April 1941

I returned to the unit of 5 Apr 1941, the day that Sgt. Groves was invested with the medal of the Order of the British Empire. This was the first decoration earned by a member of the unit in this war. A system of vehicle holidays was instituted in the Canadian Army and on these days no vehicles, except emergency vehicles could be used or moved. It was instituted to save petrol and allow preventative maintenance to be carried out on the grounded vehicles.

On exercise Hare on 9 Apr. This time there was no mix-up of transport on the roads. Thursday and Friday we were in Laughton-Alfriston-Denton area on the South Coast of England. The unit moved back to billets in Kingswood on Friday at 1600hrs. Church parade held on Sunday and march past was taken by the CO. 14 Apr was declared a holiday to make up for the holiday on Good Friday which we missed due to the exercise. We went by road transport on 16 Apr to the ranges at Ash in the Aldershot area. Left Kingswood at 0330hrs and returned 1700hrs the same day. Heavy enemy air activity reported nearly every day this month with some local bombing. On 25 Apr Pte. A. Wilson was killed in a cave-in while filling sand bags at Henley Heath. Cpl. D. Collins was also severely injured at the same time in the same incident. Pte. Wilson was buried with full military honours at Brockwood on 29 Apr. An entry was placed in Part I orders restricting entry to London on pass due to the heavy damage from the bombing. This did not affect me as I never had any intention of sticking my head into the lion's mouth and roam around London while it was being bombed.