Research Catalog

Title

How I won the war for the allies : one sassy Canadian soldier's story / Doris Gregory.

Author

Gregory, Doris, 1921-

Publication

Vancouver, B.C. : Ronsdale Press, [2014]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xiii, 208 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations; 23 cm

Summary

Literary Nonfiction. Memoir. Women's Studies. Still sassy, Doris Gregory takes the reader back over seventy years to when she joined the Canadian Women's Army Corps during WWII. Her memoir allows us to travel with her across the Atlantic at the height of the U-boat infestation and to take refuge in underground shelters while bombs fall on London. Unlike most memoirs of the war that focus on battles, Gregory shows the everyday mundane activities of office life, working under some less-than-brilliant supervisors. Gregory transforms what could have been a dull soldier's life into one of small adventures: cycling along traffic- free roads through southern England, the midlands and Scottish lowlands, hopping on the ferry to Ulster, slipping into neutral, forbidden Éire, and looking into the gun barrel of an angry German sentry. Although at times the war weighs heavily upon her, the author's optimism, enthusiasm and sense of humor permeate this memoir, full of laughter and surprises. -- Provided by publisher.

Subject

• Gregory, Doris, 1921-
• Canada. Canadian Women's Army Corps > Biography
• University of British Columbia > Students > Biography
• World War, 1939-1945 > Personal narratives, Canadian
• Women soldiers > Canada > Biography

Genre/Form

• Biographies
• Personal narratives – Canadian

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Additional Formats (note)

• Issued also in electronic format.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

From student to soldier -- The Atlantic Crossing -- Introduction to London -- Hospitality in Aberdeen and Torquay -- Non-heroes -- Army blunders and air raids -- Civilians and the international scene -- Settling into the Wartime Routine -- Highs and lows -- The build-up to D-Day -- Summer fun, military muddles, buzz bombs -- Flying hats and fabulous coffee -- More than one kind of wound -- Winter chills -- Irish spring -- Exiting Eire -- The golden summer -- Going home.

ISBN

• 9781553803171 (pbk.)
• 1553803175 (pbk.)

OCLC

• 863768303
• SCSB-11350072

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library