Fear of German Invasion

Heroes Remember

Fear of German Invasion

Transcript

We used to listen to the BBC news every night at 9 o’clock and the BBC used to tell normally the progress of the war, Second World War. There was news that the Germans have advanced so much, they captured such, so and so place and all that. There was all good news about Germans and we all used to be scared. I said, “What’s going to happen?” and people starting thinking that the day is not too far off when the Germans are going to actually come to India so we all got scared of that. So then I decided, look there’s the case, this is the time for all of us to go and do something for our country. Then the British, I was seventeen when I joined the army and I went to the, without telling my parents, I went to the recruiting station and I told them I wanted to get enlisted in the Corps of Signals, Communications. They asked me, “Which place do your family come from.” I said, “Jalandhar in Punjab.” This fellow said, “We don’t recruit people from Punjab, Jalandhar. You’ve got to get yourself enlisted there.” He said, “We only treat people from Delhi area. So,” he said, “you better go back to Jalandhar and get yourself enlisted because we got vacancies in all areas.” I said, “Do you want me to go there and come back in case I’m not enlisted?” “Yes, we have to have everything.” This fellow was kind to me. He said, “I’ll give you a suggestion. You can write on an application to the recruiting office in Jalandhar, tell him what your education is, and tell him you are very keen to join the England Corps of Signals and that you came to us. We told you that we can’t recruit you unless they transfer a vacancy for the corps of signals from their corps to us and if they do that we’ll recruit you.” So I sent an application, and in a few days time and got a reply. They were very kind to me. They asked me to go and report to the Delhi recruiting office. They wrote, gave them a copy, I went there, got myself enlisted. I was then seventeen.

Description

Mr. Jauhal describes his reason for enlisting and his pathway to enlistment.

Pritam Jauhal

Pritam S. Jauhal, was born in Jalandhar, Punjab Province, India on October 4, 1920. He was one of four children. At his mother’s insistence, he moved at the age of sixteen to New Delhi to further his education. Here he lived with his aunt and uncle. Mr. Jauhal’s father had served in the First World War, and Mr. Jauhal himself enlisted in 1937, citing the threat of global domination by Hitler as his reason. He joined the England Corps of Signals. He became a wireless operator, and served in that capacity during the Allied campaign to liberate North Africa. Mr. Jauhal saw no further action in the war, but remained in the Indian army. He served three tours of duty during the wars with Pakistan, and was also a member of the International Control Commission in Hanoi. Mr. Jauhal retired with the rank of Colonel.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:
Person Interviewed:: Pritam Jauhal
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Branch:: Army
Units/Ship:: Fifth British Division
Occupation:: Wireless Operator

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Fear of German Invasion

Heroes Remember