Description
Ronald Tee
Mr. Tee was born in Portsmouth, England, on December 1, 1919. His father served with the navy in the First World War and after retiring from the service moved his family to a small village called Pinner in Northern London. At the age of 20, Mr. Tee found himself being "called up" to the British Army. In February 1940 he joined the Queen's Royal Regiment and was posted to Newcastle. He later volunteered and joined the Reconnaissance Corp. Regiment (later part of the Royal Armoured Corps.) and became a member of the 56th Reconnaissance Battalion. He remained with this unit until the end of the war and held rank as Troop Sergeant. Mr. Tee received an honourable discharge from the service on September 11, 1946. In 1953, Mr. Tee and his family moved to Canada to start a new life. They now reside in Kingston, Ontario. Throughout his lifetime Mr. Tee has been known for his determination, courage, enterprise and his enduring motto of "Keep your chin up mate!" He has written a book sharing many stories and experiences he had as a British soldier during the Second World War.
Transcript
Interviewer: Can you expand on that a little bit? How is it that the sense of humour helps a person get through what they get through?
Well, if you can laugh at anything, yeah I guess you can keep yourself going. You can always see something humorous whatever it is. I mean, we had a lot of funny things happen there. My book is full of it. I haven't got stabbing Germans and all that kind of stuff, all the way through that book. There was a lot of funny times and they did mean something. I think they put your mind in a little better state. Not everybody maybe, but certainly most people. Certainly did me. Course I've always had a sense of humour.