World War II Remembered

A Fortuitous Encounter

266 Mine is a happy story! My husband, John E. Gilbert, M.D., was the pathologist with the 121st Evacuation Hospital, attached to Patton’s 3rd Army—supposedly within five miles of the troops, though not always able to keep up with them. In the spring of 1945 they were racing through Germany, “liberating” several POW camps as they went. One such time, John went to Admissions to learn what was happening and who might be there. Seeing a handsome young man in a Canadian Air Force uniform, he went over to talk with him. “Where are you from?” John asked. “St. Anne de Bellevue—nowhere you’ve ever heard of,” replied the young soldier. “As a matter of fact,” said John, “I graduated from McGill Medical School, and isn’t St. Anne’s where the Agricultural College is?” “Yes—and I’m Bruce Britain; the Dean of the College is my father!” John went on to tell Bruce that he had met Dean Britain when the A Fortuitous Encounter • Barbara Gilbert Barbara with her husband John in 1943 A Fortuitous Encounter: Barbara Gilbert 267 dean came to Douglas Hall, the men’s residence where John lived while at McGill, to speak at a dinner. (John was probably too modest to say that he was the president of the Residents’ Association and, as the host, had sat beside the dean at dinner and introduced him as the speaker.) At the hospital, Bruce told John how he had parachuted from his burning plane and broken his ankle in the fall but was otherwise just fine. Unable to run and find a place to hide, though, he had been taken prisoner and sent to the now-liberated POW camp. Back in his quarters, John wrote me a V-mail telling me all about this encounter. I was living in my dad’s apartment in Montreal while John was overseas, and the letter was delivered while we were eating breakfast. “We must let Bruce’s parents know about this right away,” was Dad’s response, and I immediately put in a call to the dean’s office. At first, the secretary was sort of snippety; but when she heard why I was calling, she suddenly burst into tears of joy. Bruce had been missing in action for several months, and they didn’t know whether he was alive or dead. The dean was away, in Vancouver, she told me, but could she tell Mrs. B. the good news and have her call me? Of course I said yes. Within a very few minutes, Mrs. Britain called, almost hysterical in tears and laughter—she was so happy to learn her son was alive and well! After hearing me read John’s letter, she thanked me and asked if she might get in touch with her husband, in Vancouver, and have him call me and hear the letter too. Again—of course I said yes. A few minutes later Dean Britain called. I read the letter to him— now an ecstatically happy father who had just learned for the first time, after months of agony, that his son Bruce was alive, and in fine shape, and in the hands of the American Army, where he would be looked after and brought home in safety. While I was talking with the dean, I reminded him of how John had once introduced him as speaker at Douglas Hall—the same John who had written this letter with the wonderful news about his son. Dean Britain said he remembered John very well: “A delightful fellow— thank him from the depth of our hearts.” I have never forgotten the joy I was able to give those proud and happy parents. Bruce arrived home safely about six weeks later—the War in Europe was over! 268 268 World War II Remembered Barbara Brooks Gilbert grew up in Montreal and attended McGill Medical School, specializing in pediatrics. She married classmate John Ellis Gilbert the week after their final exams. After John’s three-year service in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, they settled in Northampton, Massachusetts , where John was chief of Pathology at the Cooley-Dickinson Hospital, and raised five children. Ever since they moved to Thetford Center, Vermont, in 1972, Barbara has devoted herself to child protection work, especially prevention of child abuse, for which she was given a Distinguished Service award from the University of Vermont...