Despite the Second World War being an ugly time for Canadians, a historian dug up love stories about Okotokians in the midst of combat.
Kathy Coutts is inviting the public to join her for a walk along the Salute to Our Veterans Wall on Veterans Way Hill March 30 while she tells stories of war brides, love of family and love of one’s country during the war. The free tour runs for an hour beginning at 10 a.m.
“When I first picked that topic I was thinking of finding war brides and love,” said Coutts, Okotoks Museum & Archives specialist. “I found I didn’t have enough information to do a full hour tour so I wanted to touch on the love of family, the love that Canadians had for their country, as well as their willingness to help those thousands of miles away, and the love of peace. Love is interwoven in all of the stories in different ways.”
Coutts has been offering seasonal guided tours of the wall since it was unveiled in September 2017. It features the faces of 247 Okotoks men and women who served in the Second World War.
“That tour just scraped the surface,” she said of the initial tour. “I realized there were so many stories left to be told.”
This month’s tour will kick off the spring tours, which run monthly into June.
“Because there are so many names and faces on the wall each one has a story to tell so I want to continue to tell different stories,” said Coutts, adding some topics are the result of suggestions from participants.
Finding Love in the Midst of War also tells stories of families who had multiple members serving in the Second World War.
Coutts said the Dixon, Banister, Spackman and McIntyre families each had three sons serve in the war. All returned except two of the McIntyre sons, she said.
Coutts will share stories of servicemen who found love while in training or recovering in hospital.
“I’ve used information from the history book as well as letters we have here at the archives to help tell their story,” she said.
The April and May tours will be titled Heroes in the Sky Part 1 and 2, which will focus on the many Okotokians who served with the air force from pilots and gunners to mechanics who helped to build and repair the planes, Coutts said.
June’s tour celebrates the 75th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy, and local contributions to that battle, she said.
She said the tours typically run March to June and September to October. Last year’s topics included the navy, Dieppe, prisoners of war and women who served in the war.
“As people continue to come for the tours I will continue to tell the stories of who served,” she said. “Each story is different. Each person experienced war differently.”
Coutts said she typically has two to 10 people attend the tours, depending on the weather.
“I do the tour regardless of the weather because the servicemen, soldiers and pilots served regardless of the weather,” she said. “It’s the least I can do to share their stories.”
Anyone interested in attending on March 30 can meet Coutts at the benches halfway up Veterans Way Hill. Subsequent tours will be held April 20, May 11 and June 8.
