Description
Mr. Gorie recalls his time with the 8th New Brunswick Hussars, and the first time he went into action.
Norman Gorie
Mr. Norman Gorie was born on April 22, 1923 in Saint John, New Brunswick. His father did not have military service but his uncle served in the First World War. He grew up in New Brunswick with his two sisters and upon graduation from high school, at the age of 17, he began working as a carpenter building a military camp in Sussex, New Brunswick. In February, 1941, Mr. Gorie joined the Canadian Army enlisting in the 8th New Brunswick Hussars. He served with the 5th Armoured Regiment working as a Wireless Operator and attained the rank of sergeant serving in Italy and Northwest Europe and was in Holland when the war ended. He later returned home to New Brunswick.
Transcript
Every regiment, tank regiment had an infantry regiment attached to them. We had the Cape Breton Highlanders, the Cape Breton Highlanders, there they are again. They got me in Saint John, they got me again. But anyway, no they were a good bunch of guys, and we had an infantry of six with every tank so when you went into action they went into action, or they went in to action you went with them as support. And by this time of course the 8th Hussars it's no more 8th New Brunswick Hussars, it's just 8th Hussars because we got guys in it from Ontario, Quebec, cause we lost so many people in England, sick, and some of them, a few died, accidents and stuff, so you're bound to get, you had to get other people in, so there's no more New Brunswick it was 8th Hussars that was it. But we had the Cape Breton Highlanders for our outfit, and they went in we went in...
Interviewer: What do you remember about the first time that you went into action?
Well your just in attack, pray to God the ole wireless set is going to go, and actually I, maybe I'm wrong, but you just sit, you're not gonna, a tank is pretty safe as for rifle fire and all that, that poor infantry they're going to get it, but you could get hit all kinds of times with rifles no ones ever gonna hit ya or they're not going to hurt ya. You know they ain't gonna get ya. If you get a direct hit with a shell. You blow up or knock it out of action. But I never did, my tank I was in, we all, all our tank went, we run over a mine once, blew the track off it, and we were hit a few times, just small, but we didn't hurt anything, but the poor guys. See I was in the, what they call the RHQ tanks. That's the colonel's tank and three other tanks. We were supposed to be looking after him and but the squadron's A, B, and C they're the fighting squadron. Now they're the guys that are taking the licking. Actually our tank, we didn't actually, we weren't actually into it, we were into it, but we weren't out actually with the gun firing all the time. But the colonel says it was his tank we're gonna watch, supposed to watch that they don't get him.
Interviewer: What do you remember about the first time that you went into action?
Well your just in attack, pray to God the ole wireless set is going to go, and actually I, maybe I'm wrong, but you just sit, you're not gonna, a tank is pretty safe as for rifle fire and all that, that poor infantry they're going to get it, but you could get hit all kinds of times with rifles no ones ever gonna hit ya or they're not going to hurt ya. You know they ain't gonna get ya. If you get a direct hit with a shell. You blow up or knock it out of action. But I never did, my tank I was in, we all, all our tank went, we run over a mine once, blew the track off it, and we were hit a few times, just small, but we didn't hurt anything, but the poor guys. See I was in the, what they call the RHQ tanks. That's the colonel's tank and three other tanks. We were supposed to be looking after him and but the squadron's A, B, and C they're the fighting squadron. Now they're the guys that are taking the licking. Actually our tank, we didn't actually, we weren't actually into it, we were into it, but we weren't out actually with the gun firing all the time. But the colonel says it was his tank we're gonna watch, supposed to watch that they don't get him.
Metadata
8th New Brunswick Hussars
Medium
Video
Owner
Veterans Affairs Canada
War or Conflict Term
Second World War
Location/Theatre
Italy
Person Interviewed
Norman Gorie
Branch
Army
Units/Ship
5th Armoured Regiment, 8th New Brunswick Hussars
Military Rank
Sergeant
Occupation
Wireless Operator
Duration
02:35
