The Day the War Ended

Heroes Remember

The Day the War Ended

Transcript

We were stationed just outside of a town called Oldenburg,Germany. We were in a pine growth that I think it had been planted, there was all oak trees they were no more than maybe fifteen, twelve or fifteen feet high in a nice line and we were billeted right in there with our billet and our cook. See the way we were set up all through, each platoon in our supply column, each transport was given a thrity six construction of men, each one was independent, we had our own cook, one of the guys volunteer as a cook, each fellow had to take a day to help the cook and like that. Each of us so our platoon, we had at that time and first thing you know they told us the war was ended. Holy whiskers, and me and a guy another guy,his name was Gerald Frank Harrow, he and I were buddies. He was my co-driver. We were on duty, in fact, at the petrol dump. They used to issue us cigars. Those little short plump cigars; so him and I was, we would smoke one of those and talking and then when we heard the war was ended, oh jee whiz we thought that was something. So we had all the liquor so we said, "Let's go celebrate!" So we took one of them dixies and all the booze we had, we put it all in there and make a ... holy whiskers! It ended up looking just like cocoa and we took a drink of it and jeez we spoiled all our nice liquor because it was sweet and everything, but holy smokes We soon found out that was strong, but anyhow, we all celebrated.

Description

Mr. Cromwell explains the setup of his platoon and how they celebrated after hearing about the end of the war.

Everett Sylvester Cromwell

Everett Cromwell was born on December 12, 1921 in Weymouth Falls, Digby Co., Nova Scotia. He was the fifth of ten children. At age twelve, he left school to work in the woods because his father, also a forestry worker, had fallen ill. Both of his parents were soon deceased, and the ten children stayed in the family home supporting one another. Mr.Cromwell supported the family by working for a local farmer and then in the local lumberyard. He enlisted in June, 1941 in the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps. After basic training in Halifax, Sherbrooke, and Camp Borden, he sailed aboard the Louis Pasteur to England, arriving on December 23, 1941. Two weeks after the D-day raid, Mr. Cromwell arrived in France with the 2nd Division, Motor Transport. For the duration of the war, his unit was responsible for transporting fuel, food and ammunition to the Front in support of the Allied advance on Germany. After being discharged from the army and returning home, Mr. Cromwell, recently married, reenlisted because it was ‘steady work’. He and his family were to experience institutionalized racism in Halifax, being denied accommodations because of their black heritage. This in contrast to the fact that he felt equal in all respects as a member of the Army. Mr. Cromwell and his wife, Elizabeth, currently reside in Shelburne, Nova Scotia.

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