Second World War soldier reunited with helmet after 70 years

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http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-b...reunited-with-helmet-after-70-years-1.2544415



War memorabilia collector Jordan Chiasson reunited George Johnston, a 93-year-old veteran, with the helmet found in an army surplus store in Moncton, N.B. (CBC)



Jordan Chiasson bought an old military helmet in an army surplus store in Moncton, N.B., for $30 last August, but only recently discovered the name GW Johnston and a number scratched into the inside of it, so he set out to find the owner.
Jordan Chiasson


"The fact that he cared enough about it to write his stuff inside — his name and the ID number — it wasn't mine to keep," said Chiasson. "If he cared so much he wrote his own info inside, it was up to a matter of time."

Chiasson, 21, contacted Royal Canadian Legion Command in Saint John and the Canadian War Museum. He was led to Pte. George Johnston, a member of the North Shore Regiment in the Second World War.

This week, after a three-day search, the soldier and his helmet were reunited for the first time in 70 years when Chiasson took it to Johnston and his wife, Annie, at their home in Norton, N.B.
"They came to the door," recalled Chiasson. "He rolled right into the entrance area, just looked at me and said, `22694.' That's the first thing he said.

"I looked inside and that's the exact number it had written on it, so I knew I had the guy," said Chiasson. "It was just really nice to give something back."

Veteran overjoyed

Johnston and that helmet spent six years together on the battlefields of Europe, serving in England, France, Belgium and Germany during the Second World War.

The last time he wore the helmet was on the outskirts of Berlin in 1945. The war was over.

"I could have kissed it," said Johnston, 93, who struggles with speech due to a stroke a few years ago. "That's what it felt like.
George Johnston

George Johnston, a Second World War veteran living in New Brunswick, last wore his helmet outside Berlin in 1945. (jessica Doria-Brown / CBC)

"I can't explain it the way I feel … what it's done for me," he said with a smile.

"He just kept looking at it," said Johnston's wife, Annie. "I don't think he could hardly believe he did have it until Jordan showed him the name.

"But he told Jordan his rank number right away. He always remembered that. He's quite pleased to have it."

Johnston doesn't remember writing his name in the helmet and can't remember how it disappeared. He doesn't remember bringing it back to Canada after the war.

Chiasson says it "feels great" to have reunited Johnson with his helmet.

"I've been smiling ever since," he said. "My girlfriend says she's never seen my eyes light up so much.

"And it's nice to see an old fella with his eyes bright, looking at the thing he held 70 years ago and hasn't seen since."
Click to expand...

Makes you think- no?
janice
 
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Remarkable!
Saw a documentary on TV; in part of it, a chap found a relic German helmet in the Ardennes. Hole through it. Name inside. Starting searching, found the soldier's grave in a German war graves cemetery in the area.
 
Hey, neat story! I'll bet he hangs onto it better this time! And what a remembrance to leave to his grandchildren..... or great-grandchildren: he was REAL, he was THERE and he was part of THEIR family.




Janice, I see this is your 1000th post. Congratulations on hitting the 4-figures at last.

You now are qualified to stand in line with all the rest of us who are waiting for our GOATS.

(Personally, I think they have all been highjacked by the Halal butchers, cut up and put into bags to be sold at Superstore!)
 
tiriaq said:
Remarkable!
Saw a documentary on TV; in part of it, a chap found a relic German helmet in the Ardennes. Hole through it. Name inside. Starting searching, found the soldier's grave in a German war graves cemetery in the area.
Click to expand...

I guess that soldier didn't want it back! My dad saw service in the same places as this old chap but he was with the P.P.C.L.I. The only souvenirs he brought home were a couple of bayonet scars from as lucky German soldier.
 
smellie said:
Hey, neat story! I'll bet he hangs onto it better this time! And what a remembrance to leave to his grandchildren..... or great-grandchildren: he was REAL, he was THERE and he was part of THEIR family.




Janice, I see this is your 1000th post. Congratulations on hitting the 4-figures at last.

You now are qualified to stand in line with all the rest of us who are waiting for our GOATS.

(Personally, I think they have all been highjacked by the Halal butchers, cut up and put into bags to be sold at Superstore!)
Click to expand...

Well now, speaking of goats..

I really feel that I should be allowed to jump the queue in this one case, I feel that my particular circumstances should be taken into account and I should receive my goat first...

Now hold on, no need to yell and shout- and you back there, yes you, no need to pound the table- hear me out. I am sure that in the end- when all is explained you will agree.

You see it is this way- All but one of our chickens were killed by a weasel or fox last fall- only Turd-bird survived. Smellie calls her the "savage chicken" (well known around these parts as the chicken that purrs). This poor bird was very young at the time and the only role model it had was my brothers cat, Tuffy(the Mayor of Two Creeks). So the bird thinks she is a cat, hunts mice- purrs - you know.

Well now we have a nice acreage but the only livestock now on the premises is Turd-bird. I very much need more livestock. But I spend far too much of my meager pension on guns to properly stock the acreage. Its this ailment I have, moregunitis, that is to blame.

So I am begging you, kind sirs, to let me jump the queue and get my goat first- and any of you who might like to donate your goat to a worthy cause- well here is a good cause!

So please kind gods of the Gun nut world please hear my pleas, I am begging you- and if any of you have a cow (or even some wild game meat).
thank you..
janice
 
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This echos of a tale in the OT section about people searching out a home's previous occupants.

Touching to say the least. As suggested, not only the original wearer, but his whole line has something tangible to relate to his efforts. Good on the fella who bought it, took the time to find original owner, and relinquish it.
 
Three times I have attempted to contact a former owner of a firearm (all hunting rifles), and all three times I have been too late - once by just three months:

- a "Geha" shotgun that had a postage stamp from 1933 and a name and address in the buttstock. The man's nephew told me that he had died three months ago;
- a Carcano sporter - its owner had died five years previously (I saw the obituary), I decided not to try to contact any lving relatives; and
- a Winchester M1910. Its owner had died many years previously, but his grandson lives in Winnipeg and the son in Egypt. I conversed with both and neither had any interest in the story (they had been estranged from the previous owner).


That's it, aside from the Lee Enfield No4 that someone etched their SIN # into. It would be fun to track the guy who did that down, but I wouldn't have anything good to say to him.....
 
Great story Janice.

The real deal united with the "Real Deal". Priceless.

This is what makes Milsurp so exciting for me. Not only is it very nice kit,..it's real history, and important history from a very desperate time.

North Shore Regiment,....hmmmm......would be interesting if that helmet and owner were both present on a sandy strip of the French coastline on a late spring morning in 1944,.. some place called Juno I believe.................
 
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