Ninety-one-year-old Sundre resident and veteran Victor Loreth considers himself one of the lucky ones who experienced the Second World War.
He grew up on a farm in Raymore, Sask., joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in December of 1941 at age 18, and moved to Brandon, Man.
“Farming wasn't my thing so I thought I'd join the air force,” said Loreth.
After about six months, he transferred to Regina, Sask., where he made acid bombs for training purposes. After being stationed in Regina for about a year, he saw a posting for air gunners and moved to Dafoe, Sask. to train as a wireless air gunner.
“When they take you on a plane you have to be a navigator. And I was pretty good at gunnery,” explained Loreth, noting that each plane would have two gunners and one pilot.
“One plane would go this way and the other one would be going that way, so you'd shoot at it, but with a camera.”
There were 32 people in his gunnery class, but after the war had ended, there were only three of them still living.
He described one incident that killed several fellow gunners.
“This one morning I had tonsillitis and I was supposed to go on that flight but I had to go to the doctor,” he said.
“And the planes were coming down, one over top of one, and they gave a signal ‘don't land because they're coming in together'. So this guy pulls up, hits the tail of the other one, and they all died – all six of them.”
He says the incident had a lasting impact on him, contributing to his final exam failure. “I was one of the lucky ones. I was supposed to be on that plane,” he said.
He then went to Trenton, Ont. where he worked for a year and a half in the air force's equipment section and looked after fuel for the airplanes. He was then transferred to England and worked in the air force equipment section there.
“There was a lot of bombing then. And you did quite a bit of work when the planes would come back in. It's gruesome but you had to clean out the planes, and some bodies were smashed up badly,” he said.
He was stationed there until the war ended and he was discharged in March of 1946.
After the war ended, he went back home and helped on the farm. But it still wasn't what he wanted. He took a diesel mechanics course in Saskatoon and worked at a dealership there for six years.
There were 11 children in his family. He had seven sisters and three brothers. One of his brothers also enlisted in the Second World War.
He married his wife Blanche in 1949. Shortly after, they moved to Alberta, where Loreth worked for an oil company for 30 years. He retired 31 years ago, lived on an acreage for 27 years, and moved to Sundre about eight years ago.
Together they have three daughters and one son, nine grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
Loreth says Remembrance Day is an important day to honour but at the same time he doesn't want to remember his war experience.
“A lot have died for the country,” he said. “You remember your comrades that have passed away.”
He can recall a time after a bombing when he was on cleanup duty.
“You'd grab a leg and all it was, was just a leg blown off,” he said. “You don't want to remember it…It was sort of scary at times.”
He has been a member of the Royal Canadian Legion for about 25 years.
He used to participate in the Remembrance Day ceremonies at Sundre High School and River Valley School. He stopped participating, however, because students would approach him after the ceremony and ask if he killed any people in the war.
Loreth has received a Canadian Volunteer Service Medal, 1939-45 War Medal and Victory Medal.
