Manning Depot

Heroes Remember

Manning Depot

Transcript

They would take a group, quite a large group, perhaps fifty, sixty and they'd say, "Ok you sixty guys are going to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia on guard duty". It wasn't for us to question at all, we just simply packed our bags and got on the, this train and went off to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. And when we got down there we were told that we would be put at certain points around the perimeter of the airport at Dartmouth and down on the water front where they had flying boats and that sort of thing. There would be a couple of hangers down there. And so some of the boys would be standing post down there and others would be up in the air drome itself, in the hangers or the back of the field, out in the peripheral areas of the air port. And the one thing I remember more than anything else is, is the commanding officer of the station down there when we first arrived he called us all in and he said, "I'm gonna tell you fellas something that's very, very serious and he said, "you better make note of it and you better remember it and don't ever forget it. And that is you're in a war zone right now. You're in a war zone, the fact there could be German submarines just lurking, just outside Halifax Harbour. These guys can land somebody, they can come up in, they can blow up a hanger or air planes, they can do anything they want. So he said , "The fact we are in a war zone", he said, "the most important thing for you to remember when you are on guard duty you have to take it very seriously and above all never fall asleep on the job. Because if you fall asleep on the job and you're caught you could go before a firing squad. " Now he didn't say that with a grin on his face, he said that seriously and he meant it and you could. So I'll tell you it made us very conscious of our responsibilities.

Description

Mr. Finley describes his experience at Manning Depot shortly after enlisting and being accepted into the Air Force.

Hartland Ross Finley

Hartland Ross Finley was born on August 19, 1921 in Montreal, Quebec. His father served in the First World War with the 42 Battalion (the Blackwatch of Montreal). Mr. Finley joined the Air Force shortly after the start of the Second World War. His training took place in Ontario, Quebec and Prince Edward Island. After the completion of his training, he remained in Canada to be a flight instructor. One year later he went overseas into action. On his first mission his plane was damaged and crashed into the English Channel. Mr.Finley went on to fly many successful missions and he finished the War with five confirmed kills. Approaching the end of the War, Mr. Finley was shot down and evaded capture for two days. After leaving the service, Mr. Finley went on to have a very successful career as a commercial pilot.

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