Tuesday

THE PILGRIMAGE

 Part 1

Pte. Joseph William Colp 
             1919-1943


One by one      we come
Sink our feet ankle deep
into the cold Italian mud
Finding our way to Moro River.

Just 22 when you board the troop ship.
Early morning Halifax fog.
Then Scotland. Sussex. Sicily.
Four months to the Sangro.
And finally beneath the earth
near San Pietro.

We sent our young men.
Our strongest. Our best.
And they died.

Years vanish. Yet the rest of our family
comes searching for you. All taking
different paths. Mother. Brothers. 
Sisters. Nieces. Nephews. We listen
for one last whisper of your voice.

***
Moro River War Cemetery
June 1983

Lillian is the first
The baby sister
Father now dead
Not even four
She will not remember
you whispering goodbye
The rough warm wool of
your khaki West Nova kit.

The Christmas tree stood
til February that Winter of ‘42.
its needles dry and rusty red
Mother so sure the war would end
You. Would. Come Home.

Lillian is almost 80 now.
Memory fading. Yet she remembers.
Has knelt in the bright Adriatic sun.
touched your cross.

“The Lord is thy keeper.
The Lord is thy shade
upon thy right hand”
Psalm 121:5

***










He was a sniper, his brother says
A gentle country boy
with smiling eyes
Perfect vision.

Growing up in the Lunenburg
County woods in the 1930s
The second son
Learned early to shoot clean
Moose. Bear. Deer. Partridge.
More than a dozen lives
depended on it.

Country boys they said
made the best snipers.

Much more than just superb shots
The patience of Job
The eye of a hawk
Nerves of steel
A gentle spirit
A skilled hunter.

There are no white hands in war.

***

 1942

It was deep winter
when our ship slipped
into the Firth of Clyde.


Worthing – Brighton
(on the English Channel)

June

The 26th
Sports day. We take honors
by a good margin.  Nova Scotia’s flag
flies triumphant. Our men capture
the Brigade Silver Cup.

Arundel – Littlehampton
(across the Channel from LeHavre)

Early July

High hopes of sea bathing.
Sadly famous beaches pocked with
mines and forbidden.  I dream of
home and the tumbling LaHave River.
The world inside my head.

October

Our old friend Brig. Foulkes turns up
Tells us West Novas are largely
a seafaring population. We will suffer
less from seasickness. Looks to us to
spearhead any landing by the 3rd Brigade.
Englishmen haven’t spent much time
in Nova Scotia hayfields.

Newhaven
(across the Channel from Dieppe)

December

The 25th
Not a creature stirs til 8:30 a.m.
We worship. Sing carols. The familiar
Christmas story. All the turkey and roast
pork we can eat. With all the fixings.
At Drove Hall, trestle tables
bright red and green. Lit with candles.

A gift by each man’s plate. Officers tap
us a bountiful supply of beer.
Rumor has it my father and his 
best friend Arch had a still between
their hills down by the brook.
Alcohol never a guest at our table.

We will remember on night manoeuvres
When we are Wet. Cold. Chilled to the bone.
Lt. Col. Bogert wishes us all Merry Xmas.
Hopes are high the next time we will
have dinner with our families at home.

It becomes clear.
1943 will be the year.

***
“It wasn’t Hell. It was the courtyard
of Hell. A maelstrom of noise and hot
spitting steel. The rattling of machine
guns never stops. Wounded men refuse
to leave. Mud. Rain. Death. Blight.
And desolation.”
                -Matthew Halton
                CBC war journalist
                Recalling the Battle of Ortona
                Christmas 1943

***
1943

Waiting. Waiting. Always bloody waiting.


Crieff, Scotland

Wolfe Force. They called it hardening
Fire live ammunition over our heads
A commando unit shows us
how to kill with our hands
Three enemies await us:
Malaria. Jaundice. And the Germans.

June

The 13th

Communion for Protestants

The 15th, 8:30 am

150 cigs issued to each man
Shoulder patches and division
flashes removed. Take the train
to port of embarkation
Arrive ½ hour ahead of schedule.

Gourock on Clyde

Fog, rain and rising seas

We board the Polish liner, Batory
now known as HMT A8.
She’s also dubbed ‘The Lucky Ship’
Unlike her sister survives the war.

The 21st

Weather fine and clear
We get our first dose of
suppressive mepacrine
Ready for mosquito warfare
Rumor is it makes you sterile.

The 28th

Preparing to depart
Tweedie orders blackout
Convoy will not stop to pick up
anyone who falls overboard
We considered ourselves warned
Put out to sea.

The 29th
In centre of the convoy
We turn west
Disembodied voice announces:
“We are going to the Mediterranean
to take part in the biggest combined
operation ever conceived.”

Still at sea

July   

The 1st
Penhale speaks
Reveals our secret destination
                              * SICILY
The whole ship breaks into cheers
We are now part of the famous
8th Army under Montgomery
who makes it clear
Syracuse is expected to be
in our hands by breakfast
the day we land.

The 2nd

Montgomery welcomes us
as ‘magnificent soldiers’
Absolutely confident that
our hunting in the homeland
of the Italians will meet
with sure success.  Wonder what
Hitler tells his boys.

The 4th
Bearing east toward Gibraltar
Depth charges dropped by destroyers
We follow the shining path.

The 7th
Huge force of ships appears
to starboard moving with us
We pray they are American.

The 9th
Last minute details ironed out
Bogert stresses resistance will be
to the last man and the last round
-- even when completely surrounded.

Going ashore

The 10th
We land in 3 to 6 feet of water
aggravated by heavy swells
The load we each carry
made somewhat heavier by
this underwater march.

***

When this Bloody War is over
over 70 million people will lie dead.
Mostly Russian and Chinese.
Most will be civilians.
NOTES:  The West Nova Scotia Regiment proudly carries the honour of the longest fighting record in Canadian history. It dates prior to 1697 under the old French regime. Young men are drawn mainly from the South Shore and the Fundy Shore. Joseph’s Great-Uncle Heinrich was also a member of the early militia. On 19 November 1821 he was issued a “ King’s musquet, bayonet and belt, cartouch box and belt”.  In return for this, he was bound to protect the province from wild Indians.

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