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Everyone Panicked - The War Had Started

Heroes Remember

Everyone Panicked - The War Had Started

Transcript
Joseph Gilbert Kenny. K-E-N-N-Y. Born 1923, December 1923. The place called Saint Rose, New Brunswick. Farming country. We come from a large family, but we was quite comfortable because we had the farm. Dad was a blacksmith, and a blacksmith was just like a doctor. He had, he had to work all the time on the equipment, but we was pretty comfortable. But, the idea was when the start, the war started, I was 16, nearly 16 and everybody panicked because we didn’t have the radio, we didn’t have the television, they only passed it by word, was a war and it was pretty scary. I’m going to tell you it was pretty scary. Because when Hitler took Poland, Holland, Belgium and he was in France, in six months, was pretty scary. So, I was going to school, and the teacher would then pass the word around, my dad need me, need the whole family to me because we’re running a farm and is anybody willing to go into service, go ahead. So I have two other brothers, older. Older of them joined the army, and then I tried myself. I try in Newcastle. No, I was turned down because of my age. Then I try in Moncton, the Air Force in Moncton and I was turned down. Not quite turned down, I went to, I was accepted for about three weeks I was in Fredericton, the depot in Fredericton then they find out what my age is and send me back home. I said “Nah I don’t want to go home. I want to go to Halifax. I’m going to try in the Merchant Navy. I’m going to get to there.” Because I mean, we believe, I believe all service every man has to be there to stop that Hitler, or it would have been us. It was a war. Everybody panicked. In a year’s time we won’t be under the Canadian rule. We’d be under the German rule, nasty rule.
Description

Mr. Kenny talks about where he was born, and how he felt about the war as it came on. Although underage, he tried to enlist.

Gil Kenny

Gil Kenny was born in Saint Rose, New Brunswick in December of 1923. His father worked as a blacksmith. Mr. Kenny was 16 when the war started and joined the Merchant Navy, because he was too young for the other services. During one of his crossings, his ship was torpedoed and he was adrift for 72 hours in the Atlantic. After being rescued, he returned to service on the HMS Sheffield.

Meta Data
Medium:
Video
Owner:
Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:
02:32
Person Interviewed:
Gil Kenny
War, Conflict or Mission:
Second World War
Location/Theatre:
North America

Copyright / Permission to Reproduce

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