A Real Treat - Ice Cream

Heroes Remember

A Real Treat - Ice Cream

Transcript

We were running out of desserts. You know, no sweets. That was happened, that happened right after the Gap. We sent, we were told that there was a restaurant opened just over the border in Belgium, that we can get ice cream. I don’t know how I forgot to mention that before but that was, that’s something that was really rare for us. So, we got the, the place where it was and off we went. And we found the grocery store or whatever it was and they had ice cream. And we brought back several gallons of different ice cream. And we took what we wanted, what we needed, you know. And we took a whole lot so we could divide between the three other platoons. So that was one, one nice thing we had. And you know something, on our way out, there were stores along that street, and one of them were displaying the fur coats. I mean that’s, that’s during the war. That’s during the war. We, we thought about that later, what the hell’s going on, you know. But on the other hand, you got to think about this. These people, especially the French started way before they invaded Poland. They’ve been occupied for five years or maybe even six years, before the Germans let go and it was pitiful. They were the people that suffered the most. And we shared some of our food with, with the French civilians. They shared their wine with us. You know. Interviewer: What did they think of you Canadian soldiers? Oh, they liked us very much. Oh, they would do anything for us.

Description

Mr. Champoux describes going to Belgium to get ice cream - a real treat. They got extra and shared it with their comrades.

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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