Karen Graham
Travelling through the halls of Centennial Place, it’s sometimes difficult to image the lives led by their residents. This fall, Wilf and Georgina Smith moved into the home, and theirs is a very interesting story. During the last two years of WWII, Wilf was with the Royal Canadian Air Force in Britain where he flew 39 operational bombing missions over Germany as a wireless air-gunner in a Lancaster bomber with Bomber Command. Keeping a photo of his young wife, Georgina, in his breast pocket as his good luck charm, Wilf ran a variety of missions including bombing, food delivery and POW rescue flights. His stories have been recorded in a memoir by Walter Noble, a friend and fellow model railroad enthusiast who recognized the uniqueness of Wilf’s story and wanted to preserve his memories.
Photo: Karen Graham. WWII veteran Wilf Smith has enjoyed a peaceful life in Peterborough with wife Georgina and friend Walter Noble who documented his memoirs.
Like many teenagers of his day, in 1942 Wilf Smith was looking for adventure. Answering the call of duty was the result of a combination of naive and noble intentions, and Wilf was eager to follow in the footsteps of his older brother in the Navy. As luck would have it, after several futile attempts to join the navy, Wilf visited an air force recruiting centre in Toronto, and shortly after his 18th birthday he reported for training. In a hearing test, he was able to distinguish between identical Morse code signals sent by different operators, which resulted in his selection for duty as a wireless air gunner. He was transferred to Guelph where he spent 8 hours a day for 8 months, listening to “the sound of dots and dashes” of Morse code for many months. Some recruits in this section broke down under the pressure, with an attempted suicide and an attack on an instructor occurring during this part of his training.
The next leg of the journey involved bombing school, where recruits shot at targets with different coloured ammunition so instructors could determine the accuracy of their aim. Just before he was sent overseas in 1944, Wilf and Georgina were married. With a sense of humour, Wilf remarks that during the overseas crossing he was placed in an 8 man unit where all of the men shared the same last name, and would reply in unison when addressed as “Smith”.
The memoirs include details of specific missions and insights about the events of those trying times. They are told in a very straight-forward manner, as if there is nothing special in their tales, but the details reveal a commitment to serve, a pride in the uniform and a desire to make a difference. Wilf is one of the lucky ones in his field: over 10,695 Canadian airmen died during the war serving in the Bomber Command. Wilf is also lucky to still have a vibrant, energetic wife by his side to share his later years.
There are several copies of the book entitled “Flying Officer Wilf Smith” at the Centennial Place library. It makes entertaining reading, but more importantly it points to the importance of recording memories of our family and friends while we still can.
