‘We had to help defend our country’

Walking into his little house down by the water in the picturesque town of Pacquet, you’ll probably find Ewan Gillingham sitting on his couch with a smile on his face, and thinking about how much he’d like to be out on the water rowing around in his little punt.

A few quick remarks traded about the weather is nothing more than something one would do with a stranger on the street – but this man is no ordinary stranger. Rather, he’s literally had a hand in changing the face of history. Mr. Gillingham is the last remaining World War II veteran on the Baie Verte Peninsula.

While he’s hesitant to admit it, Mr. Gillingham was born the very year the First World War ended in 1918. Little did he know at the time that he had entered a changed society that had just seen one of the greatest battles to date. Woodrow Wilson was President of the United States, Newfoundland was over 30 years away from being a part of Canada, and if you said the words “Great Depression” no one had any idea what you were talking about. But yet, Mr. Gillingham insists, “I’m still only young.”

Born and raised in Pacquet, with his father being a fisherman in the waters of White Bay, Mr. Gillingham followed in his footsteps when the time came. It was here he learned about the sea and how to handle a boat.

Life was considered normal for the young man in his early 20s. That was until a fateful day in 1939, when news came that war had just broken out in Europe. After the German invasion of Poland, it didn’t take long for most of that continent to be involved – including England, of which at the time this island was officially a colony of.

Two years into the conflict Mr. Gillingham, along with his comrades from Pacquet and other communities around the island made the decision they were going to help.

“We had to,” he says proudly. “We had to help defend our country.”

Leaving Pacquet and going to Little Bay, then from there to St. John’s, and on to Halifax, where the sailors received their orders, Mr. Gillingham and his battalion set off for England as part of the Royal British Navy. By this time, 1941, the allies were beginning to pick up steam in the war effort thanks to a strong new leader in the man of Winston Churchill. It’s said that Mr. Churchill had personally requested his navy be made up of a strong presence of Newfoundlanders – stating in his opinion that they were among the greatest seamen in the world.

Mr. Gillingham and his comrades made the 20-plus day journey to England, and spent the next five years fighting in the English Channel and around other parts of the United Kingdom. His reflections of those times are hard to reiterate due to the incredible atrocities experienced.

“Not everyone came back,” he said with a quiver in his voice, while pointing at pictures of his battalion, some of whom left Pacquet with him, but eventually laid down their lives for the country they loved.

With a reminiscent gleam in his eyes, Mr. Gillingham begins to relive a frightening experience fighting for peace.

“We were staying in a place the Salvation Army had set up,” he begins. “Suddenly, air raids started coming in every 10 minutes. They were dropping bombs all around us – sirens went off telling us to get to the underground bunkers. I decided I was staying where I was, and I told the men ‘if I die, I die.’ I went to bed, fell off asleep, and woke up in the morning. When I looked out the window and went outside, everything was flat. Every building around us was destroyed – except the one I was in.”

It’s stories like that which make one realize what Mr. Gillingham means when he says how lucky he was to come back from war unhurt.

“There were close calls – many close calls,” he says.

But all these years later his life has been one of triumph and virtue.

His humbleness in his acts doesn’t go unnoticed. His living room is decorated with photographs – some from his time in the navy, but most of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. As a member of the local legion he’s been recognized numerous times for his contribution to help shape the world into what we know today. Most recently, receiving a lapel pin from England once again thanking him for his part in the British war efforts some 65 years ago.

While stories of warfare are hard to recall, one memory that stands out vividly for Mr. Gillingham is when he was standing around the radio in a small town in England.

“We heard the news,” he said “the war was over. Everyone was very happy.”

It was accomplished – the allies had won.

It was that moment in time – that very second that Mr. Gillingham was no longer merely a fisherman from a small outport town in Newfoundland. At that moment, he became a hero, and remains one to this day. When reminded of such a fact, his reaction is simple: a grin comes on his face as if he’s embarrassed, he gives a slight nod, and a simple response that we all should say back to him.

“Thank you.”