Wherever You Send Me Is Fine

Heroes Remember

Wherever You Send Me Is Fine

Transcript

A major come and he asked me, he said, "Where do you want to go, do you want to go across?" I said, "I joined for my country and any place you want to take me I'm willing to go." He said, "That's the way I like to hear a man talking." Interviewer: What do you remember about the ship? I don't remember the name but she was a beautiful ship, an American boat, and there was another one that run along with us and we had destroyers, you know, minesweepers on each side and it took us eight days to go across for the rough weather. It was in October. Rough weather, we had to slow down for the little ones not to get torpedoed, they couldn't go so fast in the rough. It took us eight days. Interviewer: When did you find out where you were going? Half way across, he opened... Hong Kong. Interviewer: And when you heard that it was Hong Kong that you were going to, what did you know about Hong Kong? Nothing, but we didn't care.

Description

Mr. Devouge discusses his willingness to serve wherever he was asked to do so, and subsequently making the voyage to Hong Kong.

Cecil Devouge

Cecil Devouge, the eldest of eight children, was born in Belle Anse, Quebec in 1913. As the eldest in the family, he was required to work with his father cutting pulp to support his family, and thus never attended school. After working on his own for as little as a dollar a day, he enlisted in July, 1940 in Gaspe at the request of a recruiter for the Royal Rifles. One month later he was married. Before going overseas to Hong Kong, Mr. Devouge spent time in several maritime military bases; St. John and Sussex, New Brunswick, and St. John's, Newfoundland. After the Hong Kong garrison surrendered, he became a POW, eventually being sent to Japan to work as slave labour in the Niigata foundry. After the war, Mr. Devouge returned to his home in Gaspe.

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