Turner, Lloyd

Sgt. Lloyd Turner of The Queens Own Rifles of Canada spent almost 5 years in Europe fighting through France, Belgium and into Germany. This included the D-Day landings. He was wounded three times and spent V-E- Day in a Belgium Hospital.

Lloyd shared several experiences during an interview when he was 71.

"My first experience with combat was June 6th-D-Day. We started going in on these assault landing craft. The water was rough as hell.

As soon as the door dropped, we started running for the retaining wall. The Germans were firing by that time. I looked back and saw some of these guys lying on the beach, and others lying half in the water and the tide was taking them.

I was petrified but we had been trained so well you never asked a question. When I got up against the the wall, I cut off my Mae West and tears were running down my face. What the hell am I doing here I said. They're trying to kill us!

The first time I was wounded we were going through Hodwauld Forest into Germany just before the war ended. They were mortaring us and I did not know I was hit.

I went to get up, but there was something wrong with my legs. I looked down, and my my pant leg was ripped and blood was coming down.

The bones were smashed in one leg, and I had a flesh wound in the other.

Four of us who met in Toronto went over and did our training together, and got into the same battalion. I'm the only one left.

Tommy Underwood got killed on D-day, Fred Wilkerson got it up in Caen by a sniper. Steve Strut got up as far as the Hochwald line with me..."

Lloyd was born in Toronto on November 11th, Remembrance Day and died peacefully on July 12, 2002.