# Maizieres, Normandy May 8th



## John Styffe (5 Apr 2011)

I am a Canadian and the son of a veteran. My father was a Major with the Lake Superior Regiment and was awared withe DSO in WW2. 

On may 5th,  I will be driving with my family  to Maizieres, Normandy. Ten years ago, this village decided to name a street after my uncle Major E.G. Styffe who was also with the LSR and was killed close to this village. On May 8th we will participate in the festivities.


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## Old Sweat (5 Apr 2011)

A report with pictures of the event would, I think, be welcomed by most members.


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## The Bread Guy (5 Apr 2011)

Old Sweat said:
			
		

> A report with pictures of the event would, I think, be welcomed by most members.


For sure!


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## Rifleman62 (5 Apr 2011)

John,

Attached is a PDF of your father's actual recommendation for the DSO as written in 1945. 

A couple of famous Canadian signatures on the document.

In case you were not aware, the slang for the DSO was "Damm Silly Officer"

Picture Caption:

Title: A Universal Carrier of The Lake Superior Regiment, Cintheaux, France. 
Location: Cintheaux, France
Date: August 8, 1944.
Photographer: Bell, Ken., Photographer
Mikan Number: 3396172


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## Haletown (5 Apr 2011)

I'll be very close to Maizieres next week, just a couple of km's away and I think it would be a good detour to add to the list of planned site visits.

Thanks for the heads up . . .


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## Hammer Sandwich (5 Apr 2011)

John Styffe said:
			
		

> I am a Canadian and the son of a veteran. My father was a Major with the Lake Superior Regiment and was awared withe DSO in WW2.



Hi, Mr. Styffe. 
First of all, thanks for sharing this.

My Grandfather served as a senior NCO in "C" company of the LSR during MAJ Styffe's tenure in Europe.
I really hope, (and would appreciate greatly), that when you're back, you can regale us with tales, and photographs of this trip. 

Thanks,

Hammer Sandwich.


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## Hammer Sandwich (5 Apr 2011)

Rifleman62 said:
			
		

> Attached is a PDF of your father's actual recommendation for the DSO as written in 1945.



Rifleman62, 

I would Love to know your source for this doc, and if there's anymore LSR stuff out there, (as I'm looking for things like this!)

Thanks for the great document,

HS

edit: I'd really appreciate hearing from any LSR buffs out there, as all I have is a capbadge, the 4th Canadian Armored Division _booklet thing_???, and a dog-eared copy of "In the Face of Danger".


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## John Styffe (6 Apr 2011)

Well, I am pleasantly surprised with the responses.  haletown, I am sure that the people of Maizieres would be happy to oblige you . We were at the dedication of the street 10 years ago with some other family members and some people from Thunder Bay. it was quite the event. I am always impressed by the gratitude that many of these people still have. Even some of the young. I went with my father and mother(age 16) in 1969 when LSR  veterans visited the cities and they went through in the war. The reception  was amazing especially in Holland. 

The event starts with a small parade, a visit to the village church(very old and then to the village community center for a full day of eating. I think they would like to establish something there. I even think there is a small museum. Any body interested in helping. 

I am canadian but have been living near Zurich Switzerland for the past 19 years. My daughter who is 25 is very interested in the family military past.  Her boyfriend who is Swiss is also interested. As it is with all Swiss he spends time doing service with the swiss military. He attached to tanks. I will show her this list today and she will probably join. 

I have a load of pictures and memorabilia from the war in the attic. Have been planning to do something with it  but never get around to it. 

I wrote an article a couple of years ago. I will post and would be interested in any comments.


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## John Styffe (6 Apr 2011)

