Trinity College School - Record Yearbook (Port Hope, Ontario Canada)

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18 TRINITY COLLEGE SCHOOL RECORD a building where many army men were stationed, and tried to find things for the ratings to do. Our Commander was a great organizer fyou apparently have to be in the Navyi and he soon got things going. We had soccer games for the most part, and a bit of field hockey. Every night at exactly the same time the German bombers would come over and start dropping things and I must say it wasn't always too pleasant. The only thing that really frightens you is the bomb whistling on its way down. That really makes your stomach disappear. The noise of the A.A. gunfire was deafening at times, and it was an amazing sight to see all the different kinds of tracer bullets shoot- ing up into the sky. Our party was very lucky and not a man was touch- ed. Once or twice our sentries had very close shaves when bombs dropped close by, but the sand bags around them saved them from splinters and shrapnel. My scanty knowledge of the French language came in very handy, and Commander Chatwin often used Les McLernon and myself for any little jobs in connection with the French. I had the privilege of having a quiet chat and a cup of coffee with a French Admiral, which was a good experience to have had, and I also was aboard a French destroyer and shown arotmd. However, in spite of certain compensations, we were all very glad to get away from the place on Monday after- noon fJune 10thi because there was nothing to do but wait. and we had very unfavourable circumstances under which we had to organize a daily routine and give the men something to do. Fortunately the Commander realized just how green we were, and made things comparatively easy for us. I haven't told you yet that Le Havre was the port we visited in France. I thought perhaps they wouldn't ap- preciate my mentioning it before. It was 'an interesting place to be living in for two and a half weeks, because

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TRINITY COLLEGE SCHOOL RECORD 17 ON ACTIVE SERVICE Extracts from a Letter Written by a Young Pilot in the R.A.F. y 12th September, 1940. Our first do yesterday . . . and quite the greatest thrill of this life. We are they who were mentioned on the news as operating with the crack Polack Squadron and dealing with sundry enemy. I should imagine the sights we see would put even H. G. Wells to shame . . . even at his most fantastic. How- ever everything seems to be on our side . . . except numbers . . . but even with that slight disadvantage it's easier to have more enemy than yourselves to get in the way. I got one of the two probables that were mentioned. Life is good . . . it's fun to be defending the heart of the Empire at 20,000 feet and more, though even we can't prevent bombs dropping. Extracts from Letters Written by Sub-Lieutenant Geoffrey Scott, R.C.N.V.R. One day at Hove, eight of our class of 25 Canadians were asked to volunteer for a special job involving demoli- tion work in Fra.nce. It was to be a special draft, and we were to return to the King Alfred a few days later, supposedly. But it turned out that we went to France and had to wait nearly three weeks before we blew up our objectives and came back to England. Two of the eight who were chosen were put in other parties, and six of us remained together and went to the same French port. At present I don't suppose that I am allowed to tell you what port it was, although I'm sure it wouldn't make any differ- ence, but later on I'll tell you all about it. Having arrived there, we found that there was no- thing for us to do just yet, so we simply settled down in

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TRINITY COLLEGE scHooL RECORD 19 for one thing it's the second largest port in France lpar- don me-Germanyl. But there was nothing to do but to sit tight until the enemy were nearby and then blow up everything which might be useful. The demolition was great sport and we had the satisfaction of blowing up the Normandie's drydock, but I didn't always appreciate our nightly air-raids. Sometimes I took a very poor view of them. Once I was able to get hold of an army truck, however and drove to Rouen and saw the Cathedral there, and the place Where Joan of Arc was burned. Extracts from a Letter Written by Sub-Lieutenant G. H. K. Strathy, R.C.N.V.R. lReceived by the Headmaster in Augustl Dear Mr. Ketchum: Thank you very much for your kind letter thanking me for my cable, which I was glad to hear arrived in time for the celebrations. Yesterday I received my copy of the June issue of the Record, in which I was very interested by the full report of the Reunion. I also see that you have my name down on the active service list, although you have me as a member of the Royal Navy. Although I am serving with the Royal Navy, I am actually a member of the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve. if fl: Ik if :Ks ' If my cable arrived at Port Hope in exactly the same form as it is published in the Record, they must have cut out Royal Naval Barracks, Portsmouth , which was in the text of the message, for some unknown reason. I forget the exact wording of my cable, but it contained some re- ference to the Old Boys branch at R.N. Barracks, Ports- mouth . . . and the branch consisted entirely of myself! So the other old boys that joined me in the cable Cas you thoughtl are non-existent. Ill Q if Q Q