November 2, 2025
In the desperate days of war, often tales of heroic courage emerge. During WWII, in Holland, 6 year old Anneke, her mother, and baby brother huddled together near a road. A Canadian soldier, 21 year old Al Thomas, saw them from the turret of his tank, and ran to rescue them.
While German shells exploded around them, he found them shelter in a forest. As soon as a Canadian truck came by, he flagged it down, and loaded the young family into it. They were able to meet their father and continue life together in Holland.
Years later, Anneke chose to move to Canada, train as a speech pathologist, and marry. After she retired, she moved to a trailer park in British Columbia.
In conversations with her kindly next door neighbor, she discovered to her astonishment, that it was Al Thomas who had saved her family’s life during the war. The last time she had seen him, he was running hard up the hill to his tank in 1944.
He remembers that day. As he ran, he felt a heavy thump on his chest. Checking his pocket later, Al found that the sniper’s bullet had lodged in the crucifix he had in his pocket. Someone saved Al’s life that day too!
