Enlisting

I don't know why I did it but I knew most of my friends that were in Windsor and whether I felt that the dollar and ten cents a day they were going to give me was a lot more than a dollar a week I might get if I went to town. And you don't, I don't think you look past the end of your nose what war was actually about or what the results of yourself could be and it's, I don't really think I thought of that. I figured, well, if they're gonna call me up, and if I go and volunteer, I can join what I want, but if they call me up, I gotta do, go where they want. And so I ended up in the artillery in February ‘41, the 18th of February, ‘41. Interviewer: What do you remember about that day you enlisted? Well, I remember walking around bare naked. All kinds of exams and checks and looked at and checked every part of you that ever did work. And the last thing I remember was going into the room and we had three shots; two in one arm and one in the other. We put our clothes back on and then we went out in the parade square and tossed a basketball around, I guess cause of the shots, for a while. And then you got your uniforms and into your quarters. I'll never forget those three shots cause boy, oh boy! It was a, but all strangers, complete strangers and they were just took x-rays, but I never told them I had TB as a child, or polio. But nothing has ever shown up in my things. Never did. And then we got a few days leave, I went to see my mother and sister in Windsor. Interviewer: What was the reaction of your mother and sister? Well, I don't know. It's kinda hard to go back that far. Remember, my mother was still working at housekeeping. My sister was married, had one child. So I stayed there for a couple days and went back. But mother never mentioned about my father. I didn't think. I think well, I decided to join up. Everybody else was joining up. And having bumped into several of my school mates in Windsor at the time I was home there and they were in uniform so I felt, “Well, maybe I did the right thing.” I done what I wanted, joined when I wanted. I didn't know what the artillery was all about but I just took the advice of somebody who was our commander and figured he should know more than I do cause he'd been there.

On February 18, 1941, Mr. Rogers enlisted in the Canadian Army. He describes why he felt compelled to do so.

Frederick Rogers

Mr. Rogers was an infant when his father died as a result of gas poisoning during his service in the First World War. His mother brought him and his only sister to Canada when he was about two years old. Mr. Rogers joined the Essex Regiment Tank (militia) in Windsor, Ontario when he was 14 or 15 years old. He went on to complete Grade 10 and at the age of 16 went to work on a farm to support himself. He enlisted in the Canadian Army on February 18, 1941. Basic training was provided in Kitchener, Ontario and he was then sent to Camp Petawawa and, finally, to Sussex, New Brunswick to join the 12th Field regiment as a replacement. The regiment arrived in Liverpool, England on July 31, 1941 and were immediately taken by train to Bramshot, England.