Harry William Dickie enlisted in 1942, served in Canada for
two years and was posted overseas near the end of June in 1994. He was in England for a very short time, just
a matter of days, and was sent to France.
He had volunteered for the North Nova Scotia Highlanders but ended up
with the Royal Highland Regiment, the Montreal Black Watch. Harry was with the unit only a few days when
he was captured. He was attempting to
free a wound of one of his comrades when he looked up and saw German soldiers
standing over him. This was near
Caen. 72 of his unit were taken
prisoner. He was sent by train to Poland
and ended up in a camp where he met Amos Perry.
He was sent to work very well in the low ceiling mines but because of
his height, he could not work very well in the low ceiling mines. Being a corporal, he was placed in charge of
a group of prisoners and was required to do mechanic work repairing mining
equipment at night.
When the
Russian enemies were getting close, it was decided to attempt to move all the
prisoners west. They were forced to walk
as no transportation was available.
Harry's boots were worn through and his feet froze. He could not walk any further and lay in the
snow. Amos Perry and a prisoner from
Cape Breton, Ernest Cameron, helped Harry and practically dragged him for a day
or so. Due to his frozen feet, parts of
Harry's toes had to be cut away with scissors.
After a few days he and the other prisoners were carried on express
wagon and were taken from place to place for about 3 months. He was finally liberated in Nuremburg,
Germany on April, 1945. He was flown to
hospital in England where he spent a couple of months and arrived back in
Canada on the 28th of June, 1945, almost exactly a year from the
time he sailed.
The
prisoners with Harry were not tortured or severely abused. They, however, suffered from hunger and
cold. After almost a year away from his
family, freezing his feet, and no opportunity for leave or travel except as a
prisoner, Harry dearly paid for his service to his Country.
-Danielle Waite
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