Description
Arriving off the barge with his truck in Sicily, Mr. Hislop tells a story of his first encounter.
Robert Hislop
Mr. Hislop was born in Shellbrook, Saskatchewan on May 6,1921. He grew up during the depression and calls it “the hungry 30s”. In November 1941, he joined the army and was very lonely being away from home for the first time. When he arrived overseas he traveled to Aldershot by train and got his first taste of the beautiful scenery. Mr. Hislop served as a truck driver and Vickers machine gun operator during his tour in Italy. After the war Mr. Hislop was married and worked at a General Motors garage.
Transcript
We went to Swansea, Wales and I was on the boat for 30 days with trucks, our trucks and they were loaded in the hold. Then we sailed and we ended up in Sicily. I come off the truck, off the barge in Sicily and the trucks have been waterproofed so that when it goes through water the water won’t stop them as the ignition cut out. But I got off the barge and I just got on to the road in Sicily and the truck started to jerk and it stopped. So I abandoned the truck because there was an aircraft coming over. So I was in the ditch and I remember still being in the ditch and I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do. It didn’t shell or strafe or nothing. It just flew right over my truck and I thought oh boy. I just laid there and the plane turned and came back around and I thought well maybe this time he’s going to see me. He didn’t bother.