Effects of the Depression

Heroes Remember

Effects of the Depression

Transcript

It was a, it was terrible, but the effect on my family I didn’t think there was any problem with the family because dad was working at Shadow. He had a good job. He was a valet and as a matter of fact he even made jackets and what not for Arby Bennet (sp). And I’ve got an old pair of shoe trees that came from Arby Bennet My dad brought them home one day and I stuck them under the bed here. However, the depression itself was a terrible thing People were coming from all parts of Canada by freight, box cars, anything you wanted. And our people from, from the East, we’re jumping on the train going back to get a job down Eastern Canada or Western Canada. So, we didn’t feel it that bad. I , I don’t remember. Because we were such a large family that I really had to look after myself. And quite often I figured I’d liked to have had a bicycle. And you know what I did one day I was walking down the road and the garbage were out and there was a frame of a bicycle and that gave me an idea. Until I got all the parts, you know, eventually I had a bicycle. But I never heard my family, mother and dad complaining about the depression. A lot of people did of course. This I remember,the people were wanting to walk on the government up, up on Wellington Street and the RCMP were out there to prevent them from doing that. I saw some gruesome things that happened.

Description

Mr. Champoux describes the effects of the Depression on his family when he was growing up.

Robert Arthur Champoux

Mr. Champoux was born in Hull, Québec on March 21st, 1921. He lived there until the age of 8 when his father, a First World War Veteran, moved the family to Ottawa. Mr. Champoux had three brothers and four sisters; he was the third oldest child. When the war broke out he was attending Ottawa Technical High School. He left school, after his first year, to join the Army after failing to join the Navy and the Air Force (who were not yet recruiting). He left for Europe July 17th, 1940 and ended up stopping in Iceland where he remained for the next 10 months. Mr. Champoux’s wartime service saw him fighting on D-Day and in the Falaise Gap. He also fought in Calais and later on in Holland where he was wounded. Mr. Champoux got a job with the Mint upon returning to Canada. He joined the army again in 1948 retiring in 1965.

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