Charles MacDonald Donald, Donnie, Charlie Brady

Hello, I’m Charles MacDonald Brady - Charlie or Donny - to my friends. I was born on November the 20^th in Lancaster, Ontario and I grew up in a family of four boys. I left home when I was 16 on what was called harvest trains to harvest the crops on the Prairies. For the next two years, I worked at various jobs and locations in Ontario. On the 11^th day of April, 1945, at age 18, I joined the army at Kingston, Ontario, following my two brothers, WO1 [Warrant Officer, First Class] Lawrence E.J. Brady, air bomber, RCAF, and LAC [leading aircraftsman] William T. Emmett Brady, RCAF. I was transferred to Camp Borden for basic training and volunteered for the Pacific theatre on June the 5^th, 1945. We were to be sent to Georgia in the United States for jungle training and I was granted embarkation leave. I was home on leave in Lancaster when my brother Lawrence, who was on leave from the RCAF, was killed in a road accident. It’s ironic that my brother survived 137 [correction - 37] bombing missions over Germany, only to be killed by a drunken driver. An extra day’s leave was declined and I arrived back at Borden late and was punished. The war ended and I remained in the army until I was discharged on the 19^th of September in 1946. The next five years were spent mostly as a sailor on merchant ships. I arrived in Montreal in 1951 and met a lovely Irish lass. We were married in 1953. We raised a family of five girls and three boys. I spent the next 33 years working as a brakeman and conductor on the CNR [Canadian National Railway]. I am now 84 and I’ve been retired for 28 years. I enjoy my eight grandchildren and two great-grands and I must say that I’ve had a good life.