I try to get a little spring in my stagger while patrolling the mall. We

don't sell poppies. Our fellow citizens voluntarily donate to the Legion's cause to help needy ex-service people and to show support for our soldiers in the field. It's a pleasure. You get a nod of recognition from other veterans. People stop to chat about their wartime experiences and parents bring their children over to shake hands and involve them in the exchange of money and poppies. It's like being everyone's favourite uncle.

Some stop to discuss the Afghanistan situation. They wonder why our troops are put into harm's way and we suffer casualties when our N.A.T.O allies seem to be confined to garrison duties and not taking the hits. I wouldn't presume to comment on that but during my war we had plenty of friends and active allies.

A Grand Alliance was conjured up in 1940. At that time trade was a little brisk over the skies of Britain. Canadian Vincent Massey and Britain's Anthony Eden proposed that training for the Allied Air Forces be provided in the clear and safe skies of Canada. P.M Mackenzie King approved. For the last four years of the war an incredible 200,000 aircrew were turned into seasoned and ready-for-action flyers. Almost half were Canadian. Most of the others were from the English-speaking Commonwealth nations - Aus-tralians, New Zealanders, South Africans and Brits. Others were Dutch, Belgians, Norwegians and Poles.

As a result when they arrived at their squadrons they were sometimes assigned to composite crews. We all wore identical R.A.F uniforms. Canadians proudly wore a "Canada" flash at the shoulder. They were also issued with collar-attached shirts. Us poor Brits were issued with two shirts and four detached collars and a stud to save on laundry. For them it was "How many shirts a week?" while for us it was "How many weeks for a shirt?"

I did most of my flying in the Far East. At the front of the kite the high-priced help, skipper and second dickie were English, our navigator a New Zealander and the flight engineer, a Scot. At the working-class end the wireless op was an Aussie, the mid upper and beam gunners were Canadian, tail-end Charlie (me) was English, though now happily Canadian.

Down on the ground doing the heavy fighting the British were backed up by Gurkhas from Nepal, Sikhs from the Punjab, Balochistan hillmen recruited from what is now Pakistan and a regiment of West African Regiment riflemen. Sorry if I missed anyone.

All these valuable allies returned to their own little corners of the world when peace broke out in 1945. I hope that some of them are still alive and selling poppies in their hometowns. Yes, we had friends and allies in those days and we are badly in need of some now.