Navy Training
Heroes Remember
Transcript
I was in the Navy about three days in Toronto and was sent to
Quebec City and so I did my basic training, two months, in
Quebec City which was very interesting and I became a very early
time aware of the, of the bilingual situation in Canada. And
one aspect of that in looking back, there were ships being sunk
at the time in the Saint Lawrence and that area and of course
the many of the French Canadian lads the same as us, did and
wanted to join the armed forces. But the ones coming into
Quebec City to our barracks they had to be bilingual in order to
join the navy and they would let them come in for, there was a
six week's English course and if, if they could qualify with
enough English in the six weeks basic training they were allowed
to stay in the navy but if not they weren't acceptable in the
navy and I believe the same thing was in effect in the air force
and of course there were French Canadian army regiments but it
struck me at that time that these people's families had been
Canadian for two or three hundred years and they couldn't join
their own armed forces, so I've, I've always kept that.
Description
Mr. Gorsline talks about basic training in Quebec City, and the obstacles that faced the French Canadians who wanted to join the Navy
John Henry Gorsline
Mr. Gorsline was born on November 12, 1924 in Collingwood, Ontario. He joined the Navy in November of 1942 on his 18th birthday. Mr. Gorsline served aboard the HMCS Prince David as a radar operator and returned to civilian life in September 1945.
Meta Data
- Medium:
- Video
- Owner:
- Veterans Affairs Canada
- Duration:
- 01:48
- Person Interviewed:
- John Henry Gorsline
- War, Conflict or Mission:
- Second World War
- Location/Theatre:
- Atlantic Ocean
- Branch:
- Navy
- Units/Ship:
- HMCS Prince David
- Occupation:
- Radar Operator
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