laboratory Services received a commendation from the Board of Governors of the hospital for their work and co-operation in a bad fire at the Moose Hall. The Blood Bank at the hospital was also recognized as an important service. Also in June, he sent a proposal to the hospital building committee for a Pathology Institute that would greatly expand their space. It was justified by the large volumes of work that strained their current facilities. It was accepted by the building committee but no action was taken.

Bill had been a member of the Senate at the University of Toronto from 1933 and was very active in alumni affairs. He was President of the U of T Medical Alumni Association from 1933 and in 1936, became President of the U of T Alumni Federation. In 1943 he was a member of the Executive of the University College Alumni Association, and was President in 1952-3. In 1944, he congratulated his friend of many years, President Henry J. Cody on his appointment as Chancellor of the university. Also in 1944, he wrote to Dr. C. J. Devins, President of the Ontario Medical Association thanking him for his visit to the Hamilton Academy of Medicine and mentioning his involvement in alumni affairs.

Family Life

Bill’s son John had started school at a one-room school just down the highway from our home. There would be about 45 pupils in the school at that time. This was a farming community so many of the pupils were farm labourer’s children. There were several Dutch families who had escaped from the war and many families from the 6 Nations Reservation near Brantford. Bill found this mix a very good experience for his son⁴ and said that he was above the prejudices against aboriginal people that were prevalent at the time. John said, I got to know the children of the farm owners as well and several were good friends much later in life.

I trudged down the highway from home and back again several times a day for years. In September 1938 the teacher, Miss Huffman decided to put Grades 3 and 4 together and in effect I skipped a grade. Also this was the only school for everyone in the area. I recalled that there was a boy whom people referred to as “Mongoloid’. It is now called Down’s syndrome. Miss Huffman did not put him in a grade but encouraged some of the more senior pupils to work with him. A year later, he was not there and I was told that he had gone to the big hospital in Orillia. My father told me that this was the hospital for the mentally retarded as they were called then.

When the Second World War started in September 1939, Miss Huffman had a half-hour “Current Events” session each day at 9 O’clock and encouraged the kids to bring in news clippings or information about the progress of the war. John said that he still remembers these things clearly – the Soviet Union’s invasion of Finland, the cavalry regiments that were mown down by machine guns in Poland, the Battle of the River Plate and the collapse of France.

Then I recalled the hunting down of the Bismark after the sudden sinking of HMS Hood by a well-placed shot that hit the magazine. They hunted for the Bismark but the weather didn’t cooperate. Finally when the weather cleared, Bismark was found headed for port in the Bay of Biscay. She had suffered damage so that she was making very slow progress. Finally she was torpedoes by two torpedo planes and was scuttled just off the port. By 1941 the war had reached a stalemate with Britain holding out alone and the U. S. refusing to enter the war.

Sir William Mulock

Bill had remembered Mulock from his childhood. He was born in Bond Head just a short distance from Beeton. Mulock had been Post-Master General in the Laurier government and was well-known in Canada. In 1944, a large dinner and reception was organized at Hart House on the U of Toronto Campus to honour him on his 100^th birthday. Bill was the toast master and greeted the Chancellor and President of the University and assembled guests. It was a memorable occasion. This was one of the events that cemented Bill’s close association with his alma mater. He attended the Armistice Day Service at the Bell Tower beside Hart House every year. John recalled that he went with his father several times when he was old enough.

The War Continues

After the early years of the war, current events were dropped but it left a lasting impression on me and I came to share my father’s interest in politics and world affairs. Things had been going badly for the Allies after the fall of France. The Mediterranean Sea was dominated by the German and Italian Navies and the Royal Navy was struggling to prevent Malta from falling. It was under constant bombardment. The North African Campaign started in June 1940 and drove the British back gradually until by 1942, they were stopped at El Alamein.

When Germany’s attempts at an invasion of Britain were called off, the Wehrmacht invaded the Soviet Union, and Stalin immediately declared war on Germany, putting him on our side. Churchill was suspicious of Stalin throughout the war. But he also felt that this would help the Allies. He and others began to remind people of previous attempts to conquer Russia, and mention Napoleon’s experience in 1812. Germany had much initial success, pushing the Soviets back to Leningrad and Stalingrad. They came close to Moscow but there as winter approached, the Wehrmacht became bogged down. The war dragged on.

