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William Botten
Canadian Armed Forces
from:Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
My Grandfather served in the First War, and went home in 1918. My father, Bill, was serving in the Army Reserves at the beginning of the Second War, and they all were asked to sign up again, for those who wanted to stay in service. Dad was one who signed on, as most did.
After work (as a Steam Engineer) each day, he would check into his Unit, to see what was happening, and what the orders were. On one of those occasions, they were told, "Grab your kit, we're going over". He had a quick goodbye with his family, and was off to Halifax for training. He eventually went across the Atlantic on a troop ship, and although they were "down below" and didn't see much, he told me their ship was firing at a U-boat or something. From that, I assume they were either defending another ship, or themselves. Once in England, he met my Uncle who was in the Navy. I know my Uncle saw some action at sea. I believe the war in Europe was over before my dad got into it. I think he was gone for a couple of years in all, before returning home. Following tradition, I joined up (RCASC-m)in 1966, and put in my 2 years.
