Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 155 continued ... continued ... Wood Street in Truro for $5.00 a month, no lights and no water. A lorry, which is a big truck, would make daily rounds from Debert to Truro and return daily. That’s how I got back and forth to work. Now Catherine was about eight months pregnant when we got word of leaving for overseas. But we didn’t know exactly when we were going and when I found out I couldn’t get word to my wife. When we were loaded on the train I was given a great big chocolate bar. There was a guard outside and there was no way I could get past him to let my wife know I was leaving. I happened to see a MacKay girl we knew and she went by the car train I was on. I managed to get the car window open and got her attention. I asked her to give the chocolate bar to Catherine and to tell her this was it. It was like a ton of bricks off my back knowing that I got word to her. I was overseas just two weeks when I received word that we had a baby girl. We arrived at Pier 21 and boarded an oriental boat ORION. We landed at Cardiff Wales and from there boarded a train to Aldershot. I was never in action. We route marched an awful lot. We move around Southern England in Kent County. This was probably mostly 3rd Division to my knowledge. By now after 2-1/2 years in the Army on cross country route marches with full packs of 47 pounds and going about 15 miles. Anyway I dropped back about 1 mile from camp and met another man who dropped back also. He had flat feet. At camp supper that night I couldn’t get up and I couldn’t straighten my knee up. I had dry knee that turned out to be arthritis at the seat of the injury. I said to some man from Stewiacke, “don’t leave, I can’t get up”. I lay awake thru the night and decided to go to sick parade the next morning. There were 15 men ahead of me with blisters. When the Doctor got to me he told me to take my shoes off, as he thought I had blisters too. Instead I pulled up my pant leg and as he looked at it he asked me “who let you in the Army?” to which I responded, “you did”. I was put in a general hospital outside London. It was a kind of cute operating hospital. There were about 10 patients there and the nurses couldn’t wait to get you. They would heat “pigs” or hot water bottles to warm our feet at night. I was there about a month. As time went on, I was put on a category for my knee. I ended up in Basing stoke, outside London where I was a training orderly sent there to work on the boat coming home. I was there approximately 1-1/2 years. I kind of liked that kind of work and thought I would like to continue doing it in life because I was helping people. I next remember boarding the Isle de France to return back home. February 14, 1944 probably around 8:00 p.m. the train landed in Truro. It was cold when I landed home and rapped at the door. As soon as my wife saw me she ran upstairs to get the baby to show her to me. I’ve got to tell you my wife caused more trouble within my unit. Every month she got $76.00 and her pattern upon receiving her cheque was to look after me first. Every month she would send me 1,000 cigarettes and a parcel. In the parcel would be a mouth organ, toothpaste, cookies, date squares, you name it. Guys used to joke and say what’s the second thing you’re going to do when you get home to which the response was - take the backpack off! And so I got to meet this beautiful plump little girl named Sally. But you see Sally’s father was a picture on the mantle. So after about 25 days of trying to warm up to this little girl, I went out and bought her a red rocking horse for $2.00. That was the turning point. And to this day, Sally still has that red rocking horse!
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