Wednesday 29 June 2016

Cigar Box - Farewell Message



Contents of The Cigar Box - most from 1943-1945
Property of Lieutenant Thomas Ray Edward "Bud" Seale.
Enlisted:  Royal Canadian Engineers Sept 1940
Transferred:  RCASC 1st Bridge Company, then 85th Bridge 9 Jun 1941
Transferred:  15th Field Reg't, Royal Canadian Artillery








Monday 27 June 2016

Cigar Box - Flight Ticket



Contents of The Cigar Box - most from 1943-1945
Property of Lieutenant Thomas Ray Edward "Bud" Seale.
Enlisted:  Royal Canadian Engineers Sept 1940
Transferred:  RCASC 1st Bridge Company, then 85th Bridge 9 Jun 1941
Transferred:  15th Field Reg't, Royal Canadian Artillery




Flight ticket from Canadian Base 56 at Evere, Belgium (approx 45K south of Antwerp) to RAF military airport at Northolt, England (in NW London)







Air Ticket; Priority 3 going and return; 
Passenger will report to Cdn ATO at B56 (Evere) 
by 1400hrs on day of travel.. 25 September 1945
Name: T Seale; Rank: LT; Unit: 15 RCA
Good for return passage from B56 to Northolt
Date issued: 24 Sept; Place issued: Q(m) HQ L of C, Canmore



Looks like an address written in Dutch on the back ...
"[den hur] a Verduyn Buiten Kalkhaven [4126] 2-4-6, Dordrecht (Netherlands)"
...which is on the River Maas, where he was stationed.




Friday 24 June 2016

Cigar Box - Liberation of Antwerp



Contents of The Cigar Box - most from 1943-1945
Property of Lieutenant Thomas Ray Edward "Bud" Seale.
Enlisted:  Royal Canadian Engineers Sept 1940
Transferred:  RCASC 1st Bridge Company, then 85th Bridge 9 Jun 1941
Transferred:  15th Field Reg't, Royal Canadian Artillery



Souvenir cartoon cards liberation of Antwerp September 1944.
Set of 9 Cards, each 6" x 4¼", printed by Ebinger, Antwerp
Signed either Eginger or Bing, and dated.
Cards are blank on the back.


Cards were in this envelope





Wednesday 22 June 2016

Cigar Box - Liberation of Paris



Contents of The Cigar Box - most from 1943-1945
Property of Lieutenant Thomas Ray Edward "Bud" Seale.
Enlisted:  Royal Canadian Engineers Sept 1940
Transferred:  RCASC 1st Bridge Company, then 85th Bridge 9 Jun 1941
Transferred:  15th Field Reg't, Royal Canadian Artillery


Postcard booklet of 10 photos of the Liberation of Paris August 16-26 1944
Booklet is bound and is 6¼" x 4¼".
The postcards are perforated at the binding edge for easy removal from the booklet.



Liberation of Paris 19-16 August 1944
10 real photographs

General de Gaulle in head of the Official Procession on the Champs-Elysées
26th of August 1944


American troops parade in the Champs-Elysées 


Trying to open flat for scanning would break the binding, so I won't scan any others.


Other photos are:

  • Barricade Rue St Jacques
  • German prisoners passing before the Town Hall
  • French girls welcome to American troops
  • General Bradley and General Koenig at the Unknown Soldier's tomb
  • General Koenig with General Leclerc's troops at the Triumphal Arch
  • The crowd, Avenue de l'Opera
  • General Leclerc's troops parade in the Rue Rivoli
  • American Artillery - Place de la Concorde


Monday 20 June 2016

Cigar Box - Snap Shot Sets



Contents of The Cigar Box - most from 1943-1945
Property of Lieutenant Thomas Ray Edward "Bud" Seale.
Enlisted:  Royal Canadian Engineers Sept 1940
Transferred:  RCASC 1st Bridge Company, then 85th Bridge 9 Jun 1941
Transferred:  15th Field Reg't, Royal Canadian Artillery




For a small sum one could pick up small sets of "Snap Shots"




London Under Fire: Set B of 12 cards (3¼" x 2¼")
Published by Photochrom Co; London and Tunbidge Wells (Passed by censor)
Left: Moorgate Station, Top right: Whitecross St, Bottom right: St Bride's Church





