HK Homecoming

Homecoming

We were soon embarked on the Queen Elizabeth bound for New York. The ship was loaded with 12,000 veterans. It was crowded but we had nice canvas bunks and were given two meals a day. The mess halls were open around the clock. They would finish serving supper and then start breakfast. During the summer, when the Japanese war was still going, the Americans had jammed 24,000 onboard, sleeping people in shifts, etc. In three days, we saw the Statue of Liberty and eight tugs pulled us into a dock in Manhattan. We berthed and were soon put on luxurious trains bound for Toronto. The trains pulled into the Exhibition grounds and my three sisters were there to greet me. The army had, for a change, done their job and had notified the next of kin for arrivals. My Dad did not show. I guess he was not too proud of his turncoat son.

My sisters lived on Currie Ave in the west end and they welcomed me with open arms. I took a holiday back to Saskatchewan to visit my childhood friends and my many relatives. I still had a dream of farming in Saskatchewan but this dream had to be buried and I had to get on with my life in another direction. I still think that the world lost a good farmer when it lost me.

P.S. (by Bob Klassen) Harry went to finish high school on an accelerated time table, obtain a degree in mechanical engineering, get married, obtain a job as a project engineer in Sarnia, Ontario and raise five children there. He passed away in 2008.