Remembrance 
Approximately two years ago, I thought that I would write an article that I would send to my old home town newspaper. The article was to be about my experience as the son of a decorated Canadian World War Two veteran, Major Roy Styffe DSO. Many of the veterans are leaving us as has my father. I was told recently that the last survivor of first world war recently passed away. I thought, who better to carry on the message and remind us than the families of those who sacrificed.
The article was not completed for November 11th 2008 nor was it finished in time for the 2009 edition. I did send it in anyway and was promised it would be in the paper in 2010.  So, why has it taken me so long to get it written? I did not fully comprehend the enormity of this task emotionally.
In this article I wanted to share some of  my observations and feelings. I soon realized that I did not know how I truly felt. It was a confusion created by what I should feel, that I might be expected to feel,  what I truly felt and what did not feel at all. 
My father and his two brothers, Major Edward G. Styffe and Major Hobart Styffe were officers in the Canadian army. My uncle John, who was the senior remained home, to manage the family business so that when the boys returned home, they have something to return to. 
My father was decorated with the Distinguish Service Order. And  my uncle Edward was killed in Normandy when a vehicle he was in, took a direct hit. So, you can imagine that world war two played an important role in my family. 
Remembrance Day which is on  November 11th  commemorates the sacrifices of the armed forces and of civilians in times of war. Of course it was an important day in my family. The custom of observing Remembrance Day on November the 11th began with the end of the first World War which ended on 11 hour of the 11th day of 11th month. Remembrance Day which is observed in many commonwealth countries is a holiday in Canada. As a child it was also a day off from school;  as with many holidays now celebrated it was viewed more as a holiday than for its intended purpose. 
Of course, I was not running around the house with glee on this day. This was an important day for my father so we kept a low profile, out of respect for him and  it was the appropriate thing to do.   Every so often I would watch the parade of veterans as they marched to the cenotaph to lay wreaths in memory of their fallen comrades. I did feel  pride of my father as he marched past in unison with his brothers, face forward and proudly wearing his medals. 
Weeks in advance, as it was customary for all ages,  I wore a red poppy which signified the poppies that bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders Fields in World War I, their red colour an appropriate symbol for the bloodshed of trench warfare.
When I was sixteen, I accompanied my father and mother and the veterans of the Lake Superior Regiment on a tour to retrace the steps they took during the War. We started off in Holland, then through Belgium ending up in France. I was truly amazed and impressed by the reception and festivities that were held in honour of the Canadian Vets, in each village that we visited. On several occasions our buses were guided by a motorcade. These people most certainly had not forgotten and clearly exhibited  their appreciation to these Canadian veterans.
In Normandy, we visited the grave of my uncle Major E.G. Styffe. I still have the picture of my mother and I standing over the grave.  My father was not in very good shape that day as the memories of the war and his brother came flooding back. 
To be honest, I did still did not fully grasp or appreciate what my a father had done. Besides living a life, of constant reminders of my father’s participation in this great war, it was not until after my father had passed away, about 7 years ago, when late at night,  I was reading a book that was written about the regiment.  It described a battle, at a placed called the Falaise Pocket, which was described as the decisive engagement of the battle of Normandy.  The battle was waged for nine days with bombs exploding on both sides 24 hours day. The men were exhausted and had not slept for days. It was then that I partially grasped what he had experienced.  I broke down and wept.  This was part of the mourning process but it was also the  knowing that I  would not be able to express how I felt to him. 
When he was alive, we really never talked about his experiences during the war, because the memories were just too hard for him to recall.  Today, I believe that he suffered from post traumatic stress disorder. Coupled with the belief of not showing ones feelings, these memories lay buried deep often negatively affecting his relationship with his family. 
As I began to write this article, I began to ask myself what did I really feel? What should I feel? Of course there was the sadness of knowing but not really understanding, how difficult it was to come home from this terrible war and try put a life together. Because of his PTSD and other issues he was unable to be the person and father that he could have been. 
Was I to feel pride?  But it was he who did the fighting. How could I feel pride for what he had done?  I shared this with a colleague and he help me to see that it was okay to have pride. Pride in knowing that I was the son of a man who had the courage and fortitude to fight in and to survive this terrible war. 
This was not enough.  What I realized, what was more important was gratitude!  Gratitude to my father, my uncles Edward, Hobart and John  and other people like them,  who volunteered their time and often their lives to make this a better world. They help to preserve and save the world from those who choose to abuse this wonderful world we live in;  to counteract those destructive forces and to provide balance. 
In the days, months and years following the war, there was an amazing camaraderie as people came together to rebuild.  Unfortunately, today, many lack this state of mind, this togetherness, this willingness to help one another which we are in dire need.  Do we need another war to bring us together or can we not remember and be grateful. 
So the next time when I bow my head for 2 minutes of silence I will remember with gratitude to  those who continue with the struggle, as the Americans say, for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 

John Styffe
November 11th , 2009-11-11


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## Old Sweat (6 Apr 2011)

Hammer Sandwich said:
			
		

> Rifleman62,
> 
> I would Love to know your source for this doc, and if there's anymore LSR stuff out there, (as I'm looking for things like this!)



You can get a CD titled "Courage & service. Second World War Awards to Canadians" from Service Publications, Box 33071, Ottawa, ON K2C 3Y9. The CD lists awards for all three services with the dates of submission and recommendation/approval up the chain of command. It is a very useful tool for a military history buff.

The document Rifleman 62 posted is the actual form used for submissions with the signatures of the various authorities up the chain.


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## Hammer Sandwich (6 Apr 2011)

John Styffe said:
			
		

> Remembrance



Thank you for this article, Mr. Styffe.
Excellent stuff.



			
				Old Sweat said:
			
		

> The document Rifleman 62 posted is the actual form used for submissions with the signatures of the various authorities up the chain.



Both the article, and the reccomendation for DSO are getting printed, and will go into my "LSR folder".

Thanks,

HS.


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## John Styffe (6 Apr 2011)

Why was the DSO rerferred to as Damm Silly Officer


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## Michael OLeary (6 Apr 2011)

John Styffe said:
			
		

> Why was the DSO referred to as Damn Silly Officer



Soldier's black humour. It would infer that to have won it, the recipient must have done something "silly", like place themselves in a dangerous position.

Similarly, the First World War memoire "Over the Top" by A.G. Empey, includes the following in a lexicon at the end of his book:

DSO - Dugout Service Order, being "Tommy says  it is mostly mostly won in dugouts"
DCM - "A piece of bronze which a soldier get for being foolish."
MM - Military Medal: "A piece of junk issued to Tommy who has done something that is not exactly brave but still is not cowardly. When presented he takes it and goes back wondering why the Army picks on him."
VC -"Victoria Cross, or "Very careless" as Tommy calls it."


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## John Styffe (6 Apr 2011)

Thanks


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