German submarines caused heavy losses on the North Atlantic even when a convoy system was instituted in 1940. The Royal Canadian Navy entered the war with very few ships but they began producing Corvettes that played a big part in improving the losses. Britain was entirely dependent on these cargoes to feed the population and maintain the war effort. It was not until 1943 that the heavy shipping losses began to decline.

Churchill had become very close with the U.S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt. He had made overtures for more help but Roosevelt was controlled by an isolationist Congress. However he was able to negotiate a ‘Lend-Lease Agreement that provided some help. Then on December 11^th 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour in what Roosevelt characterized as a sneak attack. They lost much of their Pacific fleet but Congress immediately declared war on Japan and Germany. Japanese forces made rapid advances in the South Pacific and soon important bases, such as Baatan in the Philippines and Hong Kong and Singapore were lost. But as the industrial might of the U.S. was cranked up, the tide began to turn.

It is said that when great momentous events happen, most people can recall where they were and what they were doing. I recalled that I was walking from the Dining Room to the Kitchen to have lunch when I heard about it on the radio. Now we were at war for real – and as many were worried that Britain might fall, there were rapid moves to protect vital industries in Canada. In Ontario, the big hydroelectric generators at Niagara Falls were the main source of power for industry in Southern Ontario. If this generating station was attacked, the whole industrial base would shut down. The station was closed off and the road that ran along the Niagara River and across the top of the station was completely enclosed in barbed wire and motorists were stopped and questioned by military personnel before they were allowed to cross.

Home Defence

I recalled that in my walks around home, I noticed construction was underway just north of the house. I walked up there and found guards patrolling the site. I asked one what was happening and the guard told me that they were bringing power from the Gatineau Region so that if Niagara was attacked, alternate power would be available for Hamilton’s heavy industries. This was the beginning of what was to be a network of transformer stations across the province.

Bill’s work as a recruiting officer continued in Hamilton and had to be fitted in to his very busy schedule. Because of the war, there was a shortage of people to do all the work. He found himself covering a larger area and working longer hours. The Lab was also busy but the recruiting and training of laboratory technologists continued.

Cousin Harry Jr. enrolled in the Navy but when he went to Halifax to take basic training, it was discovered that because of rheumatic fever, he was not accepted for health reasons. Very disappointed, he returned home and was immediately hired by the Dominion Foundries and Steel Corporation in Hamilton. By the end of the war, he was a supervisor and highly regarded. George had several health problems and contributed to work on the farm at home.

Mary had trained as a nurse at the Hamilton General. She enrolled as a Nursing Sister and served in England throughout the war. In 1944 she married a Canadian soldier from Thunder Bay. He was part of the D-Day force and several months later, was reported as ‘missing in action, presumed dead’. Mary was heartbroken and when she returned to Canada it was clear that she was very depressed. She stayed with us for several years at Two Acres.

The War Continued

By 1942, things were looking up for the Allies. The Wehrmacht was bogged down in the Soviet Union and were suffering heavy losses. The North African Campaign under General Erwin Rommel had reached El Alamein but long supply lines and Allied attacks on the North African Ports prevented reinforcements from coming. Churchill was heard to say: “Before El Alamein we never had a victory. After El Alamein we never had a defeat.” The British General in charge of North Africa was replaced by General Bernard Montgomery and this raised morale. Churchill had sent large shipments of tanks and armaments around the Cape of Good Hope because it was too dangerous to send them through the Mediterranean. When the army was resupplied, they started an offensive in November 1942 that pushed the Germans back and by May 1943, they were in Tunisia and the Germans had retreated to Sicily.

In the Pacific, the American forces had their first success in the Battle of Midway. The Japanese Navy lost four aircraft carriers and because of limited resources were unable to replace them. The American Air force carried out their first raid on Tokyo. Everywhere they were being pushed back but the fighting from island to island was fierce and losses were heavy. Churchill was concerned that the Americans would not be as active in the European Campaign. He persuaded Roosevelt to appoint a top general to take overall command of the war against Germany. General Dwight Eisenhower became supreme commander.

Plans for the invasion of Europe were well underway. An abortive raid on Dieppe in August 1942 suffered heavy losses and convinced the Allies that the invasion could not succeed against a French port. Plans for the invasion were planned for a more lightly defended beach and a floating harbour was designed. The whole plan had the code name ‘Mulberry’. The plans for June, 1943 were moved back to June, 1944 and on June 6^th a huge armada headed out for the Normandy Beaches. Losses were very heavy but the invasion of Europe had begun.

