Page 17 - Coming Home from Overseas

ISSUE : Issue 34

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1983/8/1

to pay for that." And they boarded the door up. They put a guard on the door. Had a guard on it day and night. And this fel? low was on, I guess, in the evening. A per? son waited for him to leave for a little while, the devils, and they broke in again. And I guess they practically cleaned her the second time. Well, anyway, Col. Ral? ston said, /'We'll have to pay for it." But he went to see the fellow that owned it, or got into communication with him, and he said, "No. Give it to the boys. Only for them, I wouldn't have a castle left." He was a rich Belgian. I don't know what busi? ness he was in, but he must have been damn rich, because it was beautiful. There were glass doors and everything in that place. (When did you come back to Canada then?) We landed back, I think, the 13th of June, 1919. We landed in Quebec, the bunch I came with. We came up on the Empress of Berlin to Quebec, and we came down to Hal- ifax by special train. We got our dis? charges there. We were only in Quebec one day. We had a parade through the town--you know the hilly city it is, cliffs up and the houses on top. And of course, we pa? raded to the train. And a special train came down to Halifax. (How were you greeted in Halifax?) Well, I'd say it was rotten. We couldn't get a drink there-- Prohibition was on, you see. The only way you could get a drink there was to go to the vendor. Had all the saloons closed down. Some of the fellows said, "To hell with it--let's go back to Britain!" Well, I went to a house, a fellow I knew, he was a MacDonald. And we used to visit him--he was a Cape Bretoner--and I told him my story, that I couldn't get a bottle of beer. He said, "I'll get you a beer. I'll get you a whiskey, too," he said. (Didn't Halifax get out and greet you?) Oh yes, they did, they met us at the boat, a lot of them, and a pipe band marched us up. (How'd you get home to Middle River?) Came down by train. And when I got into Baddeck, do you know how many cars were in Baddeck? Landed at lona and got over on the boat. The Blue Hill was running then, twice a day; it met every train. And there were just two cars in Baddeck, and I came home in one of them. And I went to work in a few days, haymaking. Thomas Gillard, North Sydney: There were a couple of days they were talking about it, then they said the war was over--the 11th of November was Armistice Day. Well, I nev? er got home till the following March. We went to Wales, to a place called Rhyl. Then we waited for a boat to get home. We couldn't get any boats to get home, you know. They'd come in and they'd pick; it would depend on whether you had a trade, you were likely to get a job--they'd send you home earlier. I wasn't there in Rhyl very long. I was only there--I guess, no more than a couple, three weeks. But the fellows that were there, were still there when I left. We had a camp there, a big military camp. We waited there. All the churches had huts, the recreation huts, you know, Y,M,C.A, had a hut there, and the Salvation Army had a hut there. There was a riot there one time, I wasn't there when they rioted. It was over when I got there. There were some fellows were growling, waiting to get home. Mostly it was the foreigners, I think. And they went on the riot, and broke in the quartermaster's store. They got the rifles, and then they broke into the canteen; they got drunk. They beat, they rim-racked every hut but the Salva? tion Army's. They never touched the Salva- STOP AT DINO'S fresh baked goods * souvenirs magazines * film * charcoal gifts * novels * camp fuel * ice Ingonish STAY AT One Stop Store & Restaurant DINO'S Trailer Park char-broiled steaks & seafood * close to the National Park * Ingonish Druker Insurance Agency Ltd. _ 'Toll Free 1-564-6000 327 Charlotte Street, Sydney 562-5504 IN EMERGENCY: Awie Druker, F.I.I.C. 564-6615 or Ted O'Leary, F.I.I.C, Glace Bay 849-4083 WILL INSURE VIRTUALLY ANY CAR, HOUSE OR BUSINESS 'nMm 'M. ''uJm .... .dnd 3teiaa> Midway Motors Ltd fS Middle River R. R. No. 3, Baddeck, Victoria Co., N. S. BOE IBO Phone 295-2290 Local Dealer for TROY-BILT and GARDEN WAY Products.

Cape Breton's Magazine