Jack Houston now a french knight

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Published on Thursday, June 11, 2015

By Sheila Runions

Banner Staff

The Second World War battle in Europe was considered over by June 6, 1944 but because much more work was done by soldiers after that date, the French government also recognizes all those who served until mid-July. To commemorate the 70th anniversary of D-Day on May 8 and the following military operations, France is accepting applications from all surviving veterans who assisted in their country’s liberation; the final date for applications to the French Consulate is July 31. Upon receipt of said application that country will present its Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur, the highest order in that country. Created on May 19, 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, the order is generally, although not exclusively, awarded for military service. The French National Order of the Legion of Honour, rank of knight, was officially presented to Kenton’s Jack Houston on Friday, June 5.

He received the medal from Zone 26 commander Mike Ramsden, who is also a friend of Jack’s — Mike is president of Kenton Legion. Mike read a letter from Nicolas Chapuis, the French ambassador to Canada. That letter states the opportunity to “express once more my most sincere congratulations on behalf of France and all my countrymen, regarding your nomination. This decoration becomes a symbol of your participation in the operations that helped bring an end to the war in 1945. You can proudly wear this insignia which attests to your courage and devotion to the ideals of liberty and peace.”

Jack was born June 3, 1923 in Winnipeg; he moved to Kenton in 1941.

“My dad bought the butcher shop here and I came up to work with him when I was 17 and a half. I worked with him for a year before I went to join the army in 1943. My training was in Fort Garry barracks in Winnipeg, then I transferred to Dundurn, Sask., then to Debert, NS, then overseas — all within six months! I went as reinforcement, so wherever they wanted you to go you’d go. I had a choice of RMRs or 12th Manitoba Dragoons and since I was a Manitoba resident, I thought I’d try it first. We belonged to corp troops and we were allocated, most days, who we were going to observe for. Our job was to go out ahead of the army and see that the roads were clear and to check on what enemy positions were.”

Although the war officially ended in 1945, Jack didn’t return to Canada until 1946; he was honourably discharged in April that year. Another year later, on May 17, 1947, he married Gwen Butchart. 

“I lived with my wife for 66 years. We had five children and raised four. One child died at six months, a daughter was killed in an accident at 54 years and a son died of heart attack at age 54. I worked with my dad for the biggest part of a year but there wasn’t enough in that business to raise two families so I was the younger and said I’d go. I did carpenter work for eight years, 1948-56, then our daughter went to seven schools in the first year. The construction work I was in was sewer and water from RB McLeods in Saskatoon so we moved from town to town, some short, some long. Anyway,  we didn’t like that so we decided to go farming; we bought a quarter section and raised the four children on it. The farm was three miles south on Hwy. 21 and half a mile east. They said when we bought it, we’d starve to death but I’m still here and I think I’m hale and hearty.”

Jack and Gwen retired from farming in 1984 and moved into a duplex on Kenton’s south side in 1998, where he still lives today. The clubroom at Kenton Legion was filled with people from Virden, Lenore, Bradwardine, Oak Lake, Brandon, Hamiota and even Washington state. Maximum seating capacity there is 127 so a sizeable crowd came to offer him their congratulations.

After Mike pinned the medal on his Legion uniform, he told everyone, “I didn’t land on D-Day but a few days later, in an armoured car and unfortunately, they turned us into infantrymen to patrol the back lanes. From then on, we were free to roam all of France. We spent five days corralling all the Germans that were coming. It was a trying time, but I was able to survive.  Most of you here don’t understand what that’s like, always on the edge of anxiety, always waking up not knowing if you were going to make it through that day or not.”

He then received a hearty applause, the impromptu singing of For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow and then three hip-hip-hooray! cheers. He responded to that praise with a comment to “Enjoy yourselves because this will never happen again.”

The French medal joins other significant awards on Jack’s uniform: 1939-45 Star, France to Germany Star, Defence Britain Medal, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and clasp, Victory (Europe) Medal and both the 50th anniversary of the Queen’s coronation and the 60th coronation.

Jack’s presentation was video recorded by MTS television which is working on a Dragoon documentary; there is no known air date.