A dedicated advocate for soldiers is being remembered this week. Leslie (Les) Allison of Roland, an R.C.A.F. Second World War veteran, has passed away at the age of 92.
    
Allison was known in the region for playing The Last Post on his cornet at Remembrance Day ceremonies in Carman and at the funerals for local veterans. According to his son, Neil, Les' musical legacy started when he enlisted in the air force in the 1940's at the age of 18.

"He really wanted to fly but of course when he went through medical they found out he was colour-blind (and) that meant he couldn't fly, navigate, flight engineer, those kinds of things," explained Neil. He said his father's next option was to be an air gunner, however his 6'3" stature far exceeded the typical height of AGs at 5'10" or less, this meant Les was assigned to the ground crew.

"They said 'What do you want to be? You can deliver mail or there's an opening in one of the Air Force bands.' He was a cornet player so he took the band option," said Neil.

Once he arrived home from the war in 1946, Allison continued to play at various events in Carman. In fact, according to Neil, he played at 68 Remembrance Day services in Carman throughout the decades and at over 600 funerals for veterans across the region.

"His first funeral was in 1946," noted Neil, "It was for a guy in Morden who had been pretty badly shot up and committed suicide. It was a big honour (for him) to play and then the (requests) kept coming."

Celebrating those who served in the Air Force was also a life-long passion for Allison and was represented in the books he wrote and contributed to. In his obituary it outlines that in 1978, after eight years of research, Allison published Canadians in the Royal Air Force. In 1992, his 10 years of research for the Brandon Commonwealth Air Museum ended with their publication of They Shall Grow Not Old. And in 2002, he was a contributor to Geographical Names of Manitoba and A Place of Honour.

"I think he felt quite guilty that he couldn't have contributed more and I think writing was one way that he could give back," said Neil.

A Celebration of Life for Les Allison will be held Friday, September 22 at the Roland United Church at 2:00 p.m. .