The soldier at the telephone is my grandfather Josef Oedekoven, at this time 40 years old. Fortunately he came unwounded back home after the war.

I have visited this former train station over the years. I have discovered that it served as the point of departure for hundreds of Canadian soldiers from nearby Camp Bordon, Ontario. The railway station was built in 1917 to serve both the town of Orillia in central Ontario and the military base (now called Base Borden), it was from here that men and women from all over Canada departed for the front after their military training. || Photo I took myself of the well-preserved train station in Orillia.

This preserved railway station was the main point of departure for thousands of Canadian troops trained at Camp Borden, one of the largest Canadian Army training camps. It was built during the war in 1917 to serve the needs of the town and the military base. It is humbling to visit it 100 years later. The tracks have long since been removed, but the structure has been preserved as a sign of its importance to Canada and to the region. It now serves as a tourist information office and for local government offices.