Leonard Paul Rundvall: 07.09

23.7.09

JUST A COMMON SOLDIER

He was getting old and paunchy and his hair was falling fast, And he sat around the Legion telling stories of the past.Of a war that he had fought in and the deeds that he had done. In exploits with his buddies, they were heroes everyone.And tho' sometimes to his neighbours, his tales became a joke,All his Legion buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke.
But we'll hear his tales no longer for old Bill has passed away. And the world's a little poorer for a soldier died today.He will not be mourned by many. Just his children and his wife, For he lived an ordinary quiet and uneventful life. Held a job and raised a family, quietly going his own way, And the world won't note his passing tho' a soldier died today.
When politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state. While thousands note their passing and proclaim that they were great. Papers tell their life stories, from the time they were young,But the passing of a soldier goes unnoticed and unsung.Is the greatest contribution to the welfare of our land,A guy who breaks his promises and cons his fellow man?
Or the ordinary fellow who in time of war and strife, Goes off to serve his country and offers up his life? A politician's stipend and style in which he lives. Are sometimes disproportionate to the service that he gives,While the ordinary soldier, who offers up his all, Is paid off with a medal, and perhaps a pension small.
It's so easy to forget them, for it was so long ago. That the Old Bill of our country went to battle, but we know,It was not the politicians, with their compromise and ploys, Who won for us the freedom that our country now enjoys. Should you find yourself in danger with your enemies at hand,Would you want a politician with his shifting stand?
Or would you prefer a soldier who has sworn to defend. His home, his kin and country and would fight until the end? He was but a common soldier and his ranks are growing thin. But his presence should remind us we may need his like again. For when countries are in conflict, then we find the soldiers part. Is to clean up the troubles that the politicians start.
If we can not do him honour while he's here to hear the praise. Then at least let's give homage at the ending of his days, Perhaps just a simple headline in a paper that would say: "OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING, FOR A SOLDIER DIED TODAY"

A.Lawrence Vaincourt.

20.7.09

Victory and Siteseeing in Paris 1945

15.7.09

Canadian Army Discharge Certificate

11.7.09

Canadian War Cemeteries in Netherlands

The Canadian War Cemeteries are kept immaculate. The care of the Dutch people ensures that the memory of those men will be honored forever. In southwest Netherlands is Bergen op Zoom Canadian War Cemetery, where 968 Canadians are buried; casualties of the Battle of the Scheldt. Near Nijmegen in eastern Netherlands is Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, where 2,300 Canadians rest and another 103 are memorialized since they have no known graves. North of the City of Holten in northeast Netherland is the Holten Canadian War Cemetery, where 1,355 Canadians are buried, most of whom were killed in the later stages of the war.
Canadians who died in the Netherlands are also buried at the Reichwald Forest Cemetery in Germany (706 RCAF and 1 soldier), the Rheinberg War Cemetery in Germany (516), and the Adegem Canadian Way Cemetery in Belgium (848 mostly from the Battle of the Scheldt).
The cost of De Bevrijding was high. Canadians are proud of their role. The Dutch will never forget. It can be summed by the inscription on the memorial at Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery “We live in the hearts of friends for whom we died.”

Lest We Forget.

WWII Casualties

The Black Watch suffered more casualties than any other Canadian infantry battalion in Northwest Europe according to figures published in The Long Left Flank by Jeffrey Williams. Disaster seemed to follow the unit; on the voyage to France on the day of the Dieppe Raid, casualties were suffered by the unit during a grenade priming accident onboard their ship.

During the Battle of Verrières Ridge on July 25, 1944, 325 men left the start line and only 15 made it back to friendly lines, the others being killed or wounded by well entrenched Waffen SS soldiers and tanks.
On 13 October 1944 - known as Black Friday by the Black Watch - the regiment put in an assault near Hoogerheide during the Battle of the Scheldt in which all four company commanders were killed, and one company of 90 men was reduced to just four survivors.

Pipe Major H. McDonald, Piper D.W. MacDonald and Piper W.J. Hannah at the burial of 55 infantrymen of "A" Company, The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada, Ossendrecht, Netherlands, 26 October 1944.

10.7.09

Battle Honours of the Leonard Paul Rundvall

The 1939-45 Star

The France and Germany Star

The Defense Medal

Canada 1939-45 Voluntary Service Medal

1939-45 King George Service

6.7.09

Queen of Netherlands Bronze Cross for Bravery

In 1948, Len was called to an Investiture in Saskatoon,
where the Dutch Ambassador awarded him with the
Queen of Netherlands Bronze Cross for Bravery
Royal Decree No. 2 8/12/45

Letter to Theodore Rundvall (Leonard’s Father)

The Netherlands Bronze Cross is an award for valour, apparently similar to the Distinguished Service Medal and the Military Medal, which are very high honours for NCOs. Leonard was one of five members of the Regiment to win the award and his name is Appendix E - Honours and Awards - of Paul Hutchinson's book Canada's Black Watch.

4.7.09

Canada came of age during the Second World War

.....has focused on the details of actions at the battalion and company level. The evidence confirms my belief that historians have greatly underrated the achievements of the Allied combat troops who inflicted a series of defeats on the German army and thereby played the major role in the liberation of the people of North-West Europe.

It was a war of company and platoon commanders, sergeants and, above all, the junior NCO who lead troops into battle. Many of these were unlikely heroes for the infantry rarely attracted the biggest, the best and the brightest. The very ordinary young Canadians, the “long, the short and the tall,” who fought the battle to liberate North-West Europe turned out to be quite extraordinary. Bless them all!

A static battle of attrition, gains measured in yards and thousands of dead.

Total casualties for the Black Watch Regiment as a whole amounted 2,150 men. For service during the war over two hundred honours and awards were made to personnel of the Regiment.

After the war:

In the first decade after the war Canadians had little difficulty in giving meaning to the achievements and sacrifices of the men and women of the armed forces. The horrors of the Third Reich were fresh in everyone’s mind and no one doubted that Canadians has made a major contribution to the defeat of the “monstrous tyranny which had threatened the survival of Western Civilization."
This came under attack in the 1960s from a generation influenced by the war in Vietnam and rise of a new nationalism. All wars were suspect and the kind of patriotism which had formed the context for Canadian participation in the Second World War seemed to closely tie to Britain to be acceptable.

Darrell remembers one cold Remembrance Day in Naicam in 1969 or 70; the dead leaves were blowing from the North. The Legion was marching west up the main street, and I was wearing my army surplus jacket, the group of young people weren’t laughing but we didn't understand and we didn’t have the proper respect. I remember Dad eyes looking at me as he was marching. I wish in hindsight we would have talked to the veterans and shown them respect. Sign of the time.

However much we may honor the "Unknown Soldier" as the symbol of sacrifice in war, let us not mistake the fact that it is the "Known Soldier" who wins battles. Sentiment aside, it is the man whose identity is well known to his fellows who has the main chance as a battle effective. - Colonel S.L.A. Marshall.

The Canadians who landed in Normandy and the Canadians who fought through Buron and Authie, Verriers Ridge and the Falaise Gap deserve to be remembered by their country. They were not all saints, they were not all heroes. But there were saints and heroes among them, as they fought in the dust and hest of Normandy that summer of 1944. Remember them and remember their achievements. -J.L. Granatstein and Desmond Morton, Bloody Victory; Canadians and the D-Day campaign 1944.