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German surrender: 'The time has come to be glad'

"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.

Canadian soldiers, more familiar with danger than peace, wander around camp at a loss. In this account, Halton discusses the German surrender in his trademark style - part news report, part poetry. He speaks of loss, sacrifice, and the enduring scar that the soldiers bear. "Death has walked at their side," he describes. "It's hard to believe, for a day or two, that the nightmare is over and they can drink the wine of life."
. CBC journalist A.E. Powley wrote about Matthew Halton's broadcasts in his book Broadcast From the Front. He praised one of Halton's final reports as a fitting epilogue to the long struggle. "Today the world is happy," Halton said. "Ten million men pinch themselves and feel that they're still alive and will soon be lying on the lawn listening to their wives and babies."

. The CBC was unique in its broadcasting of war actuality.  The American networks were not allowed to broadcast the sounds of battle and the BBC chose not to because of limited facilities. The British and American reporters sent their reports to be assembled in New York while the Canadians produced their finished products in the field.

. "We were a strange pair - the most experienced war correspondent and the greenest," Charles Lynch described of his friendship with Halton. "One of my hottest experiences in France has been to be pinned down in an orchard for an hour and a half while mortar shells were bursting all around. When I finally picked myself up and ran for the road, there grinning at me from behind a huge log was Matt Halton. He had his portable recorder and he said he'd just made the best recording ever made on the battlefield."

. A total of 1,086,343 Canadian men and women performed full-time duty during the course of the war, and 42,042 Canadians died in service.
. The war in Europe lasted for 2,076 days.
Medium: Radio
Program: CBC Radio News
Broadcast Date: May 5, 1945
Reporter: Matthew Halton
Duration: 4:40
Photo: National Archives PA 115151

Last updated: May 22, 2012

Page consulted on November 7, 2012

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