Ottawa, the day that war is declared

War actually started on September 3rd, which was a Sunday. September 4th was Labour Day, and because it was Labour Day we had a morning paper to deliver and the headlines of it was “Athenia Sunk.” And uh, so I started around my route first thing in the morning, be about 5 or 6 o’clock and I can still remember customers running out of their houses, you know to meet me to get the paper.And the local army service corps company, a divisional transport company or something, their bugle band went marching by. A couple of guys at the back were carrying a big sign, “Fall in and follow the band.” And I can still see fellows stepping off the sidewalk and lining up behind the band, you know to go off. That morning there were seven of us, all young, we’d be 13, 14, with our papers getting ready to split up to go to our various routes and we all bemoaned the fact that the war would be over by Christmas and we’d be too young to get into it, you know. And uh, before the war was over four of those boys were dead.