Reasons for Joining up

Heroes Remember

Reasons for Joining up

Transcript

I grew up in a very quiet family. It was kind of, it was a kind of a family where it kind of dominated by my mom mainly so I led a very secluded life. I wanted to break out of this shell that I was in and I felt, two reasons I joined up, I thought by joining up it would teach me and it would expose me to the world that I was missing. We went to Toronto Manning Depot where we did our basic training and marching but this was a horrible experience for me because having been brought up in a very quiet secluded environment now I'm thrown in with hundreds of other men and young boys who are rough and tough and wow, what a transition for me. It was very difficult. From there I went to Guelph, Ontario to learn my Morse Code and my basic electronic training and then I went to Mossbank, Saskatchewan to become an air gunner and then after all this was put together then I was shipped overseas in probably mid August, September, 1943.

Description

Mr. Carter-Edwards speaks about growing up quite secluded and hoped that the Air Force would help him break out of his shell.

Ed Carter-Edwards

Edward (Ed) Carter-Edwards was born on April 2, 1923, in Montréal, Quebec, and was raised in Hamilton, Ontario. He enlisted in August 1942, and then joined 427 (Lion) Squadron, 6 Royal Canadian Air Force Group, in Leeming, England. He was a wireless operator air gunner and completed 21 successful missions in a Halifax bomber. On his 22nd mission, Mr. Carter-Edwards was shot down near Paris. He was betrayed to the Gestapo by a collaborator, threatened with execution and forced into the Fresnes prison, near Paris. He spent five weeks in the prison in 1944 followed by a five-day trip in a French cattle car to the notorious Buchenwald concentration camp. He was there for three and a half months as one of 26 Canadians - 168 allied airmen in all. He was forced to participate in two death marches shortly before the end of the war. Once released from service and safely back home, Mr. Carter-Edwards returned to Hamilton and worked at the appliance manufacturer Westinghouse. He was married in 1946, and he and his wife raised three children.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Recorded:: June 25, 2012
Duration:: 1:10
Person Interviewed:: Ed Carter-Edwards
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: England
Battle/Campaign:: Bomber Command
Branch:: Air Force
Units/Ship:: 4^th Medium Artillery Regiment
Occupation:: Wireless Air Gunner

Date modified:: 2016-01-11