Melvin Vernon Ryan, a soldier in the Canadian Armoured Corps, was on the shores of Dieppe when he lost his closest, childhood friend during the Second World War.
The pair enlisted in the military at the age of 17, just after war began because, according to Melvin’s daughter Verna Ryan, they wanted to know what the women looked like on the other side of the world.
The friends would eventually find themselves part of the Canadian Armoured Corps, formed in 1940.
On Aug. 19, 1942 they were involved in the invasion of Dieppe.
They were operating a Sherman Tank, said Verna, when the track came off just as they got onto the shore. They left the tank to fix the track and just as Melvin turned to his friend, his friend was shot in the head.
“And then my dad got shot in the head,” said Verna.
Melvin’s friend did not survive. However, Melvin did.He lay on the beach until his was rescued.
“My dad was found by the invasion survivors who struggled to escape, they had been turning over bodies on the beach and found my dad, barely alive,” explained the 76-year-old.
Melvin would have a metal plate placed in his head. And when he recovered, he didn’t shy away from conflict. Instead he fought in North Africa, invaded Sicily and continued through Italy to the north, said his daughter. He was involved in many battles: the Moro River campaign, the Battle of Ortona, the Battle of Monte Cassino – also known as the Battle for Rome – and others.
“And he just continued on,” said his daughter, noting her father had “rows upon rows” of medals to attest to his heroism.
“He had so many campaign ribbons that when he joined the air force much later, during the Korean War, he had accumulated more medals than his commanding officer,” she said.
Verna also noted that when her father was put in command of officers, he kept losing out on promotions and facing set backs in his career because he refused to send his men into battle without him.
Melvin met Verna’s mother, the love of his life, in Britain and they had eight children together – two of whom – Phillip and Mike – entered the military as well.
Her mother died in 1966 in a car crash, and was pre-deceased by a son, leaving Melvin to care for seven children. He moved to Maple Ridge in 1969, and died in 1996.
Verena is proud of her father’s legacy, and is happy her parents are together again.
“I only hope he now gets to see the men he lost and his childhood best friend who he watched die,” she said.
“I still miss him and my mother and always will.”