Victory in Europe Day
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- Medium: Video
- Owner: Veterans Affairs Canada
- Duration: 2:08
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Victory in Europe Day
On May 8, 1945, Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day), Mr. Gauthier was on the open sea and was returning to Halifax.
Gilles Gauthier
Mr. Gauthier grew up in Cap-de-la-Madeleine, near the port. His father had a restaurant where he often heard sailors talk of what was going on during the war and on the ships. Interested, he went to the HMCS Montcalm offices in Québec City to enlist, to no avail. He was 17 years old at the time and was called up when he turned 18. After his basic training, he took a telegraphy course in Saint-Hyacinthe. After the course, he was sent to Halifax to sail for Bermuda to work as a telegrapher. Back in Halifax, he set sail on the HMCS Springhill to escort convoys. After the war he was in the Régiment de Trois-Rivières, the 12th Armoured, until 1953.
Transcription
Victory in Europe Day
We were on the open sea, we couldn't have been any further from land than we were, when we got the message that the war was over. But we got the message, "war is over, continue operations." That meant, don't put on your lights, You know nothing.[?], you know . . . "Continue operations" because we were escorting an English submarine with us, we were bringing it, we were escorting it to Philadelphia. And when we got near Philadelphia, we stayed there one night and then we left for Halifax. The war was over. When we got to Halifax, the sailors had busted up Halifax really good. And there were some friends of my brother who were there, and every time I went to Halifax, I went to see them, the Floyds. And when I called, they said, "Were you here on D day? uh… on V day?" I said, "No, we just got here". "Oh," he said, "You can come up now" [laughter]. Oh, he didn't like the way the sailors had messed up the stores and everything. They left the barracks, they went up the street . . . what was it? what's the main street in Halifax? Cunningham? Is that right? Or Wellington? Anyway, it was a big street. They didn't miss a single store. They destroyed everything everywhere. They went into the taverns, the bars. It wasn't a pretty sight, not at all. When we got there, we went up there, everything was…just as if a hurricane had hit. And we wondered what had happened, and that's when we found out. We felt pretty embarrassed. So I paid my visit and I went back on board the ship and stayed there [laughter].
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