Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 131 West Nova Scotia Regiment First Canadian Infantry 1942 -1945 I joined in Halifax in January 1942 when I volunteered at #6 Depot. I went through basic training in New Glasgow NS. We shipped out of Halifax to Newfoundland the 103rd Coast Defense in Newfoundland. I went over to Newfoundland on the Lady Rodney. I spent a year on guns at Fort Amherst at the entrance of St. John's Harbour. Then a year on search lights and engines at Cape Spear Navy Station. I came back from Newfoundland and took advanced training for infantry for reinforcements overseas. I was in the West Nova Scotia Regiment of the First Canadian Infantry. I went overseas on the Mauritania. On the way over, we took a roll in the mid-Atlantic. I slid off the step and went up against the side of the bulk head. I hurt my right arm and went to see the surgeon to get something for pain. I waited in line for awhile but did not get very far so I just went back to the hammock. I still have a lump on my arm today. I don't know what caused the roll. Some said that the steer man may have fallen asleep, we never did find out. Near to British Isles, we cut right through an armed trawler and I could see from the deck both parts of the trawler turned over in the wake of the ship. I heard an explosion. There was a hole in the bow of the ship. AV-shaped thing was built in the deck and the order came to resume course and speed. They put the ship aground in North Ireland to get repairs. I got on a ferry across to England. I stayed at Aldershot in England for awhile. I shipped out of Aberdeen Scotland for Italy on Camp Sythia. On the way to Italy a submarine torpedoed a ship coming behind us. The torpedo was meant for us. The ship that was hit had nursing sisters on it. Our ship picked up survivors. On that same trip, I was looking over the starboard side of the ship. I saw a periscope coming up out of the water. The gunner was above me. I heard the order to target starboard but wait until the base of the conning tower was visible. They fired and put a hole in the conning tower. Just after that a white flag came up and they surrendered. The escort ship came along and removed the enemy crew from the submarine and then they took the submarine off and sank it. We went on to Naples. In the harbour there were a lot of wrecks and we had to ease the ship around the wrecks. We could see Mount Vesuvius from the harbour. There were rest places to stop along the line. Coriander Ridge was on the way up. I got to the front line at Ruminy, from there to Senial River. Battle of the River was between two rivers - the Montone River and the Lemoine River. Just north of the river there was a ditch between the rivers where we faced the enemy on the front line. Suloviaculpa It was there that two bullets pinned the helmet on my head on the left upper side of his head. The bullets dented my helmet. When things quieted down, I tried to take the helmet off Clifford Marsh Clifford Marsh at Cape Spear continued ...
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