Barker, R. (CKPLtest)

Flt. Sgt. Ross Baker tells of Conditions in England

“Canadian Forces Treated Marvellous,” [sic] said Ross.

Flt. Sgt. Ross Baker, R.C.A.F., son of Mr. and Mrs. H. Baker, of 6 Adelaide St. S., has returned from England after spending a year with a medical unity there.

Ross was posted on the Lancaster District R.C.A.F. and RAF Medical Hospital. He said that the countrysides [sic] in England were very picturesque and it seemed very strange to see hedges around the fields and lands owned by the people. The hedges are of [illegible] thorn and are quite high and green.

“The Canadian forces are treated marvellous, [sic]” he continued, “and every place that I went, every one seemed to go out of his way to give us a nice time. They do a lot of different dances than we do here, but American swing is going over very well. I saw Bob Hope and his troop when they were over there at a Yankee station.”

“The men are fed well and they live in Mission Huts. These huts are corrugated steel and are in a half circle. Some of the men are under canvas and others in these wooden huts,” he said.

Ross continued by saying that the morale of the English people is very high and they are very optimistic concerning the outcome of the war. He said that they figure that the war will be over in about a year to a year and a half. Ross told the Post that every woman in England is doing everything in her power to win the war. He especially mentioned the Women’s Land Army which volunteer its spare time working in the field and tilling the land. Ross said that English people are getting very tired of blackouts the strict rationing and that they are in a hurry to get rid of Hitler and his henchmen.

“ It was queer to come back to Canada to see the lights at nights,” he said. “In England one has a practically complete blackout and rain and fog on top of that.”

“There is a definite cut in the air raids over England, however there are still a few. The only thing that I didn’t like about it was the land mines, they would come down and you could hear the swaying of the parachute that they were attached to, as it cut through the fog but you couldn’t tell where it was going to land.”

Ross said that he would have like to have stayed in England till the end of the war. As he put it, “I would have liked to seen it through.” He said that he expected to go to Sicily and that the posting to Canada came as a complete surprise, however, it is nice to be home again.