One local veteran is looking back on his time spent in the military.

99 year old Rae Lunn from High River served in the Royal Air Force for Canada, during World War II.

Lunn enlisted when he was 21 years old and completed basic training on March 29, 1941 in Toronto.

Afterwards, Lunn went to Aero Engine Mechanic school in St. Thomas Ontario, graduating in September 1941.

In October 1941, Lunn was stationed at S.F.T.S No. 15 in Claresholm as a Leading Air Craftsman.

During his time in Claresholm, Lunn worked on Tiger Moth, Cessna, Cornel and Ansen Aircraft.

He says they used to fly over High River at that time, but he never thought he would live here.

On New Years day 1942, Lunn boarded a ship out of New York and headed overseas.

"I was over there for four years, and never came home." Says Lunn "I was stationed in Yorkshire, in a Town called Leaming, at Number 428 Bomber Command."

Going over the medals he earned, he says he has one for being in World War II, one for volunteering, one for working with the Lancaster Bombers, another showing he went oversees, and the final one, as he explains "Says I got shot at more than once."

Lunns military medals he earned during the second World War.

"Their Messerschmitt airplanes would follow our Lancaster Bombers when they were coming in. The Messerschmitts were so close behind them our radar couldn't pick them up. When our guys went out to make a circuit to land, that's when they'd strafe the aerodrome." Lunn says "That's when we and the ground crew would hit the pad. It happened a couple of times, and finally we caught on and got to firing after them."

He says one thing he remembers very clearly was D-Day.

"That was the beginning of the end, and I saw it, I was there when it happened."

Lunn says he clearly remembers Dwight D. Eisenhower cancelling the original date for D-Day.

"They originally wanted to have it on the fifth, and had to have it on the sixth because they couldn't get across on the channel, it was too rough." He says "Just imagine shutting one of those operations down for one day, it was a lot of work."

He says it was a busy time with airplanes going back and forth constantly.

"It was like a bunch of flies, loud and dark. You can go to the airport and see an airshow, you know what it's like to see a dozen airplanes in the air, this was a hundred of them, all different sizes."

The most important thing about the War though, is educating today's youth, so it doesn't happen again, says Lunn.

"It's very important, especially to a person of my age to know that there are still lots of young people out there that are our future. They're going to be running the government, businesses and schools and it's a plus to know there are leaders out there."

He says it's important we not only remember the sacrifice and struggles of the soldiers who fought, but the families back at home as well.

"I had the opportunity to go and visit some distant relatives while I was in England. I went into their home and they had nothing. They had some tomato plants out in the garden, that was it, period." He says "I left my rations with them, I knew that I could go for a day and then get something to eat back in the station. They didn't have anything and there was a lot of families, a lot of homes like that."

That's something Lunn says not widely acknowledged today, is the fact families went with very little, as all supplies and money went to providing for the war effort.

When World War II ended, Lunn was still stationed in Yorkshire, and he says it was like Christmas time, when soldiers and people everywhere were happy, laughing and thrilled.

He says news of the wars end traveled like wildfire.

"It was quite hilarious actually, it was a relief even though we kept bombing for a long time. We had to make sure it was all complete and it took a while to do that." Lunn adds "I was still there for the best part of a year after the war was declared over."

When Lunn's tour finally finished, the air force asked him to continue serving in the Pacific, but Lunn had a date back in Canada with his fiance Thelma.

Thelma and Rae were married shortly after his return, moved to High River and gave birth to two sons Larry and Garry.

Lunn continued to serve the community investing his time with the Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce.

He continued to used the technical skills learned through his time serving the air force and opened a hardware store in High River and continues to call the town home to this day.

 

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