Keeping Our Wartime Heritage Alive February 26, 2008 Editorial in The Vanguard (Yarmouth NS) By The Vanguard Staff The project being put forth by the Wartime Heritage Association to highlight Yarmouth’s role in the Second World War is surely going to open a lot of eyes as people view the exhibits at the Yarmouth Mall site. As pointed our in our story on Page 21, this community was a bustling one during the last world war with an army base off Parade Street and East and West Camps at the airport. Thousands of people were stationed here during the war and for many of them this place holds a lot of memories. Our newsroom routinely hears from what are now elderly people who were stationed here and have moved back overseas. They always write to us with fondness about the community they called home for part of the war years. And, of course, some who came here during the war stayed with us afterwards and made their mark on the community. But we suspect many people will be surprised by the exhibit at the mall. Surprised and maybe astounded by what this community was during the war years. Historical accounts of the Second World War quite naturally focus on the battlefields across the ocean and we often tend to forget that Yarmouth was involved in the training of so many people during the war. In recent years the East Camp veterans did a great deal to rekindle interest in their base at the airport. They held reunions, contributed to the historical archives and dedicated a small monument near the cenotaph. The exuberance with which these folks attended the reunions staged in this area clearly illustrates how deeply they felt not only for East Camp but for the town as a whole. The exhibits at the mall will, we’re sure, spark renewed interest in Yarmouth’s wartime years and those responsible for the display are to be commended for ensuring a big and important part of our history does not go unnoticed.