Corbett Family Stories
During the war, the entire town was effected, nearly every family had a family member in the war. When someone died, everyone knew about it. This was due to the fact that the population was much smaller than it is now.
Miss Corbette’s brother, John, was taking a wireless telegraphy course. He was supposed to the wireless engineer for the merchant marine. But the original engineer came back and John was put to sea. His boat sailed down the panama canal, the heat was extreme and you could be burned from stepping on the deck. John’s family got a telegram saying that his sailing days were over and he was coming come on a bus. What his family didn’t know, however, was that he lost all his money in a poker game the night he and a couple of sailors when out and had drinks. John had to walk home. There was a lady on the way who had sandwiches, she was kind enough to let him have some. He was well fed enough to keep going. On the day his bus was supposed to arrive, John’s family was waiting at the bus stop. They got more disheartened after each bus came and went with no John. Finally, they saw John walking down the street towards them.
A while later, John decided to join the 36 Battery. He went down to Kingston to see if he passed the physical. He was in excellent physical condition, the trouble was, his eye-site was not. In order to pass the physical, he memorized to eye charts. When he passed he took some of the basic training in Peterborough, then he went up to Petawawa for more training. He was then assigned to the 23rd field regiment where he used the 25 pounder.
Miss Corbette’s brother, John, was taking a wireless telegraphy course. He was supposed to the wireless engineer for the merchant marine. But the original engineer came back and John was put to sea. His boat sailed down the panama canal, the heat was extreme and you could be burned from stepping on the deck. John’s family got a telegram saying that his sailing days were over and he was coming come on a bus. What his family didn’t know, however, was that he lost all his money in a poker game the night he and a couple of sailors when out and had drinks. John had to walk home. There was a lady on the way who had sandwiches, she was kind enough to let him have some. He was well fed enough to keep going. On the day his bus was supposed to arrive, John’s family was waiting at the bus stop. They got more disheartened after each bus came and went with no John. Finally, they saw John walking down the street towards them.
A while later, John decided to join the 36 Battery. He went down to Kingston to see if he passed the physical. He was in excellent physical condition, the trouble was, his eye-site was not. In order to pass the physical, he memorized to eye charts. When he passed he took some of the basic training in Peterborough, then he went up to Petawawa for more training. He was then assigned to the 23rd field regiment where he used the 25 pounder.