77 years ago, Theo Hopkinson was sent by her grade-school teacher to look for a school friend; she witnessed the aftermath of a land bomb. 72 years ago, Jim Jenkins found himself caught in the middle of D-Day; it was his first day on the job.

On Friday, Centennial College’s Story Arts Centre held their 16th annual Remembrance Day ceremony, where Second World War veterans, Theo Hopkinson, 89; and Jim Jenkins, 92, shared their memories of war. Hopkinson and Jenkins took the audience on a roller coaster of emotion, from tears to laughter and back again.

With a wavering voice, Hopkinson recalled her friend’s death, a traumatic incident which shaped her life. She explained what happened after her teacher asked her to search for a friend who was absent.

“She was living a block away from where I lived,” said Hopkinson as she cleared her throat, “I went around and was just in time to see the bodies being pulled out of the building.”

Hopkinson went on to serve in the Second World War as a Teleprinter operator at Hanslope Park, a facility north of Bletchley Park where the mathematician, Alan Turing, broke the Enigma code.

“I was only 17 and a half when I went. It was quite an adventure,” Hopkinson said.

Her day-to-day work consisted of sending and receiving messages to France and Europe. Hopkinson decoded and typed in French, sending messages to “people who were brave enough to have radios in those dark times,” she said.

Hopkinson spent most of her life hiding what she had done in the Second World War. She said no one discussed anything and it was years after the war when the work at Hanslope Park, which saved 22 million lives, and its impact was discovered.

“I’m very proud and very happy that I’m still alive to tell about it,” said Hopkinson with a smile.

Seated beside Hopkinson was veteran Jim Jenkins. At the age of 16, Jenkins enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces. On June 6, 1944, Jenkins’ senior officer, Captain Elmer bell, informed the soldiers that their training was over because, come dawn, they would be at the coast of France.

Jenkins was part of Operation Overlord, one of the largest amphibious invasions ever attempted. He recalled what that morning looked like.

“There was nothing but ships as far as you could see in every direction, the sky was black with planes. It was certainly quite a sight,” Jenkins said.

The soldiers were several thousand meters from the shore as they arrived with artillery vehicles on landing craft. Instead of waiting, Jenkins said they laid down a barrage from the landing craft on which they followed the Infantry guards across.

Jenkins was the first soldier to get off the ship, driving a half-truck, with the senior officer in it. As he made his way across the beach, Jenkins was greeted by a large Sherman Tank with mine flails directly behind him.

“The big mine flail chutes (were) right up, over-top of my head…. That’s what you get for driving the boss,” Jenkins said.

They landed at a terrible time, he said, and in order to get off, they dropped the ramp and were met by six feet of water. They had to level the ramp with the water to board the ship. After boarding, they went out for half a mile and Jenkins was met with yet another surprise.

“Crash-bang! I’m looking right up the lower deck of another landing craft tank and we plowed this ramp right through the back-end of another ship sitting on the shore,” Jenkins said.

This left them stuck in the middle with no way to get out. In desperation, they cut the iron sheeting off of the back of the ship, extended a ramp down and escaped.

This was only Jenkins’ first morning as a soldier. He served for a year before a landmine in Germany destroyed his vehicle in 1945, which left him in the hospital for two months.

“I’m one of the lucky people; I survived,” Jenkins said.

As the sun shone through tree leaves and danced playfully around the Centennial library, Consul General Marc Touyret awarded veteran Jim Jenkins France’s highest honour: the Legion of Honour medal.

“Thank you,” said Jenkins with a quivering voice and tear-filled eyes after he was met with a thunderous standing ovation from the audience.

Theo Hopkinson / Auxiliary Territorial Services

Theo Hopkinson / Auxiliary Territorial Services

Remembrance Day Ceremony at Centennial College

Remembrance Day Ceremony at Centennial College

Jim Jenkins / 19th Field Artillery Royal Canadian Artillery

Jim Jenkins / 19th Field Artillery Royal Canadian Artillery

By Fatima Al-Sayed

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