Despite the destruction and chaos of war, Sid Giddings’ father thought constantly of home.
“He said when he was lying there and bullets were flying around his head … all he thought about was my mom and me,” Giddings said.
Sid Giddings’ father served in the Second World War for Great Britain as a member of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. Landing on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day Plus Two, during the invasion in 1944, Giddings fought all the way through France and Holland.
Unlike some veterans, Giddings’ father spoke about his experiences, some of them dire.
“He described (it) all in detail,” Sid Giddings said. “He was very seriously wounded two days before the war ended. He lost his left arm below the elbow (and) he lost his right leg below the knee.”
Like some retirees Sid Giddings was looking for something to occupy his time. He was drawn to the Georgina Military Museum because of those stories and what his father had sacrificed. He is currently its vice-president.
“I thought what better way to pay my father back for what he gave up,” Sid Giddings said.
For those acknowledging Nov. 11, it may be the only day they consider the service men and women of Canada. According to Martin Connell, the director of the Georgina Military Museum, his facility wants to change that.
“These guys are being overlooked,” Connell said. “One day is not enough … not just Remembrance Day.
Nevertheless, on Nov. 11 Sid Giddings will be focused.
“(My father) was 100 per cent disabled and he never cried or moaned about anything,” Sid Giddings said. “My first thought (on Nov. 11) goes to my father, what he went through.”