Canadian Army Overseas Identification Card

Date1945

Credit LineGift of the Tingley Family, 2018.

Object number2018.016.032

Label TextMerle "Ting" Tingley enlisted in April of 1942 in the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals. In a diary entry about his enlistement, he wrote: “I started off with vim and vigor / to join the army and pull a trigger.” That’s not what happened: “I was a terrible soldier – the army thought they would be safer if they took away my gun and gave me a pencil.” Tingley earned the rank of Sergeant in July 1943. At that time, he worked as drafter and artist with the Department of Munitions and Supply. He then moved to the Directorate of Electrical and Communications Design to do the same work. By 1944, he was a cartoonist for the army's "Khaki" magazine. When the war in Europe ended, Ting joined the staff of this Canadian Army Occupation Force magazine as a cartoonist. He created the character “Occupational Oscar.” Ting went overseas in November 1945 and returned home in September 1946.

NameCard, Identification