Basic Training

Ms. Spence talks about being home sick while doing basic training and how it helped her in everyday life.

Ruth Ann Spence

Ms. Spence was born in the rural farming community of Campbellford, Ontario, in 1926. Ms. Spence was no stranger to the realities of war as her father was a First World War Veteran. Upon her father's passing at the age of nine, her family moved in with their grandfather who supported them through the depression years. When war was declared, her brother enlisted immediately, and Ms. Spence knew she too would follow in the footsteps of her father and brother. In 1945 she was finally old enough to enlist. She was shipped to Montreal, Quebec, following her basic training where she became a part of the Dental Corps. Ms. Spence became a nurse after almost a year of service in the war effort and says she could not have done it without the discipline she learned while serving with the Canadian Army. Ms. Spence has spent the last forty years living in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.

Medium:

Video

Owner:

Veterans Affairs Canada

Duration:

01:15

Person Interviewed:

Ruth Ann Spence

War, Conflict or Mission:

Second World War

Location/Theatre:

Canada

Branch:

Army

Units/Ship:

Dental Corps

Rank:

Corporal

Occupation:

Dental Assistant

Copyright / Permission to Reproduce