Joining the Service

Heroes Remember

Joining the Service

Transcript

Living in Halifax, of course, you rub shoulders with day to day military situations, or naval situations, that you perhaps wouldn't run into in, Saskatoon. I, I don't say that disparagingly, it's just that, when you're close to a lot of military people and the comings and goings of ships and convoys and you see ships coming into the harbour with their, holes blown in their sides, they just hanging, hanging together by a thread, and, and the casualty lists and so on, yeah it, it was, it was a tough, tough road for them to hold. Interviewer: Against this background, you left school and started working? I went to work, yes, for a tobacco company in their advertising department, and the, that was age 15, 16, as soon as I flipped over and was 17, of course, I started badgering my mother to allow me to join up. I'd been in the Sea Cadets and so on and learned how to say, "Yes, Sir. No, Sir." And so when I managed to get my mother to agree to all this, she said, "Well, I'm going to tell your father, but in the meantime, I can't stop you." So in, I guess sometime in the spring of 1943, I joined up and they eventually called me early in June, to go to Lachine, Québec, which was the, I guess, what did they call it, Lachine was the, Manning Depot, Eastern Manning Depot. Interviewer: Tell me, Mr. Pitt, why did you decide on the Air Force? Well, I think after having had time in the, in the Sea Cadets, the thoughts of a hammock in a Corvette were not, too, too enticing, maybe that sounds a little bit cowardly. And then my Dad being in the army, I thought there was always the possibility I might come under his aegis and discipline, and I thought I could do without that. So the Air Force, it's, they always used to say "Men of the Army and Navy", "Gentlemen of the Air Force", that had an appeal too. There will be a lot of people will not appreciate that, but it went.

Description

Mr. Pitt explains his reasoning for joining the service, and specifically, why he joined the Air Force even though he was from a naval stronghold (Halifax) and his father was in the army.

Robert Anthony John Peter (Tony) Pitt

Mr Pitt, the oldest of two children, was born in Sussex County, England, in 1925 and immigrated to Canada with his family in 1929. His Father was in the hotel business and managed the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa before moving to Halifax in 1936. Upon the outbreak of war his father joined the Army and a couple of years later Mr. Pitt joined the Air Force. After completing his training to become a Wireless Air Gunner he was posted to Britain, and subsequently, to India where he would serve until the end of the war.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 02:25
Person Interviewed:: Robert Anthony John Peter (Tony) Pitt
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Canada
Branch:: Air Force
Units/Ship:: 203 Squadron - RAF
Rank:: Flight Sergeant
Occupation:: Wireless Air Gunner

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Joining the Service

Heroes Remember