Anti-tank Gun

Heroes Remember

Anti-tank Gun

Transcript

When we first left the beach, we went to Caen. Like I said, they just finished taking that. That was only, what about 10 miles in, inland, and you know, and that, that was a month and a half after D-Day. And we stayed there until dark, and then at dark, they moved us to a little town called Bains, where the, the Calgaries were, like, they were on rest, like and the 200 of us went right there, right to the Calgaries, and we still weren't up to strength yet because they'd taken a hell of a beating a couple days before that. And, we, there was 200 of us went then, and then we got 200 more in August, and, to get it up to strength. But they sent us to a, a ridge. There was a, a big, big bridge, just outside of Caen. They sent fourteen of us there, two sections. And we were there for about three days I guess, and got shelled everyday, and all we had was rifles and, and two Bren guns, like. Well, I had a hole about six feet deep, there. I could hardly get out of it, and I looked out and there was this guy ran alongside of it. I said, "What the hell you doing there?" And he was an Englishman, but he, he joined, joined the Canadian Army over in England, and he was with the Algonquin Regiment. He said, "Oh, I was in the Merchant Navy." He said, "They strafed me for three years." He said, "They never got me." I said, "It only takes one." I said, "Get in the hole, here." Finally, he got in and we got talking, and this big major come out (inaudible). I said, "What the hell is going on?" "Oh," he said, "one of my stupid officers," he said, "went and put an anti-tank gun up on top of the ridge." And that's what they were trying to knock down and knock off, like, and we were just below the ridge and we were getting it, like, every miss we were getting. He said, "I'm just going up there now," he said, "to, to get him to pull it out of there." So, then, when we went back to the regiment, I said to the, our major, I said, "What the hell were we doing there?" In this, they call it an outpost, you know... "There in case a, a tank breakthroughs." I said, "Tank breakthroughs? All we had was Bren gu-, two Bren guns and rifles. What the hell would we do with a tank?" "Well," he said, "we figured that one of you's would get back and warn us, anyway." And I figured, well, if that's all they think about us, the hell with them.

Description

Mr. Loranger questions the tactics they were compelled to use against tanks and artillery.

Paul Loranger

Mr. Loranger was born in Seseninika, Ontario in 1927. His family later moved to Englehart, Ontario, where his father was employed with the Canadian National Railway, and they were able to ride out the depression in relative comfort. Mr. Loranger joined the army at age 16, became disillusioned when denied entry into the paratroopers, quit, and then re-enlisted. Once in England, however, he joined the Calgary Highlanders, and was quickly sent to France. There, he was involved in driving out remnants of the German Army. He was recalled to England when his age was discovered, and eventually sent home to Canada. He worked for the CNR until his retirement. Mr. Loranger now resides in Harriston, Ontario.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 3:00
Person Interviewed:: Paul Loranger
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: France
Battle/Campaign:: Normandy
Branch:: Army
Units/Ship:: Calgary Highlanders, 5th Brigade
Rank:: Private
Occupation:: Infantry

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Anti-tank Gun

Heroes Remember

Anti-tank Gun

Paul Loranger

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Anti-tank Gun

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