Brussells in Colour: set of 12 cards "Snap-Colour" (4" x 2¾")
Published by Les Editions d"Art LAB, Bruxelles 
Left: Porte de Hal, Top right: Hotel de Ville, Bottom right: Palais de Roi




Friday 17 June 2016

Cigar Box - Billeted in Neede



Contents of The Cigar Box - most from 1943-1945
Property of Lieutenant Thomas Ray Edward "Bud" Seale.
Enlisted:  Royal Canadian Engineers Sept 1940
Transferred:  RCASC 1st Bridge Company, then 85th Bridge 9 Jun 1941
Transferred:  15th Field Reg't, Royal Canadian Artillery



Summer 1945 - Billeted in Neede, Netherlands at the home of the town architect and his wife and three children.





Waterpolo Matches - June and July 1945







Note:  Photos were taken with a small 1½ x 5½ x 1½ camera Bud found in a Hockshop in London. It was the type that you pull the cover down and then pull out the bellows. The prints were 1½ x 2¼, and the film was available in Canada so his parents could send some in their care packages.

Wednesday 15 June 2016

The Cigar Box - Leave in Paris



Contents of The Cigar Box - most from 1943-1945
Property of Lieutenant Thomas Ray Edward "Bud" Seale.
Enlisted:  Royal Canadian Engineers Sept 1940
Transferred:  RCASC 1st Bridge Company, then 85th Bridge 9 Jun 1941
Transferred:  15th Field Reg't, Royal Canadian Artillery



After many long months of battles....

Get a Leave Pass - 24 Mar 1945




Hop on a plane...


See the sights...



Postcard - Paris - Perspective des septs ponts 1945

Just for interest, here is a colour panorama photo of the Seven Bridges of Paris.



See a show...







Monday 13 June 2016

Cigar Box - Remembering the Fallen



Contents of The Cigar Box - most from 1943-1945
Property of Lieutenant Thomas Ray Edward "Bud" Seale.
Enlisted:  Royal Canadian Engineers Sept 1940
Transferred:  RCASC 1st Bridge Company, then 85th Bridge 9 Jun 1941
Transferred:  15th Field Reg't, Royal Canadian Artillery


One of the important battles of WWII involved Canadian and British troops at Hochwald Forest. Once they pushed through enemy lines during the Battle of Hochwald Gap they were part of the historic crossing of the Rhine, and on to final actions at Westphalia and Oldenburg.

The regiment held a memorial service for those who had fallen from Aug '44 to Mar '45.







One of his friends killed at Hochwald Forest was Gunner Raymond Tatlow
Born 8 Oct 1921 / Service #L101577
Died 28 Feb 1945 - this is his temporary grave.






Friday 10 June 2016

Cigar Box - Notices to Soldiers and to Civilians



Contents of The Cigar Box - most from 1943-1945
Property of Lieutenant Thomas Ray Edward "Bud" Seale.
Enlisted:  Royal Canadian Engineers Sept 1940
Transferred:  RCASC 1st Bridge Company, then 85th Bridge 9 Jun 1941
Transferred:  15th Field Reg't, Royal Canadian Artillery





Notice to All Ranks: Dealing with Civilians




Notice to the Civilian Population (English and German)




Non-Fraternization Letter, March 1945








Wednesday 8 June 2016

Cigar Box - Proud Parents of a Lieutenant



Contents of The Cigar Box - most from 1943-1945
Property of Lieutenant Thomas Ray Edward "Bud" Seale.
Enlisted:  Royal Canadian Engineers Sept 1940
Transferred:  RCASC 1st Bridge Company, then 85th Bridge 9 Jun 1941
Transferred:  15th Field Reg't, Royal Canadian Artillery



This newspaper was actually in the box that the cigar box was in. It is a full edition of the Montreal Herald dated Wednesday, November 1, 1944.





Inside, on page 6 was an item about Bud getting his commission after Officer Training.



The image for the paper was taken from this photo of Bud enjoying the English sunshine and reading the Montreal Herald.







Monday 6 June 2016

Amateur Radio Operators



My grandmother's brother was a wireless operator on submarine chasers during WWI. Looking for naval records and information, I came across Volume 27 of the Sessional Papers of the Dominion of Canada, 1916. Tucked in there is a list of Licensed Amateur Radio Stations in Canada for the year 1915.




