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I was born May 1, 1930. The year Mackenzie King was Prime Minister, the year of the first talking movie starring Greta Garbo and the year the planet Pluto was first discovered. The tunes of the year were; I Got Rythm and Walking My Baby Back Home.
The average income was $1,135.00 peryear
A new Ford cost             $   775.00
Gas was                         $        .07 per litre
Bread was                      $        .21
Milk was                        $        .18 per litre

I was born in West Bathurst, New Brunswick, Canada, on the North Shore. The language was a mixture of French Canadian and English Canadian as anglophones and francophones lived side by side.

My father, Harry Sylvan Hachey, was a train conductor and my mother, Daisy May Hachey (nee Godin), tended our Crossroads General Store. We were a well-off family in comparison to the rest of our community and my mother would often accept credit notes for food purchases knowing full well that she would never see the money. She had a good heart, My Mother.

My family consisted of Edgar, Adriene, Gerald, Madeline, Marjorie, Harold, Kay, Francis (ME) and Harry.
(My brother Harold died when he was very young)

We were brought up as strict Roman Catholics saying prayers at all meals, the rosary before bed and never missing mass on Sundays.

I remember my youth as full of fun, lots of swimming, lots of candy from our General store and lots of love in our family. For my first five years (before my brother Harry was born) I was the youngest and the only one left at home. My father was gone for weeks at a time on the railroad, Edgar was married to Leone with three little ones of his own; Edgar Jr., Eric and Blair (later called Joe). Edgar also worked on the railroad. So I helped out also at my brother's house.

I remember most days started at daybreak, getting up and chopping wood to start the stove for my Mother. I would help her clean and cook and mind the store. We were the only family for miles around to have a telephone and so we received messages for others often. It was my job to run and deliver everyone's messages. While I was delivering one very urgent message, I hopped a fence as a shortcut through my uncle's field (Harold Godin) and was bite in the leg by his dog. They hospitalized me for several weeks and treated me for rabies. I don't remember much of this as they say I was delirious. But it never stopped me from loving dogs.

I went to a one room country school each day. If it was winter, my dog 'Ted' would pull the sleigh through deep snow to bring me to school and then wait for me till it was time to go home. Sometimes I would look out the school window onto the snow and think he was gone as I couldn't see him. But, when it was time to go home a large bundle of snow stood up and shook himself ready to pull the sleigh back home. He would just lay there and be buried by the snow. I was pretty much a loner and he was my faithful friend.

One day, my brother Adriene, 17 years old and engaged to be married, caught a virus and was very sick. He knew he was going to die because the day before he died he gave me his favorite things. His death devastated all of us.

Marjorie, Madeline and Kay were away at boarding school. Kay wanted to become a Nun. Marjorie and Madeline were away for Registered Nurse's training. Gerald joined the Armed Forces in 1939 and Harry was very young.

One day we received word that Gerald was Missing in Action in Japan. For four years we did not even know if he was dead or alive. But as it turned out, he along with other Canadians were taken Prisoner of War in Japan. We did not hear a word until the war ended. At the end of the war, we received word that he was still alive but very ill. He had to be hospitalized for about a year before he was permitted to return home. Gerry was considered a hero by others in his P.O.W. camp. He risked his life for his fellow POW's
and would even manage to smuggle food.

Those four years took their toll on my mother's health and her heart was broken. She slept with my brother's picture under her pillow and prayed day and night for his safety while never knowing if he was dead or alive.

    As for me, I dreamed of my future and wondered how I could make a difference in the world. I wanted to be a priest for as long as I can remember but Latin was a requirement and I kept getting low marks in Latin. I went to Brother's School and even had private tutoring lessons
for Latin. The Brothers were so holy and good and they had so much faith and love of God. They truly inspired me throughout all my life.
But, I never conquered Latin and I never became a priest.


     I bought an old incubator and began to raise chickens in an old building. They were growing nicely but I couldn't kill them. I tried to convince my youngest brother Harry to kill them for me.

     Then I asked Dad if I could buy the old Studebaker that use to be
Gerald's before he got married and moved to Toronto. I wanted to start my own taxi business. I drove taxi throughout Bathurst.

When I turned 18, I went to stay with my sister, Madeline and her husband in Toronto, Ontario and worked at a paper factory. My brother Gerry and his wife were also living in Toronto. I spent time with Gerry who relayed to me the horrific life in the war camps and the pain and suffering that he had endured.

I was still confused about what I wanted to do with my life because I wanted so much to make a difference in the world. I was now 19 years old and I decided to serve my country and joined the Royal Canadian Navy.

Visit my Navy Days using the link below.