STANYER, PTE WALTER
Walter Henry Stanyer was born August 24, 1919 in Ahmic Harbour, the son of David Loron and Alice (Blaney) Stanyer.
Walter Stanyer’s story is told in John Macfioe’s book “Parry Sound Old Times” 1996 on pages 164,165 and 166. Walter was part of the Canadian 1st Division’s efforts to take Sicily and Italy. On October 13, 1943, Walter and an officer were captured by the Germans. Walter remained a prisoner of war until war’s end.
Walter Stanyer
Walter enlisted in the Queens Own Rifles in 1940. Following three years of training and waiting, Walter transferred to the 48th Highlanders who were looking for infantry. With the Highlanders he found himself storming a beach in Sicily. All went well until the Canadian 1st Division crossed over into Italy. And on October 14, 1943 Walter and an officer blundered into a nest of German soldiers and were captured.
He was transferred by train from Germany to Italy to a POW camp and enforced labour. This included digging coal deep in a mine in Czechoslovakia.
Walter Stanyer
Walter was quite sick when he came home because of the starvation diet as a POW. He spent time in a Toronto hospital, with malaria amongst other things.
Walter spoke of a German guard leaving turnip peelings by the fence so the POW’s could make a turnip soup. It was a small gesture, but meant so much.
Apparently, at one point, while a prisoner of war, Walter wrote letter home in which he said: “I saw Melvin Wylie today”. The Melvin Wylie family were worried because they believed it must mean that Melvin had also been captured and become a prisoner of war. In fact, knowing that all letters were censored, the cryptic note was meant to mean that he had seen a Canadian air force plane fly over the POW camp where he was. (Melvin Wylie was in the air force.).
Walter appeared embittered, certainly bothered, upon his return from war. Most people assumed that it was because he was in a prisoner of war camp – but also, perhaps because his commander knew a short-cut back to their unit, causing them to be captured.
Donnie Sands has shed a somewhat different light. Donnie Sands recalls talking to Walter Stanyer who recounted how he was on a train (3 days journey) into Germany when the war was ending. Because he was in moderately good shape he was put into a battalion as part of the occupational forces.
As part of occupational force duties, Walter relayed to Don that he had seen the results of some of the atrocities that had been committed during the war.
