News of the Dieppe Disaster

Heroes Remember

News of the Dieppe Disaster

Transcript

Well our reaction, we heard the, you know, the stories were confused coming back but I met, I met a chap from the HLI (inaudible) and he came back and he said it was a, you know, it was a real, you know they just got in there and they were shooting and said it was just, they must have been... They were, the Germans were, something happened, I think they were aware that. I don’t know what it was but he said it was a real, a real disaster. Interviewer: Did it dampen the spirits of you men in the 5th anti air craft battery? No, not really. I think most of us were saying we got, you know, we’ve been over here since, we’re talking, nearly a year and a half. So we were, I think we were, I thought the people were ready to do something, most of our gang. We’d been there away from home so lets stay and see how the things were going.

Description

Mr. Stanway recalls hearing of the Dieppe disaster and speaks of the effect it had on the morale of his battery stationed in Britain.

Frank Stanway

Mr. Stanway was born in Britain, and relocated to Montreal, Quebec with his family at a young age. Mr. Stanway joined the Non Permanent Active Militia (NPAM) along with friends, 8 months after Canada declared war. Shortly after basic training finished, their unit went active, so they joined the active forces in August 1940. Mr. Stanway shipped out to Scotland in 1941 and was transferred to Italy, along with the rest of the 5th Battery, in May 1943. They remained stationed there until a few months before the end of the war (February 1945) and returned home shortly after the war ended.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 01:03
Person Interviewed:: Frank Stanway
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Europe
Branch:: Army
Units/Ship:: NPAM / 5th Battery / Artillery
Occupation:: Mechanic

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News of the Dieppe Disaster

Heroes Remember