大象传媒

This story was entered onto the Peoples war website by Rod Sutton on behalf of Rosemary Nichollas, the author of this story from her cousin Norman Hunt, they fully understand and accept the sites terms and conditions.

The German Campaign did not develop on the Western Front as quickly as expected. Throughout the winter months the Germans remained behind the frontiers while French and British troops struggled to strengthen the fortifications along the frontier facing Germany and Belgium, and gradually the tension began to lessen. It seemed, for a time as if the conquest of Poland had satisfied Hitler's appetite for territory and that the Maginot Line was indeed a deterrent to invasion. The Belgians still remained cautious and made no move to join the French and British, even the French began to take things more easily as the severe weather slowed up the construction of further frontier works. In April came a warning that the war was not really over, the Germans, swarmed over Norway. Several Canadian battalions of the 1st Division, then in England, were rushed to Scotland with orders to embark for Norway, but the campaign was over before they had a chance to embark. On the Western Front all was still quiet.

Traveling aboard a troop ship even during August was no cruise. It was not long before the initial exhilaration began to wear a little thin. The ship was overcrowded, hundreds of soldiers were herded into the hot, foul smelling places where they were to sleep and eat. There were no portholes for the men below the water line, only the noisy air vents which carried stale odors as well as air from the upper decks. Most of the men were provided with hammocks but, for others, mattresses had to be found, placed on the floors or tables at nights and then rolled up in the morning. All meals were served in the crowded sleeping quarters, and every unit had to find its own orderlies and its own cleaning details. It was fortunate that great emphasis had been placed on good housekeeping by the Lake Superiors (The Lake Superior Regiment) for without it the dirt and the stench could quickly have become unbearable. The officers were better off, they at least, had cabins and portholes, even if the cabins were narrow and the bunks close together; and they also had their meals served in the ship's dining room.

There was little entertainment on board the ship. A small, inadequate canteen, bare rooms, and the cold, draughty decks - that was all. The doors leading outside were covered with tarpaulins or blankets to exclude all light. Blackout rules were strictly enforced. There could be no smoking and no showing of lights of any kind upon the decks. Each man carried his life belt with him at all times. As a constant reminder that this was the season and here were the hunting grounds of the U-boats. Just as they had done at Camp Borden, the Lake Superiors on board ship drew guard duty. There was some grumbling on the part of the men at the number of duties which seemed always to fall their way, but at least these duties did eke out the time.

The first impression when I got overseas was one of confusion, I guess, because it was such a small country. Just getting used to the short distances between the villages, towns and cities. We were stationed in the south of England, all the time we were there except for some training exercises up north. We spent a lot of time in Brighton and places like Mildenhall, Farnham, around the Farnham area, Haywards Heath, Aldershot, all the little places. The countryside there is so small that, you know, a town there is 10 miles away and that is quite a way for the English, they are used to such small distances.

We went north once or twice, up to some big maneuvers up around the Wash. We were training. That's all we did. We trained and trained and trained. It was at least two years before we saw battle. I saw a video recently of us training in England made by one of our Officers. And, you know, we just got so sick of doing this, but that was all we knew. We had to be trained, and they kept us busy the whole two years before we went into battle, action.

Sometimes on my leave I visited Cornwall where my Uncle Martin, Dad's brother, lived on a farm. At a place called Bodinnar, Newbridge near Penzance. I have fond memories of Aunt Connie who always gave me eggs for breakfast. These were a real luxury in wartime, of course, because rationing was in force. I got real preferential treatment, great. Then there was my cousin Leslie, who was about 18 months older than me and now lives in Western Australia, and Jean. I have a photograph of her as May Queen at Madron. I remember so vividly the small green patchwork fields and really regret not having taken any photographs while I was there. But I was young and caught up in what I was doing. You think things will never change but life moves on so fast. I also visited Grandmother and Grandfather Hunt, they lived at New Mill in West Cornwall. Quite close to where my Uncle Martin lived. I went up and visited them a few times on my leave, not often because it was hard to get to and you had to go either by foot or bicycle. It was eight or nine miles away from where my Uncle lived but I did get up to visit them and I knew them a little bit. In his youth, Grandfather's working years were spent as an Estate Manager.

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