115 The Royal Canadian Legion MANITOBA & NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO COMMAND www.mbnwo.ca As near as I can recall, it all began in the summer of 1944 in Kildonan Park, West Kildonan. I was spending a couple of weeks vacation with my aunt and uncle and happened to be in the park when a troop of sailors from HMCS Chippawa came marching down Main Street and stopped for a brief rest at the park concession. This was my first opportunity at seeing the military marching and I will never forget that sight and especially the precision and sound of the naval band. One could not help but march along with them, which I did, for as far back toward Chippawa as I dared. I guess from that day on, I was convinced that I would one day be in the Navy. As I was only fourteen at the time, I still had a few years to go and I secretly wished that the war would not end before I was old enough to enlist. Well, fortunately, the war did end sooner and I don’t remember being disappointed but I was still determined to “Join the Navy and see the World” as soon as possible. When I turned seventeen, I decided to give it a try and was not surprised when they told me to go home and wait until I was seventeen-and-a-half, which was the minimum age at that time. Home I went, but not before I was given a list of things to bring with me when I returned. This included a Birth Certificate and two or three letters of reference. Two of the letters came from Mr. A. C. Savage, and Mr. Bouchard, both local businessmen in Fisher Branch. Well, after what seemed like an eternity, the day finally arrived and armed with my documents, I went back to Chippawa and this time I was accepted. After a few days of tests, medical examinations, etc., I was told once again to go home and wait. Well wait I did and finally I was called in to Chippawa to be sworn in and pick up my tickets and orders to proceed to HMCS Naden in Esquimalt, British Columbia for training. Officially my enlistment date was June 18, 1948. I will never forget the feeling when that train left Winnipeg and was headed for a place that I had never before been to and had only read about. Also, this was the first experience at being alone, without a friend or family member along. It makes a difference, when you travel with someone you know and are away from home with someone you are familiar with, to talk about things that are common to you both. This would not happen to me for my entire five and a half years, as I never did meet up with anyone I knew. Besides the loneliness, everything was new and strange to me - the training, the rigid discipline, the new terminology. They did not speak English, they spoke Navy. The lonely feeling would eventually lessen as I made more and more friends and became used to the routine of military life. It would lessen but never really go away and was experienced every time I would return from leave. I’m sure that those who have left home at a young age, for some reason or another can appreciate what the feeling is like. Beautiful British Columbia, as the current license plates read, was certainly true back then as well but what a change for a small town farm boy! I don’t think I was prepared for the change and did not think it was that beautiful then, but only because it was very strange to me. Upon arriving in Vancouver I was met by a “Navy” person and taken to the BC Ferry dock for my first boat ride to Victoria. Never losing sight of the shore, I thought sea life was okay and I could handle this part. That was not a good example of sea time, as I soon learned. What a rude awakening I received when I arrived at HMCS Naden in Esquimalt. What a rude bunch! No welcome, just “shave off that moustache”, “get rid of those side burns”, do this, don’t do that, orders, orders, rules and more rules. I was obviously not prepared for this either. In spite of it all, I later realized that it was all necessary and I survived and probably grew up and matured a lot faster than if I had not enlisted. DAVIS, Stanley William KOREA THE LIFE OF A SAILOR, THROUGH THE EYES OF S.W. (STAN) DAVIS ➤
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