Hinton, Peter: my Navy recollections (July 22, 1985)

Public

Downloadable Content

Download selected audio

Interviewer: Hill, Mark C.

Interviewee: Hinton, Peter

An interview/narrative of Peter Hinton's experiences during World War II. Captain Hinton served with the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve and the Royal Canadian Navy. Interview took place on July 22, 1985.

ABSTRACT: Capt. Peter Hinton Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal Canadian Navy Hinton_P_0076_01.mp3 Born in Shanghai, China, grew up in Victoria, and was educated at Brentwood College. Volunteered and was called up by the navy in 1941 as an acting temporary probationary sub-lieutenant. Motive and feelings about joining the navy. H.M.C.S. Kings, Halifax. Good barrack conditions, hard work, gunnery, anti-submarine, logistics, torpedo, parade ground, at sea. Looked on as a great adventure. After four-month concentrated course horrified to be appointed ashore in Vancouver. Later was appointed to H.M.C.S. Kelowna, a Bangor class minesweeper, on west coast patrol. A happy ship in which he learned much pilotage. Combined operations training centre at Comox, B.C. Now a lieutenant, he went overseas to England where he was appointed captain of a landing craft, infantry (large), L262. Describes the ship: armament, seakeeping, navigation, equipment, capacity (about two hundred persons), beaching procedure. Of his ship's company only five had been to sea before! Comments on landing exercises. Describes some of the specialized ships used on D-Day. Sailed for Normandy on June 4, 1944 with part of the North Nova Scotia Highlanders. Terrific traffic jam in English ports when D-Day was postponed. Sailed again on June 5. Rough seas very hard on the troops who were put ashore at Bernieres sur-Mer. Beach obstacles not well cleared. Mined when about to unbeach, returned to England under tow. Hinton_P_0076_02.mp3 Later engaged in ferrying reinforcements and returning wounded. In Oct. 1944 the ships were paid off. Was attached to the R.N. as a relief captain at Lowestoft. Returned to Canada in Aug. 1945. Was discharged. Rejoined the navy during the Korean War, serving in Canada. Enjoyed the peacetime naval professionalism. Commanded two minesweepers, two destroyers, and H.M.C.S. Protecteur (operational supply ship). Executive officer, H.M.C.S. Stadacona (shore base) and then base commander at both Halifax and Victoria. Retired in 1976. Unification: great harm done to the navy. Intellectually stifling, much loss of identity. Situation now slowly improving. Comments on Paul Hellyer and his sometimes shabby treatment of the services. Operational effects. Cannot think of any important positive attributes due to unification. Believes that more retired naval personnel should be working at the political level of society. (80:00)

Rank: Captain.

In Collection:
Contributor Subject Language Keyword Date created Relation
  • Part of the Reginald H. Roy collection of interviews.
Resource type Rights statement Extent
  • 2 sound recordings (MP3)
Geographic coverage Coordinates
  • 60.10867, -113.64258
  • 52.16045, -0.70312
Additional physical characteristics
  • One original sound tape reel (ca. 80 min.) : 1 7/8 ips, 2 track, mono. ; 1 sound cassette copy : standard, mono. in Special Collections.
Physical repository Collection
  • Canadian Military Oral History Collection
Provider Genre Archival item identifier
  • HP_076
Fonds title Fonds identifier Is referenced by Date digitized
  • June 8, 2007
Technical note
  • Digital sound recording in .wav format at 16 bits and 22 kHz. In .mp3 format at 64 kbps and 22 kHz. Digitized by AN, technical and cataloguing metadata provided by JF and JP. Transferred from audio reel to audio cassette between 1987-1997. Interview migrated to digital format for UVic Special Collections in 2007. Migration metadata by KD and MT.
Rights
  • This interview has been posted with the understanding that it may be used for research purposes only. Should the interviewee or their heirs have any objections to this interview being accessible on the Internet, it will be removed promptly. Contact UVic Special Collections for permission if using for other than research purposes: speccoll@uvic.ca
DOI

This page supports the Zotero and Mendeley browser extensions simply click on the extension widget in your browser to save the objects citation.

Thumbnail Title Date Uploaded Visibility Actions
file details SC141_MilitaryOralHistory_GenericThumbnail Public
file details Hinton_P_0076_01.mp3 Public
file details Hinton_P_0076_02.mp3 Public