Ferrying Special Forces Behind Japanese Lines

Heroes Remember

Ferrying Special Forces Behind Japanese Lines

Transcript

Interviewer:Those special service troops must have been some courageous boys. They were, they were, they weren't with... There was usually about five of them and two, four went ashore and one stayed with a walkie talkie with a radio aboard the ship and they the, they was kayaks and they just went up, yeah, so. One time we were so close we heard the Japanese talking so, and then they were over and out, over due so he didn't know, we didn't know what to do. So the marine officer asked us, he says, "If they don't come back within the next half hour, would you bombard the village, and give them maybe a chance to get out of it". So, oh well, we were kind of leery about that because, I mean, we were right in there and we thought how are we going to get out if we start bombarding. But it didn't have to be because about five minutes later they showed up so, so we still crept away silently.

Description

Mr. Guthrie describes ferrying special forces behind Japanese lines, highlighting one instance when it was doubtful they would make their return.

Peter Guthrie

Mr. Guthrie was born in 1925, in Scotland to a family of eleven children, five of which were in the army, as was his father who served in the First World War. After trying to get into the air force, Mr. Guthrie enlisted in the navy where he was designated a cook, but also took on other jobs, such as steering, manning the guns, and radio. His first ship was a minesweeper, which swept the mines laid in the English Channel and the North Sea by the Germans. The second ship he was on travelled to Burma patrolling the rivers for Japanese. They also picked up and dropped off special service troops in the Burmese jungles. It was a dangerous route, as sometimes the boat would travel within 20 miles behind enemy lines. After the war, Mr. Guthrie worked North of Scotland recovering torpedoes for the air force and looked after air force rescue crafts for four months. Soon after, Mr. Guthrie was married, and he and his wife moved to Canada in 1951 where they settled in Regina, Saskatchewan. Mr. Guthrie has been a vital member of the Royal Canadian Legion for 47 years, serving as chairman of the War Graves Committee, and doing his part to help others in need.

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