Remembering Rationing

(Major Rey Hypolito T.) UGH the food! What is there to even say about the food?! Navy food was … well… less than desirable, would be the nicest way to describe what they fed us. Our dried consisted with mostly dehydrated food. Though I know we should be one of the last people to be complaining because things could have been much worse. At least we did not ….But these things if it had not been for the tin cans that Marie [Anderson's wife] and Mother sent me, I might not have made it…along with so many others. We treated food that people sent us like pieces of gold. Normally our meals consisted of powdered eggs at breakfast which were best when doused with ketchup — ugh. Our Engineering Officer was about 5' 6" and weighed about 135 pounds. He could eat a half dozen of those powdered items — and squirt half a bottle of ketchup on them. No one else at the Wardroom table could stand to watch him! The dehydrated potatoes were in the shape of diced cubes. After soaking, to take on water again, they were barely edible as mashed potatoes. Our milk was powdered too, so creamed potatoes were less than desirable. Once in a rare while we'd have powdered ice cream. The best thing about it was being cold.

Remembering Hospital Conditions

(Major Rey Hypolito T.) Do you men remember the hospital condition in on the boats? Though I know few outside the Naval Services knew that the Marine Corps does not have its own medical branch. All medical, dental and religious care to Marines was provided by members of the US Navy assigned to the Marine Corps.
During World War II, Corpsmen were a wonderful group of men. They knew first aid, minor surgery, nursing care, dietetics, hygiene and sanitation, pharmacy, chemistry, nursing care, and anatomy and physiology. These people knew how to bandage and splint, and treat shock. In one Marine division there were about 1,000 sailors. Support units typically had a small medical cadre of 1-2 Corpsmen per each company-sized unit. In the infantry, each platoon was SUPPOSED to have one attached Corpsman… but there were never enough to go around. The infantry battalion consisted of a doctor and a small medical staff. But in combat, there were often not enough Docs to go around.
I remember it like it was yesterday…in combat, when Marines were wounded, the call for "Corpsman!" would sound like trumpets. No matter the location of the wounded Marine, Docs and stretcher bearers would race to the scene to stabilize and evacuate their comrade. I think if anyone deserves recognition for being patriotic in WW2 it should have been the Corpsmen whom thousands of Marines owed their lives to.

Remembering Battle

(Major Rey Hypolito T.) Men, do you remember the days of battle? … Do you even want to remember those days? It all started on Sunday, December 10th, 1939. Canada formally declared war on Germany. The Royal Canadian Navy was such a proud navy of Canada--I believe they lasted from 1911 to 1968. Our contribution to WWII was mind-blowing. We were a part of the Battle of the Atlantic during World War II. What were you all apart of?

The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign, of World War II, lasted from 1939 through to the defeat of Nazi Germany all the way to 1945. The Battle of the Atlantic was of the U-boats of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) against Allied convoys. We were able to provide protection, for the most part, for convoys of merchant ships, coming mainly from North America and the South Atlantic and going to the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union.
Good old Winston Churchill. He was a good and honest man. He joined in 1941. A fight that began on the first day of the European war involved thousands of ships and stretched over hundreds of miles of the vast ocean and seas in a chain of more than 100 convoy battles and perhaps 1,000 single-ship encounters. The British and their allies gradually gained the upper hand, driving the German surface raiders from the ocean by the end of 1942 and decisively defeating the U-boats in a series of convoy battles between March and May of 1943. We lost many grate men in those times but thanks to those men Canada is what it is today. New German tried to fight back by sending submarines in 1945, but they were too late to affect the course of the war. I personally don’t know what the Germans were thinking when they fried their blockade. All they did was waist 3500 merchant ships and 175 warships as well as 783 u-boats.

