Near Mutiny on the Awatea

Heroes Remember

Near Mutiny on the Awatea

Transcript

Interviewer: Your first impression of the Awatea? The Awatea was . . . when we got, went on board, we found, discovered that we were to sleep in hammocks over the mess tables. It was very crowded and as I recall there was a, I wouldn't say, well, yes I guess you could say it was almost a mutiny occurred. There was another NCO and myself, were right in there. The only thing we found that, when we decided to walk off the ship, the most of the men, wanted an NCO to lead them. Which this other fellow and I would not do because that definitely would, would have been called mutiny. And, but a lot of fellas did walk off and our own officers broke machine guns out and covered them while they were on the dock, and then the negotiations started of course for them to return. Some of the fellows I would say, oh four or five, neglected to return, they just took off and I guess they were not found until after we had sailed. When the majority were back on board the ship, we heaved up anchor and went out into the bay. Interviewer: What was the reason for the mutiny Mr. Peterson? I would say the, the confinement of the ship, the . . . I can't, couldn't say the food yet, because we hadn't been fed yet. Just, I don't know a sort of, possibly uneasiness, of premonition of what was going to happen. I couldn't tell you, I don't know, but it was definitely there.

Description

Mr Peterson describes the tight quarters onboard the, Awatea and the near mutiny that occurred before leaving the port of Vancouver.

George N Peterson

Mr. Peterson was born in Winnipeg February 8, 1921. His family moved to Saint Watell, where he now considers home, when he was five years old. His father was a Veteran of the First World War, having served as a sergeant in Artillery. Having participated in Sea Cadets and the Cameron Cadets previously, with written permission from his father, Mr. Peterson joined the Winnipeg Grenadier Militia as a drummer in the bugle band in January 1938, at the age of 16. Mr. Peterson signed on for active service with the Winnipeg Grenadiers on September 6, 1939, - his twin brother also joined the Grenadiers September 7th, and their father joined the Winnipeg Light Infantry September 12th. Soon after signing on, Mr. Peterson was promoted to Lance Corporal and was made a Mark 4 Vickers machine gun instructor. After Basic Training, his unit was shipped to Jamaica as POW camp reinforcements, but returned to Canada soon after On October 27, 1941, his unit boarded the Awatea in Vancouver, bound for Hong Kong. Captured after capitulating to the Japanese, Mr. Peterson was interned in North Point and Shamshuipo POW camps. While at Shamshuipo he was put to work as slave labour at Kai Tac Airport. Eventually he was sent to Japan to work in a coal mine 120 miles north of Tokyo. After three years and eight months of internment, Japan surrendered to the Americans. Mr. Peterson was reunited with his family soon after.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 02:47
Person Interviewed:: George N Peterson
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Canada
Branch:: Army
Units/Ship:: Winnipeg Grenadiers
Rank:: Lance-Corporal

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Near Mutiny on the Awatea

Heroes Remember