technical, and leadership roles in forming the Kangaroos. Mechanical and workshop support for converting tanks, delivering replacement vehicles to front lines, and organizing the logistics of the armoured delivery detachments drew heavily from the Elgin Regiment’s resources. The Kangaroos were not perfect. There were limitations: the interior space was cramped, and the moderate armour thickness was sufficient for small arms and shrapnel, but not for direct hits from heavy anti-tank weapons. Visibility from inside was restricted, and the adaptations sometimes made maintenance difficult under battlefield conditions. But when the alternative was crossing battlefields on foot under constant fire, even a flawed solution was vastly better. The legacy of the Kangaroos is woven into how we think about mechanized infantry warfare today. The Kangaroos, born of late war necessity, showed the way. For St. Thomas and Elgin County, the story is not just of distant battlefields, but of local workshops, veterans, and communities dealing with loss and innovation. Even as the years pass and veterans grow fewer, the Kangaroos remain a powerful symbol of creativity under fire, of local contribution to global struggle, of machinery reshaped to protect rather than to destroy, and of the courage of ordinary people in extraordinary times.
From Courage in Combat to Compassion in Care We Remember.
“There can be no dedication to Canada’s future without a knowledge of its past.” John Diefenbaker 1026 Talbot Street 519-631-1187 wallpaperloftstthomas.com
Nurse Next Door
519-203-2003 nursenextdoor.com
“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.”
We remember those who sacrificed for our freedom Lest We Forget NOVEMBER 11
Thomas Campbell
www.williamsfuneralhomeltd.com 45 Elgin Street, St. Thomas (519) 631-0850 Allan, Matt and Ali Hughson & Staff
AndrewLawtonMP.ca | 519-637-4130 | andrew.lawton@parl.gc.ca
Page 8 Boomers and Beyond – Elgin • November 2025
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