Memory Project

Una Sinclair Golding (Primary Source)

This testimony is part of the Memory Project Archive

Una Sinclair Golding served with the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps during the Second World War.

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.

Una Sinclair at Quebec City during the winter of 1945
Una Sinclair and Alan Golding were married in Winnipeg in 1946
After a bicycle ride through Quebec city with fellow CWACs, Una Sinclair posed for a photo at Wolfe's Cove, Quebec 1945
Una Sinclair enlisted in the Canadian Women's Army Corps in 1944 at the age of 18
Una Sinclair at the Glebe Barracks in Ottawa, 1945
I worked mostly in stores in the Ordnance Depot, and we had a good life in the military

Transcript

My name is… it was Una Sinclair at that time, before my marriage. I joined up in Brandon, Manitoba, in October 1944, and then I went to Winnipeg for my medicals. From Winnipeg, I went to Kitchener, where I did my six weeks basic training in Kitchener. Then I was transferred to Quebec City in December of '44, when I worked with the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps as a Storewoman – I guess that's what they called us in those days. I was stationed in Quebec City from December of '44 until August of '45, and I was transferred to Ottawa, to Glebe Barracks, and I worked with 26th C.O.D. [Canadian Ordinance Depot] – Central Depot – there in Ottawa, in the stores. I was there until September of '46, when they disbanded. I worked mostly in stores in the Ordnance Depot, and we had a good life in the military. After my marriage, my husband stayed in the military and we did another twenty-nine years traveling around overseas and in Canada. You get to meet some great friends – I did. I arrived in Quebec City during a storm, no lights, and the girls were so great and welcoming. I really enjoyed my service life. I was at a reunion in Windsor (I guess it was the sixtieth anniversary), and there were four of us there that were stationed together in Quebec City, which was quite nice. And I keep in touch with one of my friends from Quebec City. She's in my Legion branch here in Peterborough, and another one is out in Manitoba, and another one in Windsor. That was kind of a highlight, after all those years to be back together.