A long trip home

Dear Editor:

I arrived back in England in October 1946 after being in the army of occupation in Holland and West Germany for five months. In Aldershot there were thousands of troops – Canadian, American, and Aussies – and many had been there some time due to the shortage of shipping. The German submarines had taken their toll on troop ships, so for many it was a long wait to get home.

I liked it there in Aldershot – not much to do and able to get into London most any time about half an hour on the bus.

I finally got my notice on the 12th of February that my passage had been booked after being away for over six years. I boarded the luxury liner Queen Elizabeth in Southampton and we put to sea the next day. This was some ship – over a thousand feet long and five decks. You could easily get lost. When we left port the sea was very calm and it looked like she was sailing full speed. But on the second day out her speed was much slower due to heavy fog.

There were eight thousand troops on board, so three sittings at all meals the dining room only accommodated three thousand at a time. At the 28th of February we sailed into New York Harbour on a cold, crisp morning, and the sun was just coming up as we passed the Statue of Liberty.

When we docked, everyone thought we would be on our way, but this was now so, and it was all day on the ship once more.

At dusk we were on our way and boarded a train for the last leg of our trip.

On the train we had sleepers, and it was a bitter cold night but we were comfortable. Sometimes during the night the train would stop and you could hear a lot of pounding underneath. The brakes were freezing up.

It was all night and most all the next day, but we finally arrived in Halifax. I changed there to the train bound for Yarmouth via the Annapolis Valley and arrived home at three in the morning.

Oren Foster BEM

Deep Brook