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“This might be the last chance to get some of these stories off their chest,” he said. “I’ve been honoured to be able to hear some of those things… that’s really humbling.”

Brunt’s grandfather wasn’t the only family member involved in the Second World War. He said his great-uncle Peter Anaka from Yorkton was a trained pilot who fought in Europe.

When Brunt came through Saskatoon, he said he’d never dreamed he’d meet someone who was a personal friend of his great-uncle.

Reg Harrison, a well-known Second World War bomber pilot living in Saskatoon, went through flight school with Anaka. He was even able to show Brunt a picture of himself standing with Anaka the day they earned their pilot wings.

Photo by Supplied / Photo courtesy of Reg Harrison / Saskatoon

“It was really amazing. I often wondered what had happened to Peter,” Harrison said. “It brought back an awful lot of memories for me, when we… talked about my experiences, and how well I knew Peter.”

Harrison and Anaka never reconnected after the war, so the picture Harrison has is one of the last times they saw each other. Harrison said that he had mixed feelings about speaking with Brunt, but said after their long conversation that he saw the importance of what Brunt was doing, calling it a “great service to all those… who never came back.”

Brunt has been fairly successful so far, but he still has a long way to go: Before reaching Saskatoon, he said he’d interviewed 77 different veterans, and he hasn’t even reached Manitoba yet.

But Brunt said meeting Harrison and finding the connection to his family has made him feel like this project was something he was meant to take on.

“Maybe some things are happening for a reason,” he said. “It pushes me on even further, to capture these stories and tell this documentary before it’s too late.”