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OIL, BLOOD, AND WATER LECTURE COMMEMORATES THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF DIEPPE

Oil, Blood, and Water: The Dieppe Journal of Doc Alexander
By Rob Alexander
13 September 2012
The Military Museums
4520 Crowchild Trail SW, Calgary AB

Calgary, Alberta, 2 August 2012 — “We started out with one hundred and seventeen military men and thirteen naval – we returned with thirty military and three naval men.” So reads Doc Alexander’s journal entry on 19 August 1942 during the Dieppe Raid.

Searching for the story of the grandfather he never met, Rob Alexander began reading his grandfather’s Second World War journals as a young man. Today he posts daily entries from the journals on his blog and on Twitter. On 13 September at The Military Museums Rob will share a piece of his family history with his lecture Oil, Blood, and Water.

Dr. Laurence Guy Alexander, known as Doc Alexander to most, lived and breathed in the world of medical care. The medical officer for the 14th Canadian Army Tank Battalion he survived the Dieppe Raid and after the war he was the family doctor for many of the regiment’s members. A few remaining veterans remember Doc Alexander from a time in Calgary when house calls were common and medical care could be exchanged for chickens. According to those who knew him best, ‘Doc’ never sacrificed the cornerstone of his care; genuine compassion and an unwavering cheery attitude.

Doc Alexander participated in the First World War and the Second World War, created an ambulance suitable for assault, had his own medical practice, provided medical care to the people of the Stoney-Nakoda First Nation, was the Calgary Stampeders’ team doctor, and the staff doctor for The Hudson’s Bay Company. He was a director for the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede who was responsible for providing medical services for all Stampede facility activities. In 2005 he was named one of Alberta’s Top 100 Physicians.

Doc Alexander’s journals are now part of the archives of the King’s Own Calgary Regiment Museum (RCAC), located at The Military Museums. Follow Doc Alexander’s experiences in his own words at www.themilitarymuseums.ca/doc-alexander. Oil, Blood, and Water will be the first lecture in the fall series at The Military Museums. It runs from September to November on the second and fourth Thursday of each month with the exception of 9 November.

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