On September 23, 1941, a British mother abandoned her newborn baby behind blackberry bushes in Horsell Common, a 355-hectare park on the outskirts of London.
Stationed in England, three Canadian soldiers (Gunner Robert C. Griffin of Regina, Saskatchewan, Lance Sergeant Ernest Curtis of Brandon Manitoba, and Gunner Alonzo J. Brackett of Terrace, British Columbia) happened to be nearby. The three members of the Royal Canadian Artillery heard a strange noise coming from the bushes and discovered the baby who was clinging to life.
They immediately cut the remaining umbilical cord with a knife, and wrapped the little girl in a white shirt. An entry in the 8th Field Regiment's war diary from that day says: “found a newborn baby in the gun area.” The baby girl was rushed to a nearby hospital, and survived.
She was later adopted by an English couple, who named her Mary, and growing up in Hertfordshire unaware of her dramatic beginnings. It wasn’t until 2018, at age 79, that Mary discovered an old photograph of the three soldiers holding a tiny baby, revealing the truth of her miraculous rescue. “Tears were rolling down my face,” said Mary. “I owe my life to them.” Her three guardian angels had already passed away, but in 2019, Mary found and got in touch with Harry Curtis, the son of Lance Sergeant Ernest Curtis.
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| At her home in Hertfordshire, England, Mary Crabb displays the 1941 photo featuring her as a baby, surrounded by the Canadian soldiers who saved her life. |
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