Veteran Steve Chamula recounts his military experience

June 12, 2014 · 0 Comments

At present, at 93, the oldest Veteran member of the Shelburne Legion 220 Branch is Steve Chamula. Born May 6th, 1921 in the town of Detva, Czechoslovakia, Chamula can remember a time when the world’s geography took on massive changes as new countries were created following WWI and many found the need to leave countries that no longer existed, finding work in Canada and in the United States.

In 1943, Chamula enlisted in the Canadian Military service in Toronto. “I wasn’t a Canadian Citizen and I was accepted. From the Horse Palace in Toronto, I was sent to Brantford for Basic training, then onto Camp Borden for advance training, then onto Nova Scotia, and finally onto Halifax. We boarded a troop ship, the Mauritania, not a cruise ship, and crossed the Atlantic jigy-gagging all the way to Glasgow Scotland. We took a train ride south to Aldershot, old Barrack in England, and in 1947 we sailed to Naples Italy in time for Mount Vesuvius to erupt 2–3 weeks after we arrived.

We ended up in the first Canadian division, red shoulder patch, and became the 48th Highlanders of Canada Toronto Infantry Regiment fighting on the Adriatic side of Italy. Canadian troops left the Italian front in spring of 1945 to join the Canadian Army in North West Europe. The war ended may 1945. I volunteered to stay in the occupation forces in Germany with the Queen’s On Rifles Regiment for about six months, was discharged from Military Service and became a civilian in Canada once Again in 1946.”

Veteran Steve Chamula is taking part in Legion’s Project where Books of Recognition are published. Legion Second, Linda Orvis is gathering the Veteran’s accounts of their careers and hopes the Book of Recognition will be published in 6 months. For more information contact the Shelburne Legion 220 Branch, call 519 925-3800.

By Alex Sher