Thick Jungle

Because we, we went ashore one time to pick up, to rescue two air, air fellas that crashed there and we were on a pathway and we heard more boys coming back, and we stood there and we went right passed them. We weren't any more then three feet from them, they didn't see us. So that's how thick the jungle was in places, you know, and we didn't know who was coming down the pathway, so we had to jump into the bushes, but that was all. But it was all jungle out there, that's all. But, but otherwise, we didn't know what to expect. It was just one of these things that was just everyday something else happened, you didn't, you didn't know what's, who would come around the corner for you, know.

Mr. Guthrie describes going ashore into the thick Burmese jungle.

Peter Guthrie

Mr. Guthrie was born in 1925, in Scotland to a family of eleven children, five of which were in the army, as was his father who served in the First World War. After trying to get into the air force, Mr. Guthrie enlisted in the navy where he was designated a cook, but also took on other jobs, such as steering, manning the guns, and radio. His first ship was a minesweeper, which swept the mines laid in the English Channel and the North Sea by the Germans. The second ship he was on travelled to Burma patrolling the rivers for Japanese. They also picked up and dropped off special service troops in the Burmese jungles. It was a dangerous route, as sometimes the boat would travel within 20 miles behind enemy lines. After the war, Mr. Guthrie worked North of Scotland recovering torpedoes for the air force and looked after air force rescue crafts for four months. Soon after, Mr. Guthrie was married, and he and his wife moved to Canada in 1951 where they settled in Regina, Saskatchewan. Mr. Guthrie has been a vital member of the Royal Canadian Legion for 47 years, serving as chairman of the War Graves Committee, and doing his part to help others in need.