Getting into the Airborne

Heroes Remember

Getting into the Airborne

Transcript

Oh well, it was top of the line. I was just aiming for the best. But a lot of people didn't want anything to do with it, of course, which was fine. I was missing some back teeth. My father always thought it was calcium, as a medical officer but there is no fluorine at all in the water at Bobcaygeon. Wonderful water but bad teeth and so the first medical officer I ran into at Brockville, it was a come and go effort. My company commander said I could go if the headquarters would let me go and the headquarters said I could go if the company commander said I could go. So I went back and lied to both of them and got down to the medical officer and he made me quit smoking. But I was missing some back teeth, which were, you had to be completely perfect for this parachute business. So he let me go, and when I got to Winnipeg for the processing into the airborne, the teeth business came up again and I was refused. So I immediately quoted the Canadian Army order that said I'd go to the nearest infantry centre and go overseas, which was what I wanted, basically. And they produced a telegram from Brockville saying that if I was refused I'd be returned to Brockville. I was a good, I was a sergeant at the time but I'd thrown my hooks in. And so there was an old Veterans guard officer, he must have been about forty... "Old," God. And he said, "How strongly do you want to join the airborne?" I said, you know, "Very!" So he said, "I'll arrange for a parade in front of the head boss medical officer for you." And then he said he likes House of Lord cigars. So I went out and bought twenty-five House of Lord cigars in a cedar box, a day's pay, two dollars and a half, and put them, I said, "May I leave these on your desk, Sir," when I went to see the medical officer. Put them on the desk and the old bugger said, "Well, I think we can take a chance on this young man." Off I went to Shilo for two dollars and a half.

Description

Mr. Kelly describes how he was able to get into the airborne division after being refused for health reasons.

Jeff Kelly

Mr. Kelly was born in Lindsay, Ontario, December 16, 1923. His father was a medical officer with a field ambulance in the First World War and received a Distinguished Service Order. Mr Kelly wanted to be an infantry man as his father had a great admiration for them. He joined the army on the 22nd of May in 1942. He served overseas with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion which was part of the British 6th Airborne Division.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 02:26
Person Interviewed:: Jeff Kelly
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Canada
Units/Ship:: British 1st Battalion
Occupation:: Paratrooper

Language selection

Getting into the Airborne

Heroes Remember