Viewing Object

Object Description

Object Name

Oral History

Recording

Object ID

SR-212

Title

Gerald Vernon (Gerry) Hay oral history interview conducted on 14 Sep. 2003.

Extent

3 audio cassettes.

Date

14 Sep. 2003.

Description

SR-212.1: Tracks 1 - 2 discuss the Hay family, including Hay's parents Stan and Daisy. Aldergrove Elementary School and Langley High School are discussed. Mr. Mansor is mentioned.
Track 3 discusses Hay's knowledge of Germany and Japan as a child. Japanese internment is mentioned.
Track 4 describes the Non-Permanent Militia in Langley. Major Archie Payne is discussed.
Track 5 discusses World War II. Chamberlain and Churchill are discussed.
Track 6 discusses Hay's interest in joining the navy.
Track 7 introduces the interview.
Track 8 describes Hay's training.
Track 9 mentions industries picking up because of war work. Logging is discussed. Rationing is mentioned.
Track 10 continues to discuss Hay's interest in the navy. The differences between the permanent Royal Canadian Navy, RCN Reserve, and RCN Volunteer Reserve are discussed.
Track 11 continues to describe Hay's basic training and engineering training. The difference between stokers and seamen are described.

SR-212.2: Track 1 introduces the interview.
Track 2 discusses navy men's duties while in port.
Track 3 mentions dealing with death.
Track 4 describes Aztec men, responsible for anti-submarine defence.
Track 5 describes Hay's duties.
Track 6 mentions a trip to the Caribbean.
Track 7 mentions the Pearl Harbor bombing and Americans' involvement in the war.
Track 8 discusses Japanese families in Langley and internment.
Track 9 mentions the Americans' involvement again.
Track 10 discusses receiving news in the navy.
Track 11 describes Hay's ranks and promotions. The Galt ship is described. The duties of an escort ship are also described.
Track 12 describes security gates in both St. John's harbour and Halifax harbour.
Track 13 describes leisure activities in Halifax for men on leave, such as dinner, shows, and dancing.
Track 14 introduces the interview.
Track 15 describes photographs.
Track 16 introduces the interview again.
Track 17 describes escort routes across the Atlantic Ocean.
Track 18 describes leisure activities in London for men on leave, such as theatre shows. Blackouts are discussed.
Track 19 describes a ship crew's reaction to an attack.
Track 20 continues to describe the duties of an escort group.
Track 21 describes activities of men on a ship when off duty, including reading and playing bridge.
Tracks 22 - 23 discuss submarines, which travelled in "wolf packs," and losses from escort groups.
Track 24 discusses the work of the Royal Canadian Navy, the American Navy, and the Royal Navy. The "triangle route" connecting Britain, St. John's, and New York is described.
Track 25 discusses the end of the war.

SR-212.3: Track 1 introduces the interview.
Track 2 continues to discuss the end of the war and celebrations in Langley and New Westminster.
Tracks 3 - 4 discuss Hay's work in the navy after the war. The Yalta conference and the Holocaust are mentioned. Hay's farm and his engineering work at Langley Hospital are described. The Langley Legion is discussed. Hay's wife, Rita Kerr, is discussed.
Track 5 concludes the interview.

People/Subject

Aldergrove Elementary School

Aldergrove Elementary School, formerly located at 27032 Fraser Highway, was built in 1913, but was officially opened February 1914. It was originally a two-room school. In the 1940s the school population grew and the basement was used for extra rooms before three rooms were added in 1948. It was added to again in 1962-64, 1967-8, and 1984. The school had a facelift to recreate the original exterior in 2000. The school was demolished in December 2015 to make way for the Aldergrove Credit Union Community Centre. At one point, the school had grades 1-8.

Hay, Gerald Vernon

Gerald Vernon Hay was born in 1921 in Medicine Hat, Alberta, to Stan and Daisy Hay. The family moved to Mt. Lehman in 1933 and to Aldergrove in 1936. Gerry served in the Royal Canadian Navy in World War II as a stoker. He married a woman named Rita.

Japanese Canadians

Japanese Internment

Langley High School

In 1909 the first high school class was organized and held in rented quarters in Murrayville. From 1911-18, classes were held in Belmont Superior School (later Murrayville Elementary), but the school became overcrowded with elementary and high school students. The school board approached the Municipal Council, but their request for a new schol was turned down twice. The board resigned, but the next board was more successful and local contractor Owen Hughes was hired on a low bid of $11,900. The School Board temporarily found room for the overflow pupils from Murrayville in the downstairs portion of Milner Hall and by renting the Sharon Presbyterian Church Hall. In 1922, Langley High School moved from Murrayville to Milner School, where it remained until Langley High School was built on Yale Road in 1924. Langley High School opened in 1924 with two classrooms and one science room. It taught grades 9 to 12. Additional rooms were built in 1934. In roughly 1947 the new school on the current property (2005) was built, and it included Grades 11 and 12. In 1948, the old building on Fraser Highway became Langley Central Elementary, and the high school students moved to the current location (2006) at Langley SECONDARY School. In 1985 the school went from Grades 8-12.
See Also: Langley Secondary School
Term Source: History of Langley Schools" by Harry McTaggart, Maureen Pepin, and Norman Sherrit.

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