January 13, 1965 Continued

I drove back home for dinner. In the afternoon I went back to Lipton, called on Mrs. Goff. She phoned Joy to let them know I was going to see Uncle Horrie. I drove out to the cemetery again and gave Lerat a thermos of hot coffee. He thought he might be finished about 4:00 pm.
I drove out to the farm, parked by the gate and walked in to Silver Birches. They were not surprised to hear about Uncle Arthur. I did not stay too long as I did not want the car to get too cold to start. When I got back to the cemetery about 4:00, Lerat still had an hour's work in order to finish. I drove into town to see Bud but he had gone off again. So I called around at Mrs. Goff's for a while. Then drove back to the cemetery, waited til Lerat had finished, then drove him home. Hannah came along this evening with a few boxes of Uncle's things including the Waterloo stick.

January 14:Dick and I both off work today and we left home in good time going down to the Fort to pick up Lerat. Inclined to snow a bit but much milder. We drove right up to the cemetery as Lerat wanted to make sure everything was ok. Then going back to Lipton and we left Lerat at the hotel. Then went to Mrs. Goff's where Les, Joy, Ralph, David and Ivy Hobetzeder were there. . Uncle Horrie and Don soon arrived. The service was delayed as Mr Ellis got his car stuck near Jim Potter's and had to be pulled out so we went to Bud's place next door and waited.
Nothing else untoward occurred and at the close of the service most of us went to the grave side. Pat Neil, John Senft, Tom North, Philip Fisher, Manuel Miller and Melvin Grainger were the pall bearers. Then we came back to Goff's for a while. When we thought Lerat had time enough to fill in the grave we went back to pick him up. He wanted to go into the hotel for one quick beer so we left him and went to Our Store to buy a few groceries. We talked a bit with Tom North and Philip Fisher and then Dick went to look for Lerat. Met him coming back from the hotel. We drove back to the Fort and I paid Lerat with a cheque for $25.

October 29 1952

Today, October 29 , in Nevard history . Actually I already made reference to this occasion 3 years ago in this Nevardblog post so some of you may think it looks familiar if you have been following that long.
For those that haven't , the wedding of Joy Nevard and Les Goff as seen in this photo.

We did a re-enactment of this historic photo using the same car this past August. It went well.

August 1942 Letter From L.G.

A letter to Dick Nevard from Les Goff who was already in the Canadian Army in England.

                                                                                          August 22, 1942
                                                                                          2nd AT Regt.
                                                                                          Orderly Room
Dear Dick
Just a few lines hoping this finds you all well and not working too hard. Sorry I've slipped up on my writing lately but you see there isn't a heck of a lot to write about outside of what we are doing and thats against rules.
Well I guess you are all pretty busy back home right now with the harvesting. I hear you had lots of rain this summer. Things should be looking better now. Do you see much of Sandy these days? I haven't seen Bud yet but have seen quite a bit of Phil Fisher and Dick Creese. I guess there will likely be quite a few of the boys around home being called up for training pretty soon.
Well the army isn't so bad and its quite a change but I daresay I'll be glad to get back when its over. We have a pretty good time and theres a good bunch of boys and you get around quite a bit. Every three months a seven day leave so a guy gets a chance to sleep in a real bed once in a while. But most of us come back off a leave more tired than when we went so you can imagine what kind of a time we have.
Things get a bit dull at times especially if you are out in the country but lately its been rather exciting what with bombs and a few other things. Me and my chum were dodging machine gun bullets one day. Lots of fun. I've seen a few German planes but they don't come often enough. Really livens things up a bit.
We missed out on that raid that the Canadians made but maybe we'll get a chance next time. Well I've seen quite a bit of London, spent some of my leave there with my chum. Its sure quite the place but would be better once we get to know our way around. We didn't do bad. Had quite a hectic time. I also had a nice time with my relations in Wimborne.
Well Dick, I guess I'll have to bring this scribble to a close. Give my best regards to all. I've got about six more letters to answer so cheerio and all the best. Keep writing. Always a friend...
Les.

Les Goff at left.

Letter From A Soldier In England

This letter had a lot of miles on it by the time Dick Nevard received it at Camp Shilo, Manitoba. It was mailed from England to Brandon, Manitoba, forwarded on to Vernon, B.C., from there on to Dick's brother, Bill Nevard back on the farm in Sask. Bill sent it on to Camp Shilo Manitoba where Dick was stationed at the time. (June 1943)

                                                                                                                     Bdr. L.J. Goff L6323
                                                                                                                    18th 2nd Cdn. A/T regt.
                                                                                                                    R.C.A. C.A.E.
Hello Dick
I thought, I'd drop a couple of lines to let you know how I'm getting along. I was very glad to hear from you and also surprised to hear you were in the army. I guess its quite a change in one's life but I consider a good experience and adventure. Of course you are no longer your own boss and a guy hasn't much say in the matter, but its just the way you look at it. As for myself, I take em just the way they come. I'm having a pretty good time and have also seen quite a bit of country. A guy meets a lot of people and makes a lot of friends. We have a good bunch of boys in this outfit. Its a Regina battery. A lot from indian Head and Grenfell.
Well Dick, how do you like the army? Do you think you'll be coming over? Nice country this , and London is quite the place and its really big. Other towns seem small after being here. Its been hit plenty but there is still a heck of a lot left. Anything you want there and its plenty hot in spots. I intend to go to Scotland on my next leave but its a bit uncertain at times. We are kept pretty busy. Of course we get out lots, at times have the odd jerry drop a bomb or two, machine gun quite a bit. When you hear the siren, the roar of aircraft, machine guns, ack ack, well you just hit for a hole. Its fun though. I hope to see some action before its all over.
Well Dick, I gotta sign off. Remember me to all, keep writing, and the very best in all your travels.
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                          Les

Les Goff at left in photo