FILE PHOTO - Elsie Chandler celebrated her 102nd birthday, Feb. 1, 2021.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Ken Schneider
November 10, 2021 - 12:00 PM
Centenarian Elise Chandler of Kelowna remembers the Second World War all too well.
Born in 1919, to parents Rose and William Page, Chandler grew up in London, England. Her father died when she was 13 and she volunteered shortly afterwards during the Second World War as part of the Air Raid Precautions at the Royal Free Hospital on Gray’s Inn Ward in London.
READ MORE: Kelowna woman celebrates 102nd birthday from apartment window
Chandler remembers each night climbing to the rooftop of an apartment, watching flares falling from the skies to show where survivors might be found.
“It was almost like seeing entertainment because the planes would come over, you could hear them coming and you’d see they’d drop the flares in different places and you’d watch these things go down,” Chandler said. “It was quite an experience when I think about it."
She doesn't recall ever finding any survivors and remembers many bodies.
“I visualize it, going up onto the roof on the building we actually lived in. It was actually a big apartment dwelling, it was actually very nice and we could see for miles. You could see the fires in downtown London which was quite a ways away from where we lived, and the things dropping.
“I thank God every day that I’m here because I think of what we went through and what we survived."
Her main message to the younger generations is to think positively.
“If you think you’re going to die, you’re going to die. But if you think you’re going to get through this, that gives you the energy to keep one foot in front of the other. I think that’s why I’m here now. I mean, I’m going to be 103. Every day when I get up I just thank God I’m here and I just have to put one foot in front of the other and be thankful I’m here.”
READ MORE: Field of Crosses returns to Kelowna park for Remembrance Day
After the war, she married Frank Chandler who had two children.
“That was the beginning of the rest of my life,” she said.
Together, they had two more children and moved to Canada, setting in Vancouver.
“I’m a really fortunate lucky old lady, I really am,” she said.
Chandler currently lives in Kelowna and has been celebrated for reaching her 102nd birthday. She turns 103 Feb. 1, 2022.
Remembrance Day is Nov. 11.
— This story was originally published on Nov. 8, 2021.
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