Canadian $10 bill

[snopes]

Comment: Hello! Just wondering if the following is true:

If you have a Canadian $10 bill, look at the back right side of the bill.
You will see an old veteran standing at attention near the Ottawa war
memorial. His name is Robert Metcalfe and he died last month at the age of
90.
That he managed to live to that age is rather remarkable, given what
happened in the Second World War. Born in England, he was one of the
400,000 members of the British Expeditionary Force sent to the mainland
where they found themselves facing the new German warfare technique - the
Blitzkrieg.

He was treating a wounded comrade when he was hit in the legs by shrapnel.

En route to hospital, his ambulance came under fire from a German tank,
which then miraculously ceased fire. Evacuated from Dunkirk on HMS
Grenade, two of the sister ships with them were sunk.

Recovered, he was sent to allied campaigns in North Africa and Italy. En
route his ship was chased by the German battleship Bismarck.

In North Africa he served under General Montgomery against the Desert Fox,
Rommel

Sent into the Italian campaign, he met his future wife, a lieutenant and
physiotherapist in a Canadian hospital. They were married in the morning
by the mayor of the Italian town, and again in the afternoon by a British
padre.

After the war they settled in Chatham where he went into politics and
became the warden (chairman) of the county. At the age of 80 he wrote a
book about his experiences and on his retirement he and his wife moved to
Ottawa.

One day out of the blue he received a call from a government official
asking him to go downtown for a photo op. He wasn't told what the photo
was for or why they chose him. "He had no idea he would be on the bill,"
his daughter said.

And now you know the story of the old veteran on the $10 bill.

[Canuckistan]

This Globe and Mail story says he is the man on the $10 bill, however. But it's subscription-only. (The story is dated 2005.)

[Ieuan ab Arthur]

Hi All:

According to the Bank of Canada's website, there is no indication as to the inspiration for the people in the "Remembrance Scene on the $10 bill. The Bank of Canada describes the "Remembrance Scene" as:

Remembrance Day service illustrated on the back of the $10 note shows a male veteran, a young boy, and a young girl observing the ceremony.

According to the Bank of Canada, the veteran is supposed to be just that: a veteran. The BOC doesn't say who the "model" was.

On another note, to contradict the OP, the memorial in the scene is not the National Cenotaph. As the Bank of Canada explains:

The monument depicted on the back of the $10 note is not true to life. It is meant to represent cenotaphs/war memorials across the country.

Ta ra 'wan,

Ieuan "Nov 11" ab Arthur

[Eddylizard]

According to Veterans Affairs of Canada Robert Metcalf is or was a well respected veteran of WWII, though there is no detail on his service history.

[Meka]

Originally Posted by snopes

Recovered, he was sent to allied campaigns in North Africa and Italy. En route his ship was chased by the German battleship Bismarck.

A bit of a nitpick, but from what I remember, the Bismarck was sunk before it had the opportunity to attack any convoys.

It's not necessarily embellishment by the author, though. It could be an honest mistake on Metcalfe's own part, passing on rumors from fellow soldiers - an attack by a German cruiser becomes, "I heard that was the Bismarck that attacked us last night!" for example, or word that the Bismarck is somewhere in the North Atlantic becomes, "It's coming for us!"

[Skeptic]

Recovered, he was sent to allied campaigns in North Africa and Italy. En
route his ship was chased by the German battleship Bismarck.

Sorry, but this does not seem right. The Bismark only survived 9 days in the North Atlantic, without being anywhere near troops ships off the south coast of England.