Lest we forget

Secord World War veteran George Beardshaw enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces at the age of 18. Beardshaw would go on to fight in France, landing at Juno Beach to help liberate French cities from Nazi Germany’s control.

“We lost a lot of men during that time,” says George.

Near the end of the war, George was captured and held as a prisoner of war for 18 days.

Born in 1923, the now ninety-nine-year-old war veteran, who lives at St. Joseph’s Parkwood Institute as part of the Veterans Care Program, was recently awarded the Legion of Honor medal, the highest award given by the French government. The award also gave George the rank of Knight of the French Legion of Honour.

“It still brings tears to my eyes to remember that day,” he recalls. “I was very touched by just how many friends and people came to see me receive such a special recognition.”

A fighter all his life, George was born in England and was placed in an orphanage at the age of three. At the age of 14, he was sent to Canada as part of the Home Children program. The program sent orphaned youth from Britain to Canada between the late 1860s and 1948, but many of these children worked on farms and were used as cheap labour.

George, who worked on a farm when first arriving in Canada, is one of the last surviving orphans to come out of the Home Children program.

Now in honour of Remembrance Day, George fashions a poppy beside his newly awarded medal.

“I wear a poppy to remember too,” says George. “I lost a lot of friends. Everyone should wear one of these for November 11 - Lest we Forget.”