Memory Project Archive
Victor George Martin (Primary Source)
In 2009, The Memory Project interviewed Victor Martin, a veteran of the Second World War. The following recording (and transcript) is an excerpt from this interview. Born on 25 November 1921, Martin enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy in his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario, in August 1940 at the age of 18. He trained for six weeks in Halifax before entering active service. In this testimony, Martin discusses working on various ships traversing the North Atlantic, including attempts to locate and sink enemy vessels such as the Bismarck, Germany’s largest battleship. (See Battle of the Atlantic.) Martin was discharged from the navy in August 1945 in Toronto, Ontario, after five years of service, having achieved the rank of leading seaman. After the war, he worked as a locomotive engineer with Canadian National Railway. Martin died in Sarnia, Ontario, on 11 May 2019 at the age of 97. Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker's recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.