Things happened in succession after that. They will not be repeated here. Finally on May 5^th, 1945 the war in Europe was over. The invention of the Atomic Bomb sped up things against Japan and they surrendered on August 15^th 1945. Again I had a way to remember this. The date was circled on the calendar at Two Acres because friends were coming for a visit. When Murray Peart saw this, he asked I who glibly replied “Oh, that’s when the war will be over. Murray scoffed but when it happened, he didn’t say anything.

The rejoicing over final victory was world-wide. In Britain, everyone was in the streets and beginning to contemplate the massive job of cleaning up and rebuilding the war damage. In the Soviet Union, Stalin had tightened his grip on Eastern Europe. Borders were changed so that all countries that were occupied by the Soviets had direct contact. Churchill said “The hot war is over. The cold war is about to begin”. Other countries were trying to get back to normal. John remembers that in Burlington, people were riding up and down the street and even on the sidewalks. The joy and relief was quite evident.

Back Home

The One-room School that John was attending was slated to be closed in 1944. Miss Huffman was married in the summer of 1942 and married women were not allowed to teach in those days. They hired a retired high school teacher Mrs. Gray. At that time there were about 10 in Grade Seven but only 3 pupils in Grade Eight. Mrs. Gray put the two classes together and by June, 10 including me, were recommended to high school without writing the entrance exams. Of the others only one failed. Mrs. Gray was a crackerjack teacher as well. She taught English and I said that his love of language grew from there.

He added: I attended Burlington High School for Grades Nine and Ten. My marks were mid-range and Bill was concerned that I would not be able to enter medicine unless my marks improved. That is when he decided to enroll me at Trinity College School in Port Hope for the Fall term in 1945. the rest of my education is described in Chapter Eleven.

In 1945, Britain was recovering from the long battle. During that year, Princess Elizabeth was marrying Philip Montbatten and we were allowed to stay up late so that we could listen to the ceremony from London. This was the days before video transmission across oceans was possible so the CBC took videos from the BBC, loaded them into a plane and developed them en-route. In Canada, we were able to watch them about 12 hours after they were taken, a feat that put us ahead of our neighbours to the south, who waited a couple of days after the event. When I went home, I was able to watch it on our black and white television.

And Bill was trying to get things together at home. As a doctor, he was entitled to a new car. He bought a Plymouth for $1500 but it had wooden bumpers and various other missing parts that were supplied later. He sold the ’39 Oldsmobile for $800, despite its slipping clutch and a lot of other problems.

Things gradually settled down to a peacetime routine. Rationing was ended and the troops were on their way home. The heavy industries were changing over from producing war materials to domestic products. The Wartime Prices and Trade Board disbanded and inflation became a new threat. Over the next 5 years, prices for all goods doubled.

And Bill’s research continued. He published a further 20 articles between 1939 and 1945. some of these were reprints of articles published earlier.

Bill had brought the Hamilton General Hospital Laboratory Service through the war and they were busier than ever. Suddenly there were many people looking for jobs and for professional training and his teaching and research activities expanded. There were more pathologists available and Bill was anxious to hire an assistant. He also approached the hospital board about the salary increase he had been promised in 1939. All kinds of excuses were given but the upshot was that it was not forthcoming. Bill mentioned that the Chairman had told him that they had promised, but there was no formal commitment. It was not until he reached retirement age in 1970 that he finally got it.

He was offered an assistant. He interviewed several physicians with training in pathology and finally hired a younger man with some experience. Bill spent considerable time training him up to the standard that he expected but it became clear that he would not be able to take over the Laboratory and pathology service when Bill retired. But the Lab continued to operate effectively, partly due to the medical interns that he had through the University of Western Ontario and the University of Toronto.

These issues become the subject of the next chapter.

1 This became known as the Phoney War.

2 The son-in-law would be Greville Spencely. He was an architect and worked on several secret projects.

3 There had been ongoing research into insulin for many years. Research had identified that insulin was produced in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. Diabetes was a disease with early onset and an inevitably fatal outcome. Those who suffered from it had little or no insulin production.

After WWI, research intensified and many papers were published. But the isolation and purification of insulin had eluded research so far. Banting became interested and with the support of J. J. McLeod, the Professor of physiology at the University of Toronto, Banting had a lab and assistance. He worked with Charles Best, a medical student and James Collip, a biochemist and began producing insulin that was pure enough that it could be used on human subjects. In January 1922, the first subject recovered and soon there was demand from all over for this new miracle drug.

Banting and McLeod were awarded the 1923 Nobel Prize in Medicine. The prize was shared with the other participants.

4The lead author.