80 It Happened in Iona

watched closely even by youngsters and its results brought its own fears, as well as new interest in our government and especially MacKenzie King’s wartime maneuvering. Nearer home, big news was that one of our Borden car ferries had a close call with the Germans as it was coming back from refit in Quebec. In the Gulf it was chased by the enemy, so the story went, and only the speed of the ferry and the skill of the captain were able to save the day. Of course, talk of the pending “inva- sion” kept us in an air of excitement and the “D-Day” event itself was so encouraging.

Rationing was a fact of life during much of the war and it made us feel we were all in some way contributing to the war effort. Gas was in short supply for every-day driving, although farmers fared off much better with their marked gas, specially tinted with a reddish substance making it clear to all that this was “farmers’ gas”. As one might expect, a number of people tried using this marked gas in their cars, leaving themselves open to being charged for the offense and open as well to frequent engine failure from clogged carburetors resulting from the colored goo. Sugar and tea were also rationed with new ration books issued every few months. Neighbors often traded these coupons among themselves as in our case when we frequently exchanged sugar coupons for those of tea. One of the memories of this era is that of “postum”, a canned substance much advertised as a good substitute for tea. For us at least it was a dismal failure.

The tragedy of war struck Iona with a piercing blow in the summer of 1941 when Vincent Connolly was killed in Egypt. I well recall that sunny morning when his uncle brought the distressing news to our place with the grim remarks between him and Dad suggesting “there is bound to be more, bound to be, bound to be”. The next Sunday at Mass Father McCarthy was very much shaken as he referred to Vincent’s death and led prayers for him. Within a year or two news came one summer evening that Angus MacLean of nearby Lewes was missing in action and feared lost. That, too, brought the grimness of war to our midst. Fortunately that bad news soon changed to good when Angus appeared on allied soil afteria gallant escape. In 1945 shortly before war’s end George Kelly from Newtown was killed on the Rhine. Father McCarthy was again much saddened as he led in prayers for him the following Sunday,adding that his death was particularly tragic coming so near the end of

hostilities.