War vet riding high

Museum honours military motorists

By MICHAEL LEA

Ask Harry Watts for some stories about his time as a motorcycle dispatch rider for the Canadian Army in Second World War Europe and a couple of things come to mind.

The first was a near miss when, at the last minute, he spotted a line of piano wire strung neck-high across a road by retreating Italians.

The second was the time he somehow piled five other soldiers on his motorcycle for a trip to get lunch.

The former earned him some scrapes as he slid

his bike under the wire. The latter earned him a chewing-out from the brass.

Watts, now a spry 85, was in Kingston from his home in Kitchener yesterday to be present at the Military Communications and Electronics Museum for the handing-over of a plaque he and two other riders received from the Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame last October for their service to their country.

The museum, which has a display dedicated to the dispatch and display riders, was the natural place to house the plaque, said Watts, since no other museum in Canada seemed to be interested in their wartime exploits.

"We never existed as far as the archives were concer ned," said Watts. You can go to the national war museum and "there is absolutely nothing about dispatch riders," in spite of the central role they played in carrying messages too vital to be entrusted to wire or telephone, he said.

He also joked it was better in the museum than "hanging in my house where no one would see it."

Being picked to represent all wartime riders was "one of the greatest honours," he said.

"It couldn't be a bigger honour, as far as I was concerned."

Also at yesterday's ceremony were two local men who had driven motorcycles for the army and were included in the honour. Don Chisholm was a dispatch riding instructor and Ted Dorion was a display rider.

Riding the roads of wartime Italy, France and Holland was "quite an experience," said Watts.

All the riders were volunteers and the casualty rate was "unbelievably high," even in blacked-out England before D-Day, where riders had to contend with dark, narrow roads. Hundreds died in accidents before they even reached the fighting.

Watts served with the 5th Armoured Division, joining the army at the age of 19. He said he had originally joined the tank division because he figured it would be better riding a tank than walking into battle but one look at the tankers changing the heavy tracks in the mud and he decided the unit's motorcycles were the better choice.

"I was lazy and a bit of a free spirit," he said. "Right off the farm, I had never even ridden a bicycle."

His war was spent carrying top secret envelopes around a dangerous countryside.

"It was a real charge being on that bike. You were king. When you put up your hand, generals stopped.

"You had the information. It was a real power trip."

Conditions, however, were sometimes brutal, he said.

"It didn't make any difference what the weather

was. You went if if was raining or snowing or mud, mud so thick you would have to take the fenders off the bike so you could move.

"Two weeks later the dust was so thick you were wearing a special mask just so you could breathe."

Watts never rose higher than a private since, he joked, they figured the dispatch riders wouldn't live long enough to earn any promotions.

He survived the war with just some scrapes and bruises to his legs from accidents and went home again where he tried working at a plant nursery and gas station before turning to trucking.

He kept up with his motorcycle riding and vividly recalls riding through Fenwick, Ont. on VJ-Day, standing up on the seat of his bike, yelling "It's over, it's over, it's over!"

Randy Young, president of Friends of Veterans Canada, an organization dedicated to preserving the memory of Canada's veterans from the Second World War and Korea, videotaped yesterday's presentation.

His organization, of which Watts is a vice-president, is filming stories of war veterans as a memorial library for generations to come.

A contest will be held next Remembrance Day for schoolchildren to videotape veterans who come to speak at their schools.

Also on hand at yesterday's ceremony were representatives of Canadian Army Veterans, motorcycle riders and forces veterans who spearheaded the presentation at the motorcycle hall of fame as well as yesterday's ceremony. The group has 4,000 members across the country.

CAV president Paul Kane said his organization had been approached a year ago by the Canadian Motorcycle Association to see how the military riders could be honoured.

"It was one of the most dangerous jobs in the military," said Kane. "Near and dear to our hearts is recognition of past sacrifices."

To honour riders from the wars, Watts, Chisholm and Dorion were selected.

"This award, accepted by these great veterans and supported by all us Canadians, recognizes military motorcyclists and their sacrifices and contributions," Kane said.

 Source: http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1381775