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downed German plane. "I think that man in the picture is

Sharp," Shaver said. "I don't know that Sharp was an extremelywell-travelled man, Shaver said.

There are snapshots that Shaver believes were taken by Sharp or hiscomrades, including one of a downed German aircraft. Thatparticular photo shows a man, likely a flyer or pilot, standingbeside a downed German plane.

"I think that man in the picture is Sharp," Shaver said. "I don'tknow that for sure, but I think it is and I also think that theplane might be one that he shot down.

"I really don't know much about Sharp except that he was a flightlieutenant and that he was from Brantford." The collection alsoincludes a picture of 10 Downing Street, home of the British PrimeMinister. On the reverse side it says: "visit to 10 Downing St.with my dad."

There is a picture of troops marching through a bombed-out city andon the reverse the city is identified as Stalingrad. Otherphotographs show a troop advance in the snow towards Stalingrad andstill others show German and Allied officers conversing or meetingin a field.

The snapshots were kept in a thick blue photo album with anEgyptian design on the front and back. There is a musky smell tothe album, the result of being shipped around the world and storedin various boxes over the years.

The leg of the journey to the military heritage museum in Brantfordwas, to say the least, eventful, with a rather inauspicious startin Summerside, P. E. I.

"I run a business here, a convenience store, gas bar and car wash,"said Brian MacArthur of Summerside, who rescued the collection. "Iwas cleaning out the garbage from the

gas bar. I flipped open the cover of the dumpster and was about tothrow in some garbage when I saw this (photo) album.

"It caught my eye because it looked really different."

He pulled it out, set it aside and took care of his garbage. Hethen moved the album to a storage area at the back of his business.

"I kind of put it there and you know how it goes. I got kind ofbusy and forgot about it."

A few years later, he figures it was three or four, MacArthur wascleaning out the storage area when he came across the album again.This time, he decided that it had to go somewhere and he calledGeorge Dalton, president of the local historical society inSummerside.

Dalton is retired from the armed forces and has strong interest inveterans. He has spoken out many times in the past about savingCanada's military heritage, including medals belonging to ourfallen soldiers.

After seeing the pictures, Dalton knew right away it was asignificant collection.

"I had all these photographs spread around on my table and thereare these pictures of Rommel and Montgomery and I was like: 'wow.'

"This is really important stuff."

The collection features battle scene photos including an aerialphoto of the invasion of Sicily, another of a bombed-out buildingin Palmero after an air raid and a picture of a solider watchingwhat appears to be a bombing of a harbour. In addition, there is apicture of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, a munitions dump and anair raid over Alex (Alexandria).

SNAPSHOTS

There were also some wedding photos and other family-relatedsnapshots. In addition, there were a couple of photos of theBrantford Cricket Club from 1930 and 1932 as well as some fromtrips to Britain.

After looking through the collection, Dalton set about trying tofind out more about it. Where it came from, who it belonged to andhow did it end up in a dumpster in Summerside, P. E. I.?

He made some inquiries himself and also called the local newspaper,The Journal/Pioneer and reporter Nancy MacPhee.

"The whole story really took off from there," Dalton said. "Shereally jumped on the story and did a lot of really greatinvestigative work."

The collection was eventually traced to Karen Sharp of Hamilton,Ontario. She was Sharp's daughter-in-law and the collection ofphotographs had been accidently left behind when she moved back toOntario from Summerside.

"She had lost her husband and was moving back to Ontario and shethought she still had the collection with her," Dalton said. "Shewas surprised to find out that it had been recovered here.

"It's the kind of thing that could happen to anyone. I was in themilitary and had to move around a lot and I know that I've lostboxes along the way."

The personal photographs were returned to Sharp, who agreed with asuggestion that the military photographs and those relating toBrantford be turned over to the Canadian Military Heritage Museum.

The military photos are extremely rare and some could have fetchedthousands of dollars had they been put up for auction on e-Bay,Dalton said.

He's grateful for the steps MacArthur took to rescue the collectionand the efforts of MacPhee and everyone else that helped ensure thephotographs will be maintained for future generations.

"It's an exceptional collection and I'm glad it has been saved,"Dalton said. "Everyone did the right thing and I'm glad you havethe military heritage museum.

"It's part of your history and that's where those photographsbelong."

Shaver, meanwhile, is going through the photographs and eventuallythey will be put into an exhibit at the museum.

"It's a fascinating collection that everyone should have anopportunity to see," he said.