North Novie of the Week: Gunner Russell Clarke

The North Novie of the Week is Russell Clarke of Amherst, NS!

Russell served with the North Nova Scotia Highlanders Militia before turning 18 in 1942. He then joined the Royal Canadian Artillery, going overseas on July 20, 1943. Gunner Clarke was posted to Bramshot, England on D-Day where he was assigned to traffic control. He watched the first casualties of D-Day come back to England. Later, Clarke was posted to the Dutch/German border where he stockpiled ammo for the push across the Rhine. A lot was expected of this young soldier, as many longer serving troops were being shipped home.

He later became a Lieutenant in the militia after he returned to Amherst. Russell is currently 95 years old. He takes classes at the Tantramar Seniors College, has coffee with fellow veterans at the Armouries every Thursday, and frequently visits the local library. Russell pops into the Armouries every other day to sit, chat, and pick out a new book from our military collection. We don’t know what we would do without him