WWII Artifacts in the Museum Collection

Kit, uniform and cap of Elwood J. “Shorty” Hyatt

Elwood Hyatt was born and raised in Enniskillen Township. He entered basic training in 1941. In August of 1943 he travelled to England and went onto serve in Holland, Belgium and North Germany with Galt, Ontario’s Highland Light Infantry. The tarten on his cap hints at the Scottish links of his Highland regiment. When Elwood returned home in December of 1945 he stowed his entire kit and uniform in the family attic. This kit was unpacked in anticipation of the Lambton At War exhibit, and after the artifacts were loaned to the museum for display, the family eventually decided to donate them to our permanent colletcion. Elwood bought a farm in Brooke Township and raised cattle. His family remembers that he often talked about the many friends he made during the war years and was tearful when mentioning the ones that did not return. He was well known in Lambton County as “Shorty” and joked that it never took him long to dig a fox hole. 

Elwood Hyatt artifacts on loan from Mary & Darryl Allison and then donated to Lambton Heritage Museum.

Get Out That Tank... Behind the Barn

This imaginative poster encouraged Lambton County farmers to donate old cars, tractors and scrap metal to local salvage committees in order to support the war effort.

On loan from Ken Kingdon.

Community Artifacts

This case contained various objects donated from Murry G.Elliott, Moncrief Macdonald, the Grand Bend Legion and John Newell.

Murry Elliot joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and was stationed in India in 1943 in the Himalaya mountains. When he returned to Canada he became an electrician in Forest. His friend Ken Kingdon kept many of his personal effects from the war after his death. In a letter home Murry wrote: “From where I sit, am getting a lovely view. There are peaks and numerous hills, covered with green timbers, and the sky, between the hills, crows and hawks are lazily soaring, in search of prey. The sun is beaming down upon these steps and were it not for the gentle breeze, I would be quite warm. It is so quite and still here that one would think that peace reigned supreme throughout the world, as I hope it soon shall.”

Callum MacDonald loaned artifacts belonging to his father, Moncreif Macdonald, who trained at flight school in Goderich and entered the RCAF as a reconnaissance pilot. After the war he became a local doctor.

Jim Newell’s WWII era Brodie Helmet

During the first year of World War I, none of the waring countries provided steel helmets to their troops. Soldiers of most nations went into battle wearing cloth caps that offered no protection from modern weapons. An upgraded version was used by Canadian troops in WWII. This helmet was found by Rose Shaddock in her new home in Grand Bend. It belonged to Jim Newell, who fought in WWII with the Black Watch Regiment and retired to Lambton.