Kasey Gloch

Kasey Gloch was born in Grenfell, Saskatchewan in 1915. His family were farmers and Kasey still remembers his grandfather who at the age of 94 was still buying land to increase the size of the farm. Kasey was a good student and at age 17 graduated from High School, which in those days was a huge accomplishment. He can still remember being frightened by the sight of the school nurse.

World War I was just ending when Kasey was a young lad and he still remembers seeing a returning soldier, still in uniform, hobbling down the railroad track. He had lost his leg during the war and as he slowly made his way along the tracks, Kasey remembered how lonely he looked as there was no one to welcome him home.

After graduating, Kasey got a job in a local packing plant until he decided to join the army in the spring of 1941. On May 5th, he joined up in Brandon, Manitoba with the artillery corps of the 21st Armored Group. Recognizing Kasey's education, he was offered a clerical position with the motor transport division. His job was to keep track of all the motorized equipment in the group. he knew how to ride a motorcycle, and he quickly made arrangements to borrow one of the bikes every noon hour. At that time he was courting Jean, and having free transportation was a definite asset.

In 1943, Jean and Kasey were married. The had a nice wedding with Kasey in his dress uniform and his two best men similarly clad. In 1944, he was transferred to Debert, Nova Scotia. This didn't sit well with Kasey as he felt that if he was just going to stay in Canada, why not leave him in Brandon with his new bride? He wanted to go overseas with all of his friends.

Finally the military agreed and he was assigned overseas. He needed some pay money before getting on the ship, but the Army didn't have any to give him at that time. He remembers a soldier from Alberta giving him $10.00 as he got on the ship. Sadly, he never got to pay that man back. Kasey remembers standing on the deck of the Ille de France and wondering if he would ever see Canada again. He also remembers a strange feeling coming over him just then, and that somehow, he knew he wouldn't get killed and that he would return home.

Kasey's next stop would be Scotland. He was sent to the motor pool and when the Sgt Major realized he could type, he assigned Kasey the task of typing up stacks of records. This didn't sit well with Kasey and soon after, he was transferred to a British 21st Army Group under General Montgomery.

For the rest of the war, he would keep track of all the vehicles in the European theatre. He spent most of his time in Belgium and he remembers walking down the streets of Brussels and seeing women with their heads shaved off being rounded up in groups. They were accused of being Nazi collaborators. He remembers encountering a farmer who was trying to get 1,000 lbs. of butter into Brussels and being offered half of the load if he could arrange motor transport for the other half.

He remembers HQ finding a dead Canadian soldier in a blown up jeep. There were no tags or any identification on the body, but through vehicle records, he was able to find out the identity of the soldier. One day Montgomery came to visit the troops, and as he spoke, no one was allowed to clap or say anything, or even stand up. He arrived in silence and left in silence.

Finally VE day arrived and Kasey had enough points to return to Canada. he left as a Lance Bombardier, and arrived home safely, as he somehow knew he would.