That made me think of the winter of 2006 when my husband decided he wanted to get his Ham Radio License. At that time you still had to know Morse Code.  He bought Morse Code CD's and practiced. A lot!  With no headphones!



There is no morse code in the requirements now to get a basic certificate. He took a class with a group of people and some he is still friends with. Besides how to use the equipment you learn Operating Tips and net etiquette.  Then you learn a whole new lingo and abbreviations, called Hamspeak - when is a rubber duck not a rubber duck and when is wallpaper not wallpaper??  He studied hard and got his Certificate in April 2006.

Once you pass the exams you pick your Call Sign from those available on a list. This is your radio identity. Here the available call signs for BC were VA7 and he picked GAN, his initials. 



After getting all the equipment he needed, he had to make himself a station, or "hamshack",  to put it all in.  Preferably in a far corner of the basement. He also installed a ham radio on the boat. When sailing around the Island there were several "nets" you can tune in to.  Some were strictly for boaters to check in for information on docking space and island restaurants etc or looking for a boater that missed check in. We made a few new friends on the boating nets. There are also public nets you can tune in any time.

There are repeaters (send, receive, relay signals) all up and down the Island and my husband went by quad with his friend many times to check and repair the equipment on the mountain tops.

Did your ancestor operate a ham radio?



Relevant Links

Licensed Operators 1915 - Sessional Papers 

Canadian Amateur Certification

Search for Amateur Radio Operators and their Call Sign, Canada

FCC License search - USA

FCC Universal Archive License Search

Amateur Radio Stations of the United States 1920-1923

Supplement No. 2 to the list of Radio Stations of the United States 1913

Radio Amateur Call Book Magazine 1933

Getting an Amateur License in the UK

Wireless World - publication of Radio Society of Great Britain 1922-1923

The Emmco Radio Handbook - amateur stations in Australia and New Zealand c1920's





Friday 3 June 2016

Cigar Box - Postcards - A German Family



Contents of The Cigar Box - most from 1943-1945
Property of Lieutenant Thomas Ray Edward "Bud" Seale.
Enlisted:  Royal Canadian Engineers Sept 1940
Transferred:  RCASC 1st Bridge Company, then 85th Bridge 9 Jun 1941
Transferred:  15th Field Reg't, Royal Canadian Artillery



Bud picked up a few things while in Germany, some of which he sold years ago.
Below are 2 examples of WWII German propaganda postcards, with artist's renditions of high ranking military men.

Note:  
If anyone is related to this Weber family or know the people in the photographs, you may contact me.


Both postcards were sent after D-day by a german soldier...
Obergefreiter (Lance Corporal) Eduard Weber
Osterrönfeld / Rendsburg


to his wife and children, and addressed...
Cacilia Weber
23 Meppen Emsland
Kossen Jarmen





Unfere Panzerwaffe - Generalfeldmarschall Rommell


Feldpost (field post office) Rendsburg

16/6/44
My Dear, now it happened, since the last 24 hours the revenge has started. Tomorrow I will write a long letter. I am fine, what I think of you also. The weather is very bad now and that’s all I can tell. I have to talk of I. to you. Your post has arrived completely, that was fine. Many greetings (and kisses) your father and husband.


Unfere UsBootsWaffe - Kapitänleutnant Günther Prien



Feldpost (field post office) Rendsburg

24/6/44
My Dear Ones, many happy greetings for the Sunday. Just was your letter arriving and the postman urgently wants to leave, so only this short notice, I will answer the letter later. Nothing new from here. Here is everything fine and I am satisfied. I hope it’s the same with you. From father and mother I got a letter also, which I also will answer soon. Weather is fine, and tomorrow in Rends (Rendsburg) the fair is starting. If it’s possible I will go there. Greetings and kisses your father and husband.


With the postcards were these three photographs. Could one of these couples be Eduard and Cacilia Weber? 




This officer looks like the same one as in the above photo on the left?





Note:  
Postcards were kindly translated by a gentleman at the FB group German Genealogy

By joining our Facebook Group you get other genealogy news from time to time, and you can download pages of links that go with the posts.

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