Interview #23

Name: Tom Benoit

Sex: Male

Age: 76

Place and date of birth: St. Alban's, August 30, 1922

Education: Grade 3

Religion: Roman Catholic

Occupation: Woodsman

Number of children: 10

Names of children and where they live:

Madonna (Nova Scotia) Rick (Ontario)

Judy (Nova Scotia) Genevieve (Head of Bay d'Espoir)

Martin (Calgary) Gerard (British Columbia)

Norbert (St. Alban's) Claude (Ontario)

Clayton (Ontario) Jackie (Codroy Valley)

Phone: 538-3706

Place of interview: St. Alban's

Date of interview: February 15, 1999

Interviewers: Sheri Peters and Trina King

Tom left for overseas on June 25, 1941 when he was nineteen years of age. He left on a coastal boat to North Sydney. He then took a train from North Sydney to Montreal. From there, he took a boat called The Mandosa to Liverpool, England. When the boat he was on was going in to Liverpool, bodies were floating everywhere because of the bombing the night before. They left England on a train to Scotland where he started work with the forestry. He used buck saws to cut the wood and horses to haul the logs out of the woods. Tom recalled that when he left, he had a homemade suitcase for his clothes. When he got his first pay of two dollars, he bought a new suitcase and threw the other suitcase overboard. On the way over, The Mandosa struck bad weather and everyone on the boat got sick except the captain. Almost everyone that went overseas was eighteen or nineteen years old because that was the required age. Some were younger but passed for eighteen. The men that went overseas had to take a medical before they went.

On the boat, the food was supplied for the men. Tom recalled that Paul MacDonald was the cook. The men had to bring their own clothes. Tom's first camp was camp six and Leo Collier was the foreman. Tom had to sleep in a bunk house where he slept in beds made out of wood and horse hair. They looked like little squares and they were hard so they called them biscuits. After a while, they got a bed and mattress.

When the men signed up to go overseas, they had to stay for the full duration. The only way someone could leave, was if they got really sick. The men would sometimes get to leave for a long weekend or a week and they could go into town. The men from the navy and army were allowed to leave and came home for a big celebration. The men received fifty-two dollars a month. They sent twenty-six dollars back home to their family and the other twenty-six dollars was kept for themselves.

During the war, some food was rationed. A quarter pound of butter would have to last for eight days. Tom recalled having plenty of beans and peas to eat during the war.

Although there was a war going on, people still had parties that included drinking, dances, and girlfriends. At the dances, there was accordion music. Tom also joined home guard and they would have parades every Sunday. Some men married women overseas, some others came back home, and some stayed and settled there.

After coming home from the war on April 30, 1946, Tom started working with Bowaters. He cut logs for three years. When Bowaters shut down, he went to Toronto and worked for two years. When he left Toronto, he came home and met a woman named Muriel and they got married in 1952. After he got married, he started working with Macnamara. In 1967, he started working for Hydro. He worked there until the day he retired on August 30, 1982.

Tom's mother died when he was only three years old. His father could no longer take care of him so Clara and Henry Willcott took him in and raised him up as if he was their own. As Tom got a little older, he remembered working in the woods with his stepfather. He also remembered being at a wedding with his stepmother when the tidal wave occurred. There were two weddings held on that day. The earth was shaking and the tide was very high. Tom said that there wasn't any damage around Bay d'Espoir but in Lamoline, houses got washed out to sea.

On pancake day, people would make pancakes and put certain items in them. For example, if someone found a button in their pancake, the person would probably remain a bachelor. If someone found a nail in their pancake, they would probably be a carpenter. If a ring was found, the person would probably get married. On Valentine's Day, people made cards and when it got dark, they would drop the cards on people's doorstep and run away. On Good Friday, people did not eat meat. They only ate fish. People ate one meal that whole day. They would go to mass in the morning and take part in the stations of the cross. During the Christmas season, people would celebrate all twelve days. There were dances in houses and syrup and cookies were served to the children while the adults were served cookies and tea. The people had dances such as square dances and swinging eights. They would also play cards such as 120's. After New Year's Day, people went mummering until old Christmas day. Wedding ceremonies were held in houses in the morning and there was a dance on the porch. Everyone was invited to the wedding. Lunch was served all day long and each person was given one drink. The dance would not end until four a.m..

Tom remembered that the Joan Collier and Aunt Eva Collier were midwives. He recalled some home remedies used in the past. For instance, people boiled cina leaves and drank the broth as a laxative. People warmed olive oil on the stove and placed it on the ear to heal an earache. If an area was infected, a poultice was used to draw out the infection. Flour was burned on the stove until it browned and used for a baby's diaper rash.

Tom recalled that during October, lambs would mate. Their birthing month was the end of March.

Tom said that the best thing that happened to Bay d'Espoir was Hydro because it supplied a lot of work. Ron also thought it was good when the road was built because it made it easier to get to the hospital.

Tom had many worthwhile stories especially those about the war. It is interesting to know that men from our community and the Bay d'Espoir area risked their own lives to save the lives of others.