'I wanted adventure': Manitoba veteran reflects on his time serving in WWII
A 97-year-old Manitoba veteran is looking back on his time during the Second World War when he bravely fought for the freedom we have today.
Robert Bullen joined the army in 1942 at the age of 17. He said the idea to enlist came to him when he was walking home from work and passed by the recruitment office.
“I went in and I applied to enlist into the army, and they asked me if I was 18 and I told them I was. I was a few months short of 18,” he said in an interview with CTV Morning Live on Thursday.
Bullen said his birthday is in May, but he told the recruitment office it was in March, so they’d think he was 18.
From there, he was accepted into the army and went into training. Bullen said he started out at the Fort Osborne Barracks, and then went for basic training at an army base at the University of Manitoba campus.
“We used to do ground action and things like that. We used to go on route marches and have skirmishes and stuff like that,” Bullen explained.
After that, he went to Camp Borden, a Canadian armoured training unit, and trained for a couple months.
Bullen said at the time he didn’t think too much about what he was doing.
“I guess I wanted adventure or whatever it was,” he said.
Bullen said he was held up from going overseas due to his age, but once he was old enough he was sent to England. After D-Day, he was shipped as reinforcement for the Grenadier Guards, who were already in action in Europe.
“I joined the regiment in about the middle of August 1944,” he said.
During his time in the army, Bullen travelled across several countries in a tank, and spotted his future wife for the first time in a photo.
Bullen explained that while the war was still going on, one of his friend’s named Dave Knight got a letter from back home with a picture of his sisters.
“I kind of spotted one that I thought looked pretty sharp,” he said. “When we came home, we went out and celebrated when we got discharged from the army, and [Dave] took me home with him.”
Bullen said he got to know the sister he spotted in the photo, and they ended up getting married and having children.
Remembrance Day takes place on Friday. A list of ceremonies can be found online.
-With files from CTV’s Rachel Lagace.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Looking over our shoulders': A killing looms large in a little B.C. town
Something shifted in the pretty little village of Lumby, B.C., after Tatjana Stefanski vanished. It used to be the sort of place where parents let their kids roam free or play in the local creek, but everything has changed.
Officer who arrested Scottie Scheffler is being disciplined for not having bodycam activated
The Kentucky police officer who arrested top-ranked golfer Scottie Scheffler outside the PGA Championship is receiving “corrective action” for failing to have his body-worn camera activated.
Toronto man falls off his chair after seeing $70M Lotto Max win in his bank account
A Toronto man who won $70 million in a recent Lotto Max draw literally fell off his chair when he saw the funds in his bank account – and the life-changing moment was caught on video.
Montreal-area high school students protest 'sexist' dress code
Students at Curé-Antoine-Labelle High School near Montreal are protesting after they say their school's administration started pushing what they call a 'sexist' dress code.
Air travel is expensive. WestJet wants the government to do more to change that
WestJet is asking the federal government to put measures in place to lower ticket costs for travellers, but questions remain on who would foot the bill.
Hundreds have applied for this 'adventurer' job in Banff National Park
Coined as Banff's 'ultimate summer job,' the Moraine Lake Bus Company says hundreds of people from across the world have applied for its adventurer position.
Dangerous brew: Ocean heat and La Nina combo likely mean more Atlantic hurricanes this summer
Get ready for what nearly all the experts think will be one of the busiest Atlantic hurricane seasons on record, thanks to unprecedented ocean heat and a brewing La Nina.
U.S. senators write to Trudeau asking him to meet 2% GDP defence spending commitment
A bipartisan group of 23 U.S. senators have written to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urging his country to live up to its commitment to spend 2 per cent of GDP on defence amid concerns that key members of the NATO alliance are not pulling their weight.
Potential tornado 'surreal' for residents who witnessed damaging storm in southern Ontario
Witnessing a potential tornado was 'surreal' for residents who caught a glimpse of the damaging storm in southern Ontario on Wednesday night.