Canada's contribution in India

Heroes Remember

Canada's contribution in India

Transcript

The aircrew were training to drop supplies, and/or troops, mostly Gurkhas and the, Akyab was the, sorry, Gujarat, was the base, and they did their training up at Rawalpindi up in the foothills of the Himalayas, both dropping troops and para supplies so that, and that took from, well we got there maybe sometime in October until January before we went to Burma. When most people hear about Canadians being in Burma they think we were involved in the hump, flying the hump. That wasn't so, that was mostly Americans, flying from staging spots in upper northern Burma such as Ledo, into Kunming in China. They were helping the Chinese, not, nothing to do with the, with the war in Burma. 436 Squadron was one of fourteen squadrons that helped supply the 14th Army, it's just a coincidence that that's, the word fourteen is, is there. Of the fourteen, two were Canadians, four were British, and the rest were American. And they supplied the 14th Army entirely by air. I saw ammunition, barbwire, hay, rations, tobacco, beer, whatever always dropped or landed at forward strips, but all taken in by these fourteen squadrons. So if Canada had two of fourteen, that's a significant contribution and nobody happens to know that.

Description

Mr. Duffley talks about training to drop supplies and troops to the 14th Army.

Louis Duffley

Louis Duffley was born in Quispamsis, New Brunswick on 14 February, 1920. He and some friends joined the Air Force and in 1941 travelled to Toronto for kitting and elementary discipline. From there, he went to Technical school in Belleville. He finished up in 1942 and was posted in Moncton, New Brunswick. He stayed there for a year and a half before being sent off to Dorval, Quebec for another course. After two months, Mr Duffley joined the 165 Squadron on the West Coast. Eventually, in 1944 he and two Air Force friends were sent overseas.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 02:03
Person Interviewed:: Louis Duffley
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Burma
Branch:: Air Force
Units/Ship:: 436 Squadron
Occupation:: Aircraft Instrument Engineer

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Canada's contribution in India

Heroes Remember