Toronto filmmaker, history teacher visit local Second World War veteran Joan Fuller

ABOYNE – Zach Dunn, a 26-year-old filmmaker and founder of Global Veteran Stories, recently traveled to Aboyne alongside Scott Masters, a high school history teacher from Crestwood Preparatory College in Toronto. 

The pair have spent the past three years interviewing and preserving veterans’ stories.

On May 30, Dunn and Masters interviewed 108-year-old Second World War veteran Joan Fuller, one of Canada’s oldest surviving veterans. 

Now a resident of Wellington Terrace, Lucie Anna Joan “Joan” Fuller (née Belmar) was born on Jan. 15, 1918, in Osterley, England.

Fuller shared memories of growing up in England during the Blitz before joining the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) in 1943. 

Trained as a radar operator, she served at RAF radar stations in Northern Ireland and near Dover, helping monitor aircraft movements over Britain, the English Channel and the Thames Estuary as part of Britain’s critical air defence network.

Fuller spoke candidly about the realities of wartime Britain, including air raids, rationing and the loss of her younger brother Basil, who was killed while serving with the British Army in Italy in 1943. 

Despite the personal tragedy, she continued her service until near the end of the war, playing an important role in one of the Allied forces’ most vital and technologically advanced operations.

“Despite being 108 years old, Joan’s memory remained remarkably sharp as she reflected on her wartime experiences, her immigration to Canada aboard the Queen Mary after the war, and recently receiving her long-overdue 1939–45 War Medal,” Dunn told the Advertiser.  

“The interview was a powerful reminder of the importance of preserving firsthand accounts from the generation that helped secure victory during the Second World War.” 

To view, visit rememberingcanadasveterans.com.