Lessons on vigilance

Heroes Remember

Lessons on vigilance

Transcript

I think that with all the terrible loss, I know in my reading, I'm not a great historian, that it seemed in the First World War, the nations were almost ready to have a go at each other. And it took a, the Archduke being sort of assassinated, but the German nation was not that different from the British in many, many ways. There was relatives on both sides, very close relatives were led, but in the Second World War, the national socialism was evil, and we didn't know fully that the Holocaust, and even the awful nature of totalitarianism, whereby good Germans were treated almost as badly and everything was trampled on and the abhorist and the desire for Leiberstraum and, and the, the idea that, that the Slavs were, sub-human and all the rest of it, they needed, that had to be crushed, that had to be crushed, and I think the sacrifices, whatever you can say about the slaughter of the First World War being a waste of time, and maybe it was, but the sacrifices of the Second World War at least liberated so many, much of, of Europe and brought back peace, to some extent. Happily, communism was pretty well dealt with a blow in another way, happily, but I think the lessons of it that we have to be vigilant, vigilant in our generation, to make sure that this sort of thing in government, mustn't ever happen again.

Description

Mr. Sperry talks about how he hopes war never happens again.

Bishop John Sperry

Mr. Sperry was born on Leicester, England, in 1924. He joined the Royal Navy in 1943 and served until 1946 on Destroyer, Escort and Convoy Duty. Upon completion of his tour of duty, Bishop Sperry immigrated to Canada in 1960, serving parishes in Kugluktuk (formerly Coppermine) and Fort Smith. He served as diocesan bishop from 1973 to 1990 and is the author of Igloo Dwellers Were My Church, a memoir of his ministry in the North. An accomplished linguist, he was involved in the Inuktitut Bible translation for the people of the Western Arctic. In retirement, he works with health and volunteer organizations and is Chaplain of the Canadian Forces Northern Region. On July 5, 2002, he was named to the Order of Canada.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 03:13
Person Interviewed:: Bishop John Sperry
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Branch:: Navy
Rank:: Able Seaman
Occupation:: Asdic Operator

Language selection

Lessons on vigilance

Heroes Remember