Lest We Forget

 THE VETERAN ON THE TEN DOLLAR BILL      If you look at the back right-hand side of a Canadian $10.00 bill, you will see an elderly veteran standing at attention near our National war memorial in Ottawa. His name is Robert Metcalfe and he died last month at the age of 90 years. That he managed to live to that age is rather remarkable, given what happened in the Second World War. Born in England , he was one of the 400,000 members of the British Expeditionary Force sent to the mainland where they found themselves facing the new German warfare technique - the Blitzkrieg. He was treating a wounded comrade when he was hit in the legs by shrapnel.   En route to the  hospital, his ambulance came under fire from a German tank, which then miraculously ceased fire.  Evacuated from Dunkirk on HMS Grenade, two of the sister ships sailing with them were sunk. After his recovery, he was sent to allied campaigns in North Africa and Italy . In North Africa he served under General Montgomery against the Desert Fox,  General Erwin Rommel. Sent into the Italian campaign, he met his future wife, a lieutenant and physiotherapist in a Canadian hospital. They were married in the morning by the mayor of the Italian town, and again in the afternoon by a British padre. After the war they settled in Chatham Ontario where he went into politics and became the warden (chairman) of the county and on his retirement he and his wife moved to Ottawa . At the age of 80 he wrote a book about his experiences. One day out of the blue he received a call from a government official asking him if he would care to come downtown for a photo shoot.He wasn't told what the photo was for or why they had chosen  him. 'He had no idea he would be on the national currency,' his daughter said. And now you know the story of the old veteran on our $10.00 bill !!