Repatriation

Heroes Remember

Repatriation

Transcript

As I had been already overseas five years, they were sending somebody back to Canada after, you know, and I was on the first draft because I had five years already. So they sent me, we, they sent us back to England first in an old Sterling bomber at Farmborough, I never forget that. Farmborough, England is a, there was an airport there. And then I sat, we sat, there was no seat on that thing and we were sitting on the floor with all our full marching orders kit and guy pressed the button to get the wheels down. They wouldn't come down so we had to circle the thing. Boy, they better get those wheels down. It was my first time on a plane. They took a big thing and he started to hit the wheels and they finally came down so we landed and then we landed there in a camp and we got, we exchanged our money there for, you know, before we go to Canada and they gave us Canadian money and things like this. Then we, they sent us another week on vacation before we left. We landed at the old Bonaventure Station. I don't know if you know that, in Montreal. Anyway, I was at St. James Street and Peel, that's where Bonaventure Station was. And there was people with cars there to take soldiers home and most of them were Jewish, you know, I never forgot that. It's a Jewish man that drove me home. Me and my family that were, that met me there at the station. I arrived here on the 25th of June, 1945 and my wife arrived in Montreal the 25th of June, 1946, exactly one year. There was so many British war brides that they couldn't send them all at the same time so they had to send them periodically by ship. There was not so many planes then so I had to wait a whole year.

Description

Mr. Clavel describes being selected for the first return draft to Canada because of his long service.

Roger Clavel

Roger Clavel was born in Sainte-Scholastique, Quebec on February 15, 1919. He was the sixth of eight children. After finishing grade eight, he sold donuts door-to-door. Mr. Clavel enlisted three days after the war started, on September 13, 1939. He went overseas as a Fusilier de Montreal, and while in England he was married. Mr. Clavel then joined the Royal 22nd Regiment in North Africa. During the Italian campaign, Mr. Clavel eventually ended up driving a medical supply truck. The Royal 22nd Regiment then rejoined the Canadian army in Belgium, but Mr. Clavel saw limited action. After returning to Canada, Mr. Clavel had to wait exactly one year for the arrival of his war bride.

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