Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
4:13 | They were sure Patton would liberate them as he began his push, but the Allied POW's were put in boxcars and sent to Germany before that could happen. Canadian paratrooper Dennis Trudeau describes the long, slow journey, including the strafing by American fighters, the badly needed Red Cross packages they got at the first camp, and the games they tried to play while trading with the guards. (This interview made possible with the support of SUZANNE & RALPH HUDGENS honor of Malcom Skinner.)
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His father went north of the border to work for the railroad in Canada, so when war broke out, Dennis Trudeau enlisted in the Canadian Army as soon as he could talk his way in. The seventeen year old went to basic training and then let his parents in on it. (This interview made possible with the support of SUZANNE & RALPH HUDGENS honor of Malcom Skinner.)
Canadian Army recruit Dennis Trudeau's friend played a trick on him by volunteering him for a special forces unit, so Trudeau returned the favor. Both of them became paratroopers and were soon in England, training hard for the coming assault on the mainland of Europe. (This interview made possible with the support of SUZANNE & RALPH HUDGENS honor of Malcom Skinner.)
They knew that the time was close. Equipment was being loaded. Then they were bused to a highly secured camp near an air field. Canadian paratrooper Dennis Trudeau had trained hard and now he was told his mission. His targets were in a small town just inland from the Normandy coast and he would be in the first wave. (This interview made possible with the support of SUZANNE & RALPH HUDGENS honor of Malcom Skinner.)
He could not see anyone else. In the predawn, he gathered up his parachute and began a futile search for his unit and his gear, including his weapon. Canadian paratrooper Dennis Trudeau joined with an American captain he found on the road and they made their way toward the small Normandy town which was his target. Suddenly, there was the ominous whistling of aerial bombs right on top of them. (This interview made possible with the support of SUZANNE & RALPH HUDGENS honor of Malcom Skinner.)
When he jumped on D-Day, Canadian paratrooper Dennis Trudeau was way off target, but he finally found his unit in Varreville. Assigned to clear out a German pillbox near a bridge that was scheduled for demolition, his situation went from bad to worse when the bridge was blown. (This interview made possible with the support of SUZANNE & RALPH HUDGENS honor of Malcom Skinner.)
Stalag 4B was a huge camp, with thousands of POW's. Dennis Trudeau was captured just inland from Normandy and when he arrived at the camp for British and Canadian troops, he was put on a work party at a coal mine. The men thought the war would be over by Christmas, but new arrivals told them about Bastogne and dashed their hopes. (This interview made possible with the support of SUZANNE & RALPH HUDGENS honor of Malcom Skinner.)
The POW's rose before dawn for their work detail, but the German guard said there would be no work that day. Instead they set out on a march toward the American lines. Canadian Paratrooper Dennis Trudeau didn't know it yet, but the Russians were approaching. After the guards abandoned them, the search for friendly forces began. Soon the hungry men would have some food, too much food as it turned out. (This interview made possible with the support of SUZANNE & RALPH HUDGENS honor of Malcom Skinner.)
After his ordeal in a German POW camp, Canadian Paratrooper Dennis Trudeau returned to his home and his accumulated back pay. A strike ended the civilian job he'd taken, so he went south and enlisted in the US Army, where he went Airborne, of course, and made a career of it. (This interview made possible with the support of SUZANNE & RALPH HUDGENS honor of Malcom Skinner.)
