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Seeking atonement: A soldier's story

"This is Matthew Halton of the CBC." So began Halton's war broadcasts. His reports were at times tender and sad and other times shocking and explosive. Halton was an unabashed sentimentalist who covered the war as a crusade, for which he was sometimes criticized but more often loved. Covering the major milestones of his generation – from the war trenches to the coronation of the Queen, Halton became Canada's most famous foreign correspondent. A thoughtful philosopher and determined idealist, Matthew Halton was an everyman poet who wore his heart boldly on his sleeve.

At age 50, Snowy MacDonald signed up to fight in the Second World War. A veteran of the First World War, he was determined to make it to the front lines again. He dyed his hair, removed his old war ribbons and was reluctantly accepted. Defying his age, he fought like a tiger. He parented the young troops and was promoted to company sergeant before dying on the battlefield. Matthew Halton speaks to Snowy's company about his drive and his tragic death.
• "His was a very different genre of war reporting than any I, or any other reporter, would do in the post-Vietnam era. There was an element of cheerleading to it that wouldn't be acceptable today. While frequently acknowledging the courage of German soldiers, there were unabashed references to the "enemy" and, in one broadcast, to the "sullen young zealots" of Germany's First Parachute Regiment. My father had reported throughout the 1930s on the growing danger of Nazism, and for him the Second World War was nothing less than a holy crusade." – CBC reporter David Halton.
Medium: Radio
Program: CBC Radio News
Broadcast Date: March 8, 1945
Reporter: Matthew Halton
Duration: 5:00
Photo: CBC/ Library and Archives Canada/e003525273-v6

Last updated: February 27, 2012

Page consulted on February 26, 2013

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