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Description
Mr. Routhier describes his activities in Canada during the Second World War. He talks about the lumber camp he operated which provided spruce for the construction of aircraft.
Harry Routhier
Troisième de cinq enfants, Harry Routhier est né le 6 décembre 1899 à Chelsea, Québec. Son père était mécanicien d'appareils à vapeur; son grand-père, qui fut député, est l'auteur de l'O Canada. Il a fréquenté les écoles de Phoenix et de Mission Junction, en Colombie-Britannique, et a travaillé sur une ferme dans les Prairies. Il n'a jamais terminé ses études et a menti au sujet de son âge pour s'enrôler à 16 ans. Après son instruction à Regina, il a joint les rangs du 217e Bataillon, avant d'être transféré au 46e Bataillon. Il a participé activement à la bataille d'Amiens, en France, en août 1918. Après la guerre, il a été bûcheron et a habité par la suite à Langley, en Colombie-Britannique.
Transcription
Interviewer: What do you remember was your reaction when the Second World War started
and you realized that Canada was going to have to fight the Germans again?
Yes, it was terrible, it was terrible, and they wanted spruce, so, for airplanes in those days, it wasn't aluminum, it had to be spruce. And I logged spruce for them and they pinned the job on me in the woods to watch for the Japs coming over. They were afraid of the Japs on the coast there so they armed me. I trained my camp, sixty men; we had drill all the time, rifles and sten guns, bombs, there in camp. That's right on the west coast of Vancouver Island of course, you see. (inaudible) Sound.
Interviewer: So in your logging camp, the one that you were running at the time, your men,
your lumberjacks and lumbermen were trained as best they could be to repel a Japanese invasion if it came.
That is right, and I kept them all the time, they were afraid to go to town because they'd get picked up and put in the army see, so they never quit.
Interviewer: During the Second World War, did you continue to lumber spruce for the benefit
of the aircraft production?
No, then aluminum came in and it was cheaper and easier to get.