Pictured right: Malcolm, at Veterans Memorial Lodge.
Born in 1934, Malcolm Bull and his family lived Bournemouth on the south coast of England. As a child, Malcolm remembers the bombings his family endured during the Second World War. “You know, the air raid sirens didn’t always go off.” Walking through an allotment between his school and home, Malcolm describes one incident where there was no warning signal. “It was the middle of the day and I could hear the plane coming.” Malcolm went to hide behind one of the garden sheds, but the low flying bomber was already over him. “I could see the two Germans, looking right at me. I could see their eyes and I was sure I was going to be killed.” He recalls learning later on that the plane had crashed into the gasworks and blown up.
More than 2,200 bombs fell in what was called the Bournemouth Blitz, between 1940 and 1944. The sirens sounded almost every day. “I remember being scared, but you got used to it.” The government issued families who didn’t have access to a cellar a cage-like box bed called a Morrison shelter. It had a metal top and wiring down the side. “My bed was on top of the box. Anytime the siren went on, my mother and one of my two sisters would come under the bed with me.”
Malcolm’s family moved to Canada after the war, settling in Ontario for seven years before moving to Vancouver.
Malcolm always wanted to be in the military, and on his 18th birthday, in March of 1948, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. “They just took me in and that was that.”
Malcolm trained at CFB Trenton and Camp Borden and eventually went overseas to the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, training in France, North Africa, and Germany. He trained as a Gunner and eventually worked as a Fitter. “My job was to keep the fighter jets flying. Take them apart, put them back together, and make sure they were ready to roll.” He primarily worked on the F-100 Super Sabre and Lockheed T-33, or T-bird fighter jet. “Every so often we would have to go up in one of the jets. Just to make sure we were doing our job right, and trusted our own work! I really enjoyed going up.”
Leaving the Air Force in 1952, Malcolm stayed with his father in Vancouver while he got settled into civilian life. It was here he met his wife, Dianna. “She lived one house down from my dad. I had a flashy red convertible. She came over and leaned on the car. A year later we were married.”
Malcolm and his wife had six sons and one daughter, raising them on the mainland and Vancouver Island. He worked as a building and ground maintenance supervisor at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver Airport, and then eventually at the BC Legislation Building during the Bill Vander Zalm years. “I have a son with Down’s Syndrome, so when working for the government I was tasked to hire and manage persons with disabilities. They were some of the hardest working people I have worked with.”
After 10 years working with the government, Malcolm ended up leaving to care for his wife who was diagnosed at just 49 years old with Huntington’s disease. She died after a courageous sixteen-year battle with the genetic condition, which afflicted three of their sons, two of whom have passed away. “My wife wasn’t sick for a day in her life till then! It’s a horrible disease.”
The hardships Malcolm experienced in his life haven’t diminished his positive outlook on life. Moving to Veterans Memorial Lodge in the fall of 2022, Malcolm was fast to befriend his neighbours, and is quick to assist residents who may need help. Malcolm and two of his fellow veterans tend to one of the vegetable gardens at the Lodge, watering the plants daily, which has resulted in a bountiful harvest of tomatoes!
Like all Canadian veterans, Malcolm gave up so much so that we can enjoy the freedom we have today. It is our honour to serve Malcolm while he lives at Veterans Memorial Lodge, a Broadmead Care Home.
You can help veterans like Malcolm enjoy the comforts of home and simple pleasures by making a donation today.
