For King and Country: WW II veteran tells story of 'behind-the-scenes' service in new book

Angus Hamilton is still alive to tell the story of his service in World War II thanks in part to the keen instincts of a military doctor, making him in his words one of the "lucky ones" who signed up for militaryservice.

Despite memorizing the eye chart in his quest to become a pilot, Hamilton was caught by the doctor trying to bluff his way through the medical.

"Even if I hadn'tbeen accepted for pilot,I probably would have beena navigator," said Hamilton, now 97. "If I'dbeen a navigator I'd have probably been on one of the first bombers over Europe and their survival rate was very low."

Hamilton shares stories of his time serving as a radar technician with the Royal Canadian Air Force in his new book, For King and Country. It's his fifth book, with a sixth in the works.

After being rejected as an air crewman, Hamilton said he returned to his job in a bank. Butmonths later, in the spring of 1941, he received a telegram.

"They asked me if I'd consider joining up to become a radar, a radio mechanic, they didn't use radar. That word hadn't yet been coined."

Hamilton was told he'd get basic training and specialized training before he went overseas.

When asked how his service during the war changed him, Hamilton said he didn't know.

"It certainly was a culture shock."

Behind the scenes

After growing up in what he described as a conservative part of Ontario, the veteran said by the end of 1941 he was in Kolkata, the city in India previously called Calcutta.

"It was a fantastic education."

Hamilton said he wrote the book for his family so there would be a record of his service, but acknowledged it has a deeper meaning.

"In a sense, I'm speaking for countless people who are behind the scenes."

Hamilton said for every pilot who took to the skies and dropped the bombs, there were 10 to 15 technicians, engine mechanics, communications, radar technicians and more working to make sure those flights went as smoothly as possible.

"I feel I'm telling that story of the silent behind-the-scenes people in a military organization."

As Remembrance Day approaches, Hamilton said this time of year and the day makes him a little more reflective.

'This sort of makes up for that, I suppose'

"When we first came home we just wanted to get on with our lives, to heck with this remembrance stuff. I didn't go to a remembrance parade for 20 years," he said.

"But when I was watching the parade I thought, 'Hey, I can march better than most of those guys' and I've been going ever since."

Hamilton said it is a time to think about friends he grew up with that were killed during the war and all those he served with that have passed away.

"So it makes me think of all those people, yes."

Hamilton said he regularly attends the Remembrance Day service in Fredericton. When surviving veterans are introduced and the crowd applauds, he said he considers thatthe homecoming parade that he and his friends never got upon their return home in 1945.

"We all just quietly went to on to whatever education orjobs or whatever. There was no ceremony," he said.

"This sort of makes up for that, I suppose."