War Hits Home

Heroes Remember

War Hits Home

Transcript

Interviewer: On September, 1939 the world comes crashing in. War is declared. Do you remember that day? No, it didn’t affect the area that much ‘til the boys started going. You know, until they started to go in, and there was a lot right at the first part of the war. There was a lot in ‘39 that was in the army right as soon as the war started. There was a lot of them in it. Interviewer: What was it like to have the boys go away? It was … I don’t think … you didn’t notice it because only the friends you had was... it was a very small area. We didn’t get to know people any distance away, it was just in the area. And it was just they had joined the army. They joined the navy or something like that, that was all. You know, it wasn’t, well it wasn’t ... oh it was quite a thing that so-and-so had joined the army and he had gone away for training. But ‘til the war started in Europe, ‘til they started, ‘til the raid in Dieppe, was the first, I think, the biggest shock that hit the world. Because that raid they made in Dieppe, there was a lot of Canadians killed in that for no reason at all. And then from then on it was just a nightmare from then on. I’ll tell you one thing about the first part of the war. We had a telephone home, and any news that come … there wasn’t too many in the district, you know, there wasn’t too many telephones in the district. Telegrams came. They’d ... if it was any place handy, they’d come to there. And, of course, Dad would have to take the messages to them. So, there was a lot of worry then.But ‘til ‘42, ‘til 44, there wasn’t much clear … in Italy, there was a lot of action in Italy before that, but as far as Europe, that’s when the casualties started coming in and they started. They were scared to death to hear that telephone ring.

Description

Mr. Enman explains how the reality of war didn’t truly sink in until so many Canadians were lost during the Dieppe raid.

Murdock William Enman

Mr. Murdock Enman was born in 1922 in Victoria West, Prince Edward Island. Aware that a draft was imminent, Mr. Enman enlisted in the army in January 1943 and was sent to Nova Scotia for training. He became sick, however, and was forced to re-start his training, remained in Nova Scotia for almost a year. After training, Mr. Enman shipped overseas in support of the West Novas in England. In September 1944, Mr. Enman shipped out of England and was among the first troops to land at Naples, Italy. From there, his command fought their way up the entire country. Following the end of the Italian campaign, Mr. Enman and the rest of the Canadians fought their way through Holland and into Germany. Following the end of the war, Mr. Enman remained in Germany as part of the occupation forces. He eventually left Germany in December of 1945, and returned to Canada the following March.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 2:35
Person Interviewed:: Murdock William Enman
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Branch:: Army
Rank:: Corporal
Occupation:: Infantryman

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Date modified:: 2019-06-20