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Description
Mr. Mullin continues with his story of Lightning, and then explains how his unit was on loan to the British 6th Airborne Division. He was a private/gunner, and happy to be so, but tells a story of why he decided to work his way up the ranks.
Bob Mullin
Avant de s'enrôler, M. Mullin a travaillé aux États-Unis comme chauffeur pour une société productrice de tabac. Il a quitté son emploi de chauffeur et est revenu au Canada pour s'enrôler. Il s'est joint à la 20e Batterie de campagne de l'Artillerie le 4 septembre 1937, à Newcastle, N.-B. Il a passé quatre ans en Grande-Bretagne pour recevoir son instruction avant de participer aux combats. Il a combattu au Saillant des Ardennes aux côtés de la 6e Division aéroportée britannique, mais il prétend que la participation de cette dernière ne figure pas dans les dossiers car les Américains ne voulaient pas qu'elle soit connue. En Allemagne, une femme vient le chercher dans la rue pour aider sa fille à mettre son enfant au monde. Au moment de cette entrevue, M. Mullin vivait à St. John, N.-B.
Transcription
When we landed, on the ground, I can see it yet. He spread himself out, he hit the deck, and he ran right around the parachute and collapsed it so the parachute wouldn't drag him across the field, who had taught him that, I don't know. But the word was, whoever was closest to him was to release him from the parachute, so I ran over and released him from the parachute. By that time his keeper came along, and away we went. So anyhow, I didn't see Lightning again, well, yes, we made two or three jumps with him, to qualify we had to make 8 jumps. And uh, then we went back to Winterbourne, those of us that had qualified as parachutists. And, there we formed a new number two four observer unit. Now it was half Canadian and half British, and as I said before the Canadians were on loan to the British Army. And this was rather unusual in the fact that I was a gunner or a private, whichever you want to use if you're in the artillery it's a gunner. And I was quite contented to be that, but the first morning we were in the British Army, we went down on sick parade, everybody had to go. And that little corporal in the office made me stand to attention to talk to him, and this to me was an insult. So I said, I'll get that guy if it takes the rest of my life, so I went after three stripes. In three months, I had three stripes.