Signing Up

I remember stripping off and getting examined, and then ya, they send ya home then and then call ya up for your uniform and stuff. That's about all, I guess. my brother and I. He joined first and I was second, and we went to hospital and got all examined and passed, and that was it. We were in.

Interviewer: Where did you go next?

From there we went to basic training in New Glasgow.

Interviewer: What do you remember about the basic training?

Well, you get up every morning, shave and wash and that, then go out and do an hour's PT before breakfast, come back and get your breakfast, and then you went to work on the parade squares and that, and learn to march, and how to, even how to tie your own shoe. Couldn't even learn . . . You had to learn to tie your shoes. Yeah.

Interviewer: What do you remember about the NCOs during that period?

Oh, the NCOs were beautiful. They just put you through your drills, and if you done what you were told, yes, no problem. Yeah. It was the . . . The NCO in charge of the gates and stuff at night, we even got to know him, and Corporal Bubs was his name. We called him Corporal Bubs. They all had . . . he even had . . . mark an "X" on my bed. When I wanted to go out at night, stay a little late, mark an "X" on the bed. He'd mark me in. They were great, yes. No problem.