Remembering the People I Helped

I remember Back during the middle of the war, in 1942, I was sent on a mission to deliver much needed supplies to people out along the west coast of Great Britain. Little did I know that there was a fleet of German U-boats waiting for me as I left the St. Lawrence harbour. It was extremely difficult to out-maneuver those U-boats and I was almost sunk when I was hit on my starboard side right next to the engine room. Luckily, A fleet of naval ships went and saved my ship from further harm and the U-boats fought the new enemy. This gave me and my crew enough time to put on a temporary patch and pierce through the German forces and was able to make it to the open ocean. We were able to deliver our cargo and saved the people of Wales from . Do any of you guys have special memories about people that you have helped?

Remembering the Homefront

Wow, was it really 70 years ago that I signed up as a naval merchant? Back then, my family was just emerging out of the Great Depression. At the time, my family was just barely getting by: Dad had applied for welfare, Mom was in a working camp, or was it the other way around? I'm losing my memory. Anyway, we were starting to get better with what we had and were even picking up. Then, the call came out for war and Dad could leave the camp he was in and worked in a factory. I was able-bodied and thought I was ready to serve the country. As a side bonus, my family would get a few extra dollars to help them get by. When I got there, was I in for a surprise . It was all danger and bombs, bu I wouldn't change a thing. The action and adventure and the possibility of death at every turn, simply exhilarating. Did any of you have any nice stories from home or did you have the same grim reality as I had?

Operation Neptune, June 6, 1944: D-Day

“Today’s the day. Today, Germany will receive a bit of her own medicine.” Our troops knew that this invasion of Normandy would have a heavy blow upon the Nazi soldiers. All surviving veterans should be proud of having participated in playing a major role in any Great War. D-Day, however marks the first time Canadian soldiers were considered equal to British soldiers (they were not being ordered to do dirty work, and were not sent on a suicide mission). Our navy, our infantry, and our air force would play a part in conquering Juno Beach, while the American army had to take care of Utah and Omaha Beach, and the British army secured Gold and Sword Beach. My troops and I were all leading troops from the Queen’s Own Rifles, Royal Winnipeg Rifles, and Regina Rifles, after having been promoted after somehow surviving the failed mission at Dieppe two years ago. When I think about D-Day, I just remember about how amazing it is that my troops and I, and half of the soldiers we were leading, survived in one piece after that day. The first day of our assault began on Juno beach, and we were to work our way several miles inward. In addition, it was just our luck to be forced onto the shore without covering fire from our DD Tanks. The Germans were more than prepared to destroy us, but our combat tactics saved quite a few lives from certain death by Nebelwerfer, and earn ourselves a good blow to the Germans, even with only our Bren light machine guns. We were able advance when reinforcements finally arrived. As we moved onward, we had eventually rallied with the British troops at Gold Beach. In light of having lost around 1000 soldiers, we had made a decisive victory, along with the American and British troops. Two months later, every single one of my Third Class Master Gunners were promoted to Second Class, in recognition for their skill and tact (resembling my own) demonstrated in D-Day. A week later, I was promoted to Master Gunner, First Class, at last. Veterans, what were your D-Day stories?

Enlisting for the War

I remember the day Canada had declared war on September 9th, 1939. I wasn't really motivated at first to join the war. For one, we had just been through a slow, severe, Great Depression! However, as a young adult, I did wanted to do something else other than stay in my home country. Also, it seemed that Canada was tired and mentally did not want to fight in the war. As a result, our country made a mass number of propaganda and every single block in my city was filled with propaganda to join the war. One day, I found a poster that intrigued me to join the Air Force. Although I was a bit frightened, I wanted to try something new. Due to my love for freedom and the sky, I joined the RCAF, or Royal Canadian Air Force. After 72 hours of ground training and 50 hours practicing in flight, I was ready to go to war. Happily, I was placed in the No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group. In 1940, I was the lowest rank in the RCAF, a flight officer. As the years went by however, I became a squadron leader by 1941 and a group captain in 1944, 4 ranks up a flight officer. By the end of the war, I was an air commodore. You can call me a bit naive at the time because I was not that worried about dying. However, I had a different perspective of the war by the time it was over. Have you veterans joined the war motivated by boredom at home or were you forced to enlist? Was there another motive for you to enlist in the war?