Pep Talk on Juno Beach

Heroes Remember

Pep Talk on Juno Beach

Transcript

We didn’t get to the continent until July. We were an armoured division and they just didn’t penetrate far enough to put all the armoured divisions on the ground so we sort of sat around and waited. And the whole regiment was there and I can remember CO, Colonel Hay, he was killed on our first outing but he said “Okay now fellas, you’re here and I want you to think about your training, training that you have and bare in mind, and think your training and keep your mind on what you’re trained and what you’ve learned and this will stand you in good stand. Now he said, “there’s a church parade over there, the Protestants are over there, the Catholics are over there.” and everybody went somewhere. The rest of the time, they’re all scampering around, but nobody left, everybody went somewhere. There’s no atheists in the slit trench.

Description

Mr. Lockyer tells us about the day they arrived on Juno beach and about getting a pep talk by the colonel.

Owen William Lockyer

Owen Lockyer was born in Herring Neck, Newfoundland on March 19, 1923. He was the youngest of five siblings and son of a grocer. After enlisting, Mr. Lockyer was sent to Normandy as part of the Algonquin Regiment. He served in the infantry as a platoon runner. He was awarded the Order of Military Merit, Order of St. John 1935-1943, France and Germany star, Defence of Britain. Mr Lockyer stayed with the army Militia where he became Brigadier General of all the militia army forces in Atlantic Canada

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 1:24
Person Interviewed:: Owen William Lockyer
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: France
Battle/Campaign:: Normandy
Branch:: Army
Units/Ship:: Algonquin Regiment
Rank:: Private
Occupation:: Infantry

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Pep Talk on Juno Beach

Heroes Remember