KINGSTON – On June 5, 1944, Bill Fitsell was in Wales with the crew of HMCS Outremont when he wrote in his diary that he could tell something was coming.

The following day — D-Day — Fitsell wrote “At sea. INVASION started. Outremont on patrol. Exercised action stations in the afternoon. Listened to news all day.”

For a 75-year-old paper diary that crossed the Atlantic Ocean with Fitsell four times during the war, it is in decent shape. It’s a little tattered, a little worn on the edges, but Fitsell knows its importance some day to his family when he is gone and keeps it in a zip-lock bag.

Fitsell said his mother bought him the diary and he wrote in it religiously as a way to always remember.

“Sometimes you can’t keep it all, a diary is a good way to remember even the small things,” Fitsell.

On May 7, Fitsell will be remembering the Second World War further at the Anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic parade alongside HMCS Cataraqui.

To continue reading, visit the Kingston Whig-Standard website at http://www.thewhig.com/2017/04/23/remembering-the-battle-of-the-atlantic