Joining the military was the only life he knew. Doug Whorrall, born in 1931, grew up during the Second World War.
“As children we were put into army cadets.” By the time he was 12, he could handle a Vickers machine gun.
And born into a family of sea captains it was no surprise he decided to join the military in 1949, just shy of 18 years.
“I didn’t think there was another kind of life,” he said simply. Whorrall, who has lived in Innisfail for 34 years, but grew up in Halifax.
He was trained for six months as an active solider before heading to Kingston, Ontario for training in Signal Corp. That’s where he met his future wife Joyce, whose father was stationed there.
The two married March 12, 1951 and on March 17, he left for Fort Lewis, Washington for special training.
From there, Whorrall began his duties, starting in Australia before heading to Japan, and eventually Korea.
“I was trained in communications,” he said of his role. “I would send messages, teletype,” he said adding that he was trained as a field switchboard operator and was instructed to crypto and radio communications during the Korean War.
While Whorrall was overseas, Joyce stayed in Nova Scotia with his family. The two communicated with letters.
“It was the only way to communicate,” said Joyce Whorrall who remembers only once getting a phone call.
“I was so excited, you dad must have been able to tell,” she said smiling and looking at her husband. “It was a short conversation. I remember you said, ‘I’ll be home tomorrow,’” she said explaining he had called quickly from Montreal when he returned to Canada.
Whorrall remembers returning but said it wasn’t easy to shake the memories of what he saw, and suffered from nightmares after returning to Canada.
He remembers the aftermath of a crash right outside where he was working.
“There were bodies all over the place. You never forget the smell or how dead bodies look,” he said.
When he returned to Canada, there wasn’t much awareness of the war. It was even recognized as a war by the Canadian government until 2002, and is largely referred to as the “forgotten war.”
“It’s extremely important to remember,” he said. “It was equivalent to World War I in the fact that there was a lot of trench warfare. If it wasn’t for the Korean War they would have been a third world war. The Russians were coming into North Korea, the Chinese pulled out because they supported communism. There were more Americans killed than in Vietnam,” he said.
Whorrall still visits schools and speaks to children about his timeserving, but also about his childhood memories of growing up during the Second World War. He remembers having rations for food, only being allowed butter or jam on toast, not both. He remembers black out raids where wardens would knock on people’s door if any light escaped, and storing vegetables in barrels down in the basement to keep them cool and fresh. He said he wants children to be aware and realize what it was like during war time.
When he returned to Canada in 1952 he transferred to the air force until 1979 when he retired. He joined the community reserves in Red Deer for two years before complete release, and then joined the Ready Reserves where he served as a sergeant major until he was 65.
He know helps veterans receive disability services and serves as the provincial information officer. In April 2010 he went to Korea during the 60th anniversary and received an ambassador of peace medal. Whorrall made sure to pick up three medals for Korean Veterans from Unit 77 in Innisfail who were unable to travel there themselves.
“There were approximately 30,000 Korean vets (from Canada),” he said adding that between WWII and Korean Veterans about 1,000 per month pass away. With more getting older and dying, he said it’s important to remember and recognize the war.
In total, 516 Canadians died in the Korean War.
