Liberating the French

Heroes Remember

Liberating the French

Transcript

I guess the most vivid memory really is the fact that we were continually liberating towns, one after the other, small towns, small villages, and so on you know, and the, we'd get into a village and we'd be told the Germans had left half an hour before or something in that nature, or they might tell us that the Germans are holed up in a barn on the outskirts the town, that sort of thing was, that was happening all the time. And, of course, we kept hitting strong points, which we were, which was part of our training to either take them out or contain them until we could get stronger forces up. Ecstatic, especially units like the Maisonneuves and Chaudières who could speak French and especially the Chaudières cause we were in Normandy. Basically the origins of the French Canadians were from Normandy so they spoke then almost the same patois. Oh yeah, they were delirious to see us, they always wanted us to, well, they didn't see any reason why we should keep going, we'd stay there and have a meal with them, something of that nature, and the Cognac bottles would come out. Interviewer: This is Calvados, is it? Calvados. that's a very powerful liqueur. It's a super distilled apple cider really, from the, Normandy is apple country and it's a very powerful, when you knock back a couple of Calvados, if you look down at your feet, you're going to see a hole in the floor.

Description

Mr. Jamieson describes his most vivid memory - liberating French towns and villages.

Douglas K. Jamieson

Mr. Jamieson was the oldest of two boys in the family and was born in Toronto on April 3, 1919. At the age of sixteen he moved to Montreal. While in university Mr. Jamieson joined the Canadian Officer Training Corps. His unit was converted to a regular force unit and he was shipped overseas as part a reconnaissance unit in the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division with whom he served in England, France, Holland and Germany.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 01:59
Person Interviewed:: Douglas K. Jamieson
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: France
Branch:: Army
Units/Ship:: 17th Duke of York's Royal Canadian Hussars-Recce
Occupation:: Reconnaissance Officer

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Date modified:: 2019-06-20