Seventeen
(Personal reflections
of a young sailor: Douglas C. Maybee)
 |
I am
always saying, “When I was seventeen, I joined the Navy!”
When I was still sixteen,
I wrote a letter to the Naval Recruiting Office in Ottawa (with my father’s
permission) asking for an application to join the Navy. The war had started
about 18 months previous. I soon got an application along with the news
that I could not join up until I was 17 years old, and that I would have
to stay in the Navy for seven years after I became 18. I sent my application
in right away and it was a long six months waiting to be 17, trying to
grow up in such a short time. |
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I hadn’t been any more
than 50 miles away from home in my whole short life. Two days after my
seventeenth birthday at 5' 11" tall and weighing 126 pounds, I had to leave
home and report to the naval barracks in Esquimault B.C., 3000 miles away.
Some of my friends were at the house to see me off as I left to catch the
noon train that would take me to B.C. and a new experience. The train ride
was really great, across the prairies and through the mountains, but it
was long. Every mile took me further away from the home and the people
I loved. I guess I was homesick, but I couldn’t let anyone know that.
The naval barracks
seemed to be awfully big, about half the size of the entire village I had
just come from. I was given a medical, signed a few papers, and was issued
a hammock that I would sleep in most of the time that I was in the Navy.
I was also given a big kit bag full of navy clothes that would be mine
for the next 8 years.
I was put in a platoon
with eleven other fellows my age. The first week, our instructor showed
us, and constantly reminded us, who was the boss. “Yes, Sir!” “No, Sir!”
Respect was what he wanted and what he got, I soon found out that, as long
as you remembered that, things went OK.
We were now ‘Boy Seamen’,
to bed in our hammocks at 9:00 PM, lights out at 9:30 and no talking (not
a whisper), up at 5:30 am and out on the parade square at 6:00 for a mile
run down the road. It soon increased to a five mile run. I’m not sure whether
this was to build us up or wear us down.
After six months of
training and everyone in shape, we were sent to Halifax, 4000 miles away,
by train, with a two weeks leave en route. I should mention here that for
the first six months in the navy I was paid $15 a month, but they held
back $10 a month so you would have some money when you went on leave. So
here I was with 2 weeks leave and $60 in my pocket. Boy was I rich!!
It was great seeing
my parents and friends after a long six months. They asked a lot of questions,
and I had a lot of stories to tell, but all too soon, we had to say goodbye
again as I had to catch the train to Halifax.
We were soon assigned
to different ships. Now I would be in the real world - no instructor to
watch over my every move. I remembered all that I had been taught, not
just in the past six months but every day as I was growing up - showing
respect for others, knowing right from wrong, and resisting temptations.
(The rest of this story follows
in the next issue of the Maybee Newsletter)
Contact Douglas Maybee by
email at: dmaybee@ns.sympatico.ca
His web site is www3.ns.sympatico.ca/dmaybee
Web Site provided by Baylite
Studios September, 2000
