June, 1939
I remember at breakfast the morning after my last evening trip to the Island all the campers serenaded Bill Monks and myself with that famous Mills Bros. song of the day "Blueberry Hill". Bill was a fellow counselor and good friend and after leaving camp that summer the next time I saw him was at Chivenor in Devon, England where we were both with #407 R.C.A.F. squadron.
Canada in the late 1930's was just emerging from the depression and as my family could not afford to send me to University it was essential that I obtain a job to earn my tuition fees. Jobs were very scarce as witness to the fact that the "positions available" advertisements in the Toronto papers averaged about half a column in length.
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Inperial Bank of Commerce, Yonge Stret
Finally after several months I obtained a position with the old Imperial Bank of Canada Branch at the corner of Queen and Yonge Streets just across the road from Simpsons. The war broke out on September 3rd, 1939, labour day weekend, and our family was holidaying at a rented cottage on Lake Huron when we heard Winston Churchill pronounce the declaration of war against Germany.
I found work at the bank to be quite interesting and I managed to move along fairly rapidly from one job to the next - gopher - collection clerk - cash book - teller. However, a career in banking held little long term appeal so I began looking for an opening in a C.A.'s office as a student. Three years before, my brother Lloyd joined a small firm and seemed to like the work so I thought I could give it a try. After several weeks of searching I landed a junior position with the firm Campbell, Lawless, Parker and Black at a starting salary of $25.00 per month. Lloyd told me that when he started he agreed to work the first three months for nothing.
While at the bank the Canadian Government posted recruiting signs for the various services in our branch and one that particularly impressed me showed a young airman climbing into the cockpit of a Harvard trainer with the caption "Come fly with me - Adventure in the Skies". Numerous times in later years I thought the last two words should be "disguise". Nevertheless, this poster had quite an effect on my life because one noon-hour while in the bank after a morning of adding columns manually I noticed it again.
That day I walked down Bay Street to the recruiting office of the R.C.A.F.
I found work at the bank to be quite interesting and I managed to move along fairly rapidly from one job to the next - gopher - collection clerk - cash book - teller. However, a career in banking held little long term appeal so I began looking for an opening in a C.A.'s office as a student. Three years before, my brother Lloyd joined a small firm and seemed to like the work so I thought I could give it a try. After several weeks of searching I landed a junior position with the firm Campbell, Lawless, Parker and Black at a starting salary of $25.00 per month. Lloyd told me that when he started he agreed to work the first three months for nothing.
While at the bank the Canadian Government posted recruiting signs for the various services in our branch and one that particularly impressed me showed a young airman climbing into the cockpit of a Harvard trainer with the caption "Come fly with me - Adventure in the Skies". Numerous times in later years I thought the last two words should be "disguise". Nevertheless, this poster had quite an effect on my life because one noon-hour while in the bank after a morning of adding columns manually I noticed it again.
That day I walked down Bay Street to the recruiting office of the R.C.A.F.
