North Battleford veteran Duhaime devoted his life to service

His son Alan said while Duhaime’s death came suddenly it wasn’t completely unexpected as he had been dealing with heart problems for about four months previously.

Shorty Duhaime was a rifleman when he served overseas during the Second World War. He first trained in Prince Albert, Calgary and in the United Kingdom, before starting active duty in France, Germany, Belgium and Holland in 1945.

“He was actually in Holland when the Second World War ended,” Alan said.

Duhaime also spent eight months serving after the war, involved in the occupation and on guard duty in Germany and Holland. As well, he also served on guard duty during the war trials in Germany.

Duhaime returned home to Canada in 1946 after spending a little over a year overseas in duty in total.

Being a rifleman he encountered a number of inherent risks in his work.

“There were some close calls,” Alan said. “He talked about people being hit with shrapnel in the trenches on either side of him, and people dying. He didn’t talk too much about that, other than [saying] it was a time that he tried not to remember too much about.”

Duhaime mainly would talk to his family about his time serving during the occupation after the war was over, and how he came to meet some of the Dutch and German people.

“He learned a bit of Dutch and German from the people he was with or from the prisoners that he was guarding,” Alan said.

Duhaime knew French and could also speak Cree he learned from growing up around the Cochin area.

When he was involved in the Liberation at the end of the war, he helped inform some of the French people they were liberated since not many other members of the force could speak French.

Of his father’s ease with so many languages, Alan said it “definitely came to his advantage that he could communicate.”

“He could learn more about their stories – their times under German occupation,” Alan said. “He did have lots of conversations with the local French people, and also those that were German.”

Alan describes Duhaime as someone who was especially resourceful.

“He had a mechanical aptitude, so he was able to pick things up quite quickly,” Alan said. “He was a very personable kind of person, so he would always learn from his environment.”

Duhaime wanted to serve overseas because he felt patriotic.

“It was what he wanted to do; he wanted to do something for his country,” Alan said.

Alan said Duhaime had an older brother who joined the air force, so also enlisting in the service “was something that he just felt he wanted to do as a young single man. It was an opportunity to experience something different for sure.”

Following the war, when Duhaime returned home he pursued a career as an electrician for the next 40 years. When he retired, he spent much of his time on home improvement projects, woodworking and landscaping.

For fun he liked to fish, go camping and spend time at Jackfish Lake. He also enjoyed devoting time to family and seeing his grandkids and great grandchildren.

Duhaime used to volunteer with the Legion, the Canadian Cancer Society and the Diabetes Association. Through his church he was also an active Knights of Columbus member. In 2018 Duhaime was honoured with a Canada 150th Commemorative Medal for his involvement with the legion.

Alan said of his father, for Shorty Duhaime giving back was always important to him. It was something he wanted to do. He took pride in serving his country.

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow

by Angela Brown

North Battleford veteran Duhaime devoted his life to service

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