No Recognition

Heroes Remember

No Recognition

Transcript

My training and everything suited me best as a radio officer aboard a merchant ship, and I might have second thoughts about that now but, anyway. The Merchant Navy had such a time after the war trying to prove that we were in the war sort of thing that I don't know whether you'd want to go through that again, like, you might as well join the Forces and get it over with. But while the war was on, and in that period, we were considered part of the Forces. It was only, as I've often said, the bureaucrats of Ottawa that were used to a term, "never the services." The services always felt we were. They couldn't believe when we weren't granted the same kind of things as anyone in the service. Interviewer: Was that hard to, to live through that, after? The only thing hard about it was when I came back and I wanted to oh, go to university or training school of some kind, and I was asked, well what service were you in? And I said I was in the Canadian Merchant Navy. And the chap at that time looked at me and said, "Well what, what was that?" Well, after ya serve three years, and part of it in the North Atlantic and South Pacific, you don't want to start explaining it to someone, or you don't feel you have to explain to someone. You put your life on the line and... It, it was hard to take that way but that was all. I didn't let it bother me. Fact, it made me get my back up a little bit and say, alright, I'll get myself a job and the heck with you, type thing. And that's what I did.

Description

Mr. White recalls how the service of the Merchant Navy wasn't recognized after the war.

Alexander M. White

Mr. Alexander White was born in Craik, Saskatchewan, on November 15, 1923. His father, a Veteran of the First World War, survived being gassed in Ypres and returned to Canada in 1915. It was his fathers stories of the ships he had been on that began Mr. White's interest in sailing. As he neared the end of grade school Mr. White decided to join the Merchant Navy, and entered training as a radio operator when he had finished grade 12. After training Mr. White was sent to Vancouver to join the crew of a ship still in construction. In June 1943 they left port on the SS Green Gables Park. Mr. White stayed at sea for three years and suffered from seasickness for the first half of those three years. During his service Mr. White guided the ship as it ferried cargo across the North Atlantic and South Pacific either alone or as part of massive convoys. Although there were many close calls, including instances of ships beside them in convoys being torpedoed, the SS Green Gables Park luckily never came under direct attack during the war. Staying with the service for a year after the war ended in order to gain experience, Mr. White received his discharge in 1946.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 01:56
Person Interviewed:: Alexander M. White
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Branch:: Merchant Navy
Units/Ship:: SS Green Gables Park
Rank:: 2nd Class Seaman
Occupation:: Radio Operator

Related Videos

Dead or Alive?

Mr. White recalls being seasick on his first watch and how he was told by the chief operator of the ship that "There is no 'sick' on this ship!."

Coffin Corner

Mr. White describes 'coffin corner', and recalls an instance when a nearby ship hit a sub and the hunt and destruction that ensued.

Premonition of an Attack

Mr. White recalls a night in the South Pacific when the second mate changed the ships course, thinking a sub might be waiting for them. He then explains why ships couldn't stop to pick up mariners in the water.

Lull in Ship Conversation

Mr. White recalls how the sailors would keep to themselves more for a week or two in the middle of a 30-40 day voyage.

Remembrance

Mr. White talks about remembering friends who didn't return from war, and how all Veterans are thankful they survived. He also speaks to his appreciation of the school programs that encourage children to remember without glorifying war.

Date modified:: 2019-06-20