|
Ville de Saguenay - d'arrondissement de Chicoutimi
Paul Lapointe was born in Chicoutimi, Quebec on Jan 30, 1905
He served in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany with the
Royal Canadian Engineers Lapointe passed away on November 7,
2002.
Paul Lapointe
Oct 25, 1944 , We return to Malle Antwerp, for regrouping
and to move to Holland. At the German border we go to Grave.
Nov 9, 1944 We spend the winter there.
Feb 15, 1945 Our first departure in the German country. I
have changed trucks I now drive a tank transporter and I
carry a tractor to a small flooded village where I spend 3
days; during my return to Nijmegen enemy aircrafts cut the
road and this delays us by 6 hours.
Feb 20, 1945 We are sent to another front, towards Kleve
Uedum and the famous forest; it has been very tough in that
area, we see robot tanks, bombs all ready to blow us up but
the engineers are there to clear out the fields; there have
been heavy losses there and we are taking 1000 prisoners a
day for 3 days.
Feb 28, 1945 We have been machine gunned and bombed by our
airplanes, an error, there was only one wounded. The other
days are quiet until March 8.... I spent 3 days with the
Maisonneuve, a French Canadian regiment. There, I talked
every night until midnight, 1 o'clock.
Mar 8, 1945 For the offensive:1400 cannons in the town of
Nijmegen, 350 kinds of munitions, which if piled 5 feet high
would be 30 miles long. Paint, 5 gallons of paint of every
color to mark the roads, 1,000,000 ft. of white ribbon to
mark the roads and the mine fields; the army has made 100
miles of road in 3 days for the troops to advance on. Since
we arrived in Germany we sleep in basements or we dig holes
for days or nights; it is not very pleasant but a
consolation is |
|
that we eat fresh meat, pork or beef, there is a lot of it
here and it helps the morale. Mar 12, 1945 We are moving, we
are going to Kleve the first night we are shelled at
midnight; we go and spend the night in a basement; the day
is quiet. Mar 13, 1945 At 11 PM, my truck is hit by a shell
but is not too damaged, but as for me, I have lost all of my
equipment; the same day we have to move again. It is quieter
but not very safe as we are 4 miles from the front lines
along the Rhine; we are in the country and the weather is
nice and warm and the greenery and the flowers have started
to come out in the gardens; it we were not always on the
look-out I would really love it; the few animals that remain
are in the pastures; what is bothersome is that we
constantly hear the cannons and the shells.
Mar 17, 1945 On the 17th of February we were bombed and
machine gunned by our own aircrafts, a mistake; last night
we received a message of apologies and of sympathy from the
RAF. They had burned 4 trucks, one being the kitchen, 2 of
munitions and one empty. Presently, it is very quiet, if it
could continue.
Mar 24, 25, 26, & 27, 1945 We are machine gunned every
night and we are shelled during the day, and this is
supposed to be a rest..... I continue my diary
Apr 8, 1945 We are in Holland and there is very little
resistance.
Apr 12, 1945 This morning we entered the city of Groningen
for the first time; it was liberated last night, a beautiful
city, with a population of 300,000 plus; we are well
received everywhere.
Courtesy of ‘The Canadian letters and images project’
Malaspina University College
– Dr Stephen Davies. |
