Bruce County Museum.  Photo from Bruce CountyBruce County Museum. Photo from Bruce County
Midwestern

Bruce County Museum hosts Second World War collection

A Kincardine man will share his extensive Second World War collection at the Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre.

Local historian and avid Second World War collector Alexander Peroff revealed that he and his wife have collected more than 2000 authentic artefacts from both the Canadian and Axis armed forces.

"Basically my wife and I have been slowly accumulating and collecting World War Two artifacts over the past decade, all with the interest of you know, sharing it with others and promoting education of the era," said Peroff.

Peroff, the owner and operator of the traveling museum “Frontline Journeys” explained how his collection began. He said it started back when he was a kid, and he was cleaning out a closet with his grandfather, who served with the Queen's Own Rifles.

"He was cleaning out a closet with me, and I found a bag full of ammo and a grenade and one of his, you know, military caps," Peroff said. "And a couple photos and his Canadian service handbook."

Since then, Peroff has proudly assembled a complete kit that a soldier like his grandfather would have.

"I was able to recreate my grandfather's kit from start to finish, so the BD (battle dress) tunic with trousers, all the correct webbing, right down to his 303 rifle," Peroff continued. "After the war, he was given a brand new uniform, and in typical house cleaning fashion, my grandmother never saw him wear it, so she threw it out."

Peroff said another iconic item in his collection is a nurse outfit.

"We have a really, really comprehensively complete uniform of a Canadian nurse who served during World War Two, which is really hard to find," he revealed. "They were called bluebirds because of their distinctive denim blue uniforms. So I think that's a really beautiful piece of Canadian history."

He added they also have the uniform of Canadian Joan Kennedy, the first female soldier.

"She helped to lay the groundwork in British Columbia about establishing a Canadian Women's Army Corps," explained Peroff. "And she kind of led the charge for women's rights to serve in the military, and then later became the first woman in Canadian history to ever reach the rank of Lieutenant Colonel."

He said that actually seeing and touching artifacts helps spark a keen interest in history for children.

Peroff pointed out why it is important to preserve and share history.

"And the only way we can further understand ourselves is to understand where we came from," he added. "And I think, you know, we're very blessed that we live in a time and a country where we quite literally, don't need to worry about, you know, being invaded or attacked, or, you know, we don't have to worry about our security as much as other countries do."

He stressed that it is important to understand that our freedoms to vote, or go to school, all came at a cost.

The Honouring D-Day: Uniforms, Weapons & Equipment Show takes place on Saturday, November 2, 2024.

An Artefact Show & Tell for Kids & Families (Ages 8-12) will take place from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. This interactive session will allow younger audiences to engage with history with a show and tell period and an artefact identification activity.

Then from 1:00 p.m. until 2:00 p.m., a Teens & Adults Presentation will take place in Bruce Power Theatre, followed by an in-depth artefact show and tell.

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