Joseph Cummins

Joseph Cummins was born in 1917 in Angusville, Manitoba and enlisted with the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals, at the start of the Second World War. Joe was one of the sons of a farming family and he and one of his best friends and several other young farmers enlisted together and were sent to Vancouver, British Columbia for basic training. While in Vancouver, Joe met other young farmers he knew from the Angusville, Rossburn, Russell and Grandview areas of Manitoba. Some had enlisted in the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals, while others had enlisted in other regiments in the camp. However, because Joe had other skills such as knowing several different languages because of his heritage, being fluent in Polish, Ukrainian, French, and some German, Joe was kept back for further training with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and who were interested in Joe’s language skills. At that time Joe’s best friend and many other friends were sent to Quebec for further training and subsequently shipped overseas. Joe hoped to follow them shortly. However, during training there was an accident which put Joe in the Hospital for almost eighteen months of recovery. His injuries were not life threatening but did impact his ability to be deployed overseas. Joe following discharge from the hospital was then assigned as a radioman with some duties as a translator and interpreter and was stationed in various parts of British Columbia for the duration of the war. Joe never liked talking about his war experience partly due to his having lost his best friend and several other friends from the area where he grew up in Manitoba who did not make it back from the war.

Though Joe did not like to talk about his wartime experience, he was indeed proud to have served his country. 

We Will Remember Them