Atkins helps preserve war history

June 4, 2014 · 0 Comments

By Mark Pavilons

Everyone has a role to play in preserving our history.
And some of us even helped shape Canada’s past.
Robert “Tommy” Atkins is one of those people. The King Township war veteran learned a lot from his military service, and it’s something he continues to share with young people today.
He participates through the federal government’s The Memory Project, a nation-wide project that’s creating a record of Canada’s participation in the Second World War and Korean War as seen through the eyes of thousands of veterans. The Memory Project is providing every living Second World War and Korean War veteran the opportunity to share their memories through oral interviews and digitized artifacts and memorabilia. These stories and artifacts will be available on the website for teachers, students and the general public.
The Memory Project Archives is an initiative of Historica Canada and is made possible with generous funding from Canadian Heritage.
Atkins has visited schools to talk to youngsters about war history. Judging from last year’s experience, Atkins said he has some renewed hope for the future. The young students he encountered we curious, well read and genuinely interested in his anecdotes.
Aside from his efforts to preserve history, Atkins is also big on preserving land. He was the founding president of the Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust in 2000. This organization aims to maintain and manage a system of nature reserves along the Moraine. To date, the trust has secured more than 3,518 acres of land.
As 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War, many efforts are under way to showcase Canada’s contributions.
Atkins comes from a military family. His father, George C. Atkins, was a pilot who crashed behind enemy lines after running out of fuel in 1917. He was taken prisoner and escaped five times from his German captors. After the war he gave up flying and went on to a career in newspaper publishing.
When Tom was at Oakville High School, he joined the Lorne Scots B Company as an infantryman. He was captain of the cadet corps in high school and then enlisted to Brockville, to officer training. He was first assigned to Nanaimo, British Columbia, to the 13th Canadian Infantry Brigade and he was in command of the headquarter’s defence platoon.
He was deployed to the Aleutians in 1943 in a joint operation between the Americans and the Canadians.
The Japanese had occupied the islands of Attu and Kiska, considered strategic locations in the Pacific.
On Aug. 15, 1943, the invasion force of 34,426 Canadian and American troops landed on Kiska. The force also included roughly 5,300 Canadians, mostly from the 13th Canadian Infantry Brigade of the 6th Canadian Infantry Division.
The Allies landed to find the island abandoned. The Japanese had withdrawn under cover of bad weather in July.
The Army Air Force had bombed abandoned positions for almost three weeks without suspecting the Japanese were no longer there.
Allied casualties on Kiska numbered 313, the result of friendly fire, booby traps, disease, or frostbite. Kiska offered an extremely hostile environment.
Atkins noted the inhospitable weather consisted of fog, rain, snow, etc.
His group remained on the island until New Year’s Day, 1944.
Atkins later went to England to train men from other units to become infantrymen, preparing them to land in France.
Tom’s brother was an RCAF officer killed in a training accident in the Prairies.
Tom went to Holland and later to Japan to “mop up” after the war’s end.
He served in the Queen’s Own Rifles in the mid-to-late-1950s. He worked in the printing industry for almost two decades and fostered the graphic arts program at Ryerson University.
He said it’s important for veterans to talk about their experiences, so people get a first-hand glimpse into our past. This, he said, makes an impression on young people.
In the military he learned to be patient. It was a maturing process and everyone at the time was eager to get into the thick of things. The sense of patriotism was extremely high. His service also gave him a sense of purpose and provided camaraderie.
Tom’s cousin Ron Atkins, who owns a very impressive collection of World War One memorabilia, is planning a commemorative event this year in Newmarket.
Preserving history is everyone’s responsibility.