Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 137 Royal Canadian Navy, 1941-1949 Doug's Story "Seventeen" I am always saying, "When I was seventeen, I joined the Navy! When I was still sixteen, I wrote a letter to the Naval Recruiting Office in Ottawa (with my father's permission) asking for an application to join the Navy. The war had started about 18 months previous. I soon got an application along with the news that I could not join up until I was 17 years old, and that I would have to stay in the Navy for seven years after I became 18. I sent my application in right away and it was a long six months waiting to be 17, trying to grow up in such a short time. I hadn't been any more than 50 miles away from home in my whole short life. Two days after my seventeenth birthday at 5' 11" tall and weighing 126 pounds, I had to leave home and report to the naval barracks in Esquimalt B.C., 3000 miles away. Some of my friends were at the house to see me off as I left to catch the noon train that would take me to B.C. and a new experience. The train ride was really great, across the prairies and through the mountains, but it was long. Every mile took me further away from the home and the people I loved. I guess I was homesick, but I couldn't let anyone know that. The naval barracks seemed to be awfully big, about half the size of the entire village I had just come from. I was given a medical, signed a few papers, and was issued a hammock that I would sleep in most of the time that I was in the Navy. I was also given a big kit bag full of navy clothes that would be mine for the next 8 years. I was put in a platoon with eleven other fellows my age. The first week, our instructor showed us, and constantly reminded us, who was the boss. "Yes, Sir!" "No, Sir!" Respect was what he wanted and what he got, I soon found out that, as long as you remembered that, things went OK. We were now 'Boy Seamen', to bed in our hammocks at 9:00 PM, lights out at 9:30 and no talking (not a whisper), up at 5:30 am and out on the parade square at 6:00 for a mile run down the road. It soon increased to a five-mile run. I'm not sure whether this was to build us up or wear us down. After six months of training and everyone in shape, we were sent to Halifax, 4000 miles away, by train, with a two-weeks leave en route. I should mention here that for the first six months in the navy I was paid $15 a month, but they held back $10 a month so you would have some money when you went on leave. So here I was with 2 weeks leave and $60 in my pocket. Boy was I rich!! Douglas C. Maybee Doug Maybee 1941 continued ...
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