From page 28

And while he received the most
attention for introducing the first
broadcast of the popular German
song, Lili Marlene, to beth sides,
he is most proud of, ‘‘the first
sound report | made from Sicily.

“It was the Seaforth
Highlanders playing a victory
salute on bagpipes in the main
square of Agira just after the Ca-
nadians had taken the town in the
biggest battle of the Sicilian cam-
paign. The bells in the church
were ringing.

“t call it the first sound of lib-
eration.”

The final sounds of liberation,
however, were heard some time
later, after the atom bomb had

THE LADS of the B.C. Boys Choir poised to perform a concert to

been dropped on japan.

“We didn’t know very much
about it, except what we learned
from the papers,” he says. “‘We
were in Berlin at the time, writing
the stories about the end of the
war in Europe and all the destruc-
tion that was taking place.

“We went to Hitler’s bunker
when we first went into Berlin, so
we know something about the last
days of Hitler. We went to the
ruins of the chancellory. The
courtyard and the steps leading up
to the second floor were covered
with medals.

“What had happened was the
Russians, who had removed the
things they wanted, had been go-
ing through the building and

Photo submitted

honor their mentor, Donald Forbes.

Concert honors founder

IT’S BEEN a quarter century since
.the lads of the B.C. Boys Choir first
breathed life into their pre-pubes-
cent pipes and they'll be out to
celebrate the milestone, en masse,
Saturday, Dec. 18 at St. Andrew’s
Wesley United Church in Van-
couver.

The 25th Annual Gala Christmas
Concert will feature the choir’s 40
current members which wiil be
joined by more than 80 “old
boys” — former choristers whose
changing voices promoted them
upwards, out of the ranks.

The reunion performance will
honor founding artistic director
and North Vancouver resident,
Donald Forbes, who will retire at
the end of this season.

A native of Nova Scotia, Forbes
founded the group in 1968 and
has led them through perfor-
Mances across Canada, the U.S.,
the U.S.5.R. and Europe.

Under his tutelage, the choir has
made over 20 recordings and
numerous radio and television ap-
pearances.

The repertoire for the evening
will include traditional Christmas
favorites, highlighted by a rendi-
tion of Charpentier’s Midnight
Mass (Masse du Minuet) perform-
ed with professional instrumen-
talists. from around the North
Shore.

Tickets are available through
TicketMaster, $20 adults and $15
seniors and studenis.

&& They remember it as a time of great
excitement and adventure... 9F

they'd come across these boxes of
German medals, campaign rib-
bons and iron crosses while fook-
ing for papers.

“In the process, they’d emp-
tied these boxes down the stairs.

“The curious thing was that the
Russian salctiers didn’t regard
these as souvenirs until they found
out the Americans and British
wanted them — then they began

to exchange them for cigarettes.”
Sitting in his library, the ocean,
the night and the rain outside the
window, and the history books —
many of them his own — lining
the walls, Peter Stursberg reflects
inward, recalling a moment, lost in
time but locked in memory,
“There is no question that for
most of the surviving veterans,
especially the ones that went

overseas, {he Second World War
was their finest time. They
remember it as a period of great
excitement and adventure and
camaraderie and, of course, it was.

“But | think we were relieved
when it was over, and 1 think
that’s the greatest emotion in war-
time — relief that you survived.

“Perhaps that’s one of the
reasons why, as a young man, |
was quite antiwvar, We'd seen
what had happened to the ones
that came back from the First
World War and we weren’t going
to be taken in,

“But eventually, we began to
realize we were missing the
greatest story.”

2457 Marine Drive, West Vancouver, B.C.

| _ = THE FOLLGWING WCB COURSE IS AVAILABLE IN

For more information and to register,
please cail the Education and Training
Section, at 276-3099 or toll-free at
1-800-661-2112, local 5545, or write:
Education and ‘Training Section,
Occupational Safety and Health
Division, Workers’ Compensation
Board of B.C., Box 5350, Vancouver,
B.C. V6B 51.5,

Course times are 8:30 am to +£:30 pm.

RICHMOND IN JANUARY, 1994.

SAFETY COMMITTEE MEMBER SEMINAR

This one-day seminar is for those who are on, or work
with a safety committee. Topics covered include
roles and duties, how to use WCB regulations, worksite
inspections, accident investigations and more.

Cost is $40.00

January 27, 1994

| SOCIAL SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS
Multi Media Works
David Makoutz

Space is limited and course fees are
subject to change.

Dec. 15 - Jan. 15

Reception Dec. 16
7:00 p.m. - 10:60 p.m.

WORKERS
COMPENSATION
BOARD fourasia