FOCUS - SEPTEMBER 2016 39 FOCUS - NOVEMBER 2017 39 Mary answered, “You name it, we did it. Whatever was required.” The women on the boat were “like stewardesses,” she compared. Mary recalls cleaning silver. They had a top cook who made them good meals. One night, Theresa, who had a sense of humour, refused to do the dishes. There were warnings of sub- marines within miles. “We may not need any clean dishes in the morn- ing!” was her justification. Once on the same night, two near- by Canadian boats were bombed. But Mary’s boat only experienced minor damage underneath, easily repaired in dry dock. Their boat left Halifax, Nova Scotia, forEngland,wheretheyreloadedwith ammunition to deliver to the troops in the Mediterranean and North Africa. “We were pretty sea worthy,” Mary said. “Not sea sick.” But during her civilian life, Mary did not indulge in cruises or own a boat. One memory which sticks with her is the story of a gunner who had his sights set on a German soldier. But it was against the rules to shoot an individual, Mary explained. When the captain caught his eye, the gunner backed down. “You could shoot a boat or a sub but not a person,” she said. Another recollection is of an officer who gave a soldier a chocolate bar, but warned him only to have one bite. Because they did not have sugar in their diet, the officer was concerned that “his stomach couldn’t take it.” Mary got teased for spending so much time in the engine room during the war. Yes, she met the love of her life and future husband, Hans, the chief engineer, while at sea. Via a wireless radio, they were in- formed that the war was over at 3 a.m. “There were to be no more guns or fighting,” she reported, “but there was.” They got word that subs were still trailing them. They were told to be “very careful.” Mary and her mates missed the first convoy for home and had to go back to Gibraltar for a week to wait for another one. The convoy they missed experienced 10 more hours of fighting even though the war was officially over. Their convoy was “peaceful,” and planes came from Scotland to take them back to England to prepare for civilian life, “a normal life.” “Everybody had a part in the war,” Mary pointed out, from the farmers who grew food, to the little children who collected pop bottles for the Red Cross. “I was just one person,” Mary says modestly. “It was a war that every- body got involved in.” Back in Ontario following WWII, Hans continued his career in engineer- ing and Mary worked in offices, in- cluding 20 years with General Electric in Toronto. They had two children, Richard and Anne, and eventually grand kiddies came along. Mary proudly displays a colour photoofherlovelygreatgranddaugh- ter Alyssa, who, at age six, gradu- ated last year from Kindergarten into grade one. “When I realize what we did, what we risked, I would say to her, ‘Heavens, no, don’t ever go to war!’” Thank you Mary, for sharing your story with us. By Lynn Campbell, Focus on Scugog