Unfathomable Destruction

Heroes Remember

Unfathomable Destruction

Transcript

When he told us about Nagasaki first of all, you know we, he told us, you know maybe two hundred and fifty thousand people killed with one bomb. We couldn't, couldn't believe it. We didn't, didn't know what, what to think and, or Hiroshima I mean, it was the first one, Nagasaki the second one. And neither one of them we could believe that there was so many people killed with one bomb. And then of course when we heard the, the American warships shelling Japan, and we thought about escaping to, trying to escape, and previous to this of course we'd been told that if the Americans did invade Japan, we'd be put down the mine and the mine would be sealed off and we'd be finished. So, I would say the, the atomic bombs that were dropped were a God send to us. They, I would say they saved our lives they, they, and they brought the war to an end, that much, that much sooner.

Description

Mr. Peterson remembers not being able to fathom the destruction done by the atomic bombs dropped on Japan while he was interned.

George N Peterson

Mr. Peterson was born in Winnipeg February 8, 1921. His family moved to Saint Watell, where he now considers home, when he was five years old. His father was a Veteran of the First World War, having served as a sergeant in Artillery. Having participated in Sea Cadets and the Cameron Cadets previously, with written permission from his father, Mr. Peterson joined the Winnipeg Grenadier Militia as a drummer in the bugle band in January 1938, at the age of 16. Mr. Peterson signed on for active service with the Winnipeg Grenadiers on September 6, 1939, - his twin brother also joined the Grenadiers September 7th, and their father joined the Winnipeg Light Infantry September 12th. Soon after signing on, Mr. Peterson was promoted to Lance Corporal and was made a Mark 4 Vickers machine gun instructor. After Basic Training, his unit was shipped to Jamaica as POW camp reinforcements, but returned to Canada soon after On October 27, 1941, his unit boarded the Awatea in Vancouver, bound for Hong Kong. Captured after capitulating to the Japanese, Mr. Peterson was interned in North Point and Shamshuipo POW camps. While at Shamshuipo he was put to work as slave labour at Kai Tac Airport. Eventually he was sent to Japan to work in a coal mine 120 miles north of Tokyo. After three years and eight months of internment, Japan surrendered to the Americans. Mr. Peterson was reunited with his family soon after.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 01:20
Person Interviewed:: George N Peterson
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Asia
Branch:: Army
Units/Ship:: Winnipeg Grenadiers
Rank:: Lance-Corporal

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Unfathomable Destruction

Heroes Remember