Memory Project Archive
Wilfred H. Willy Mott (Primary Source)
In 2011, The Memory Project interviewed Wilfred Howard “Willy” Mott, a naval veteran of the Second World War. The following recording (and transcript) is an excerpt from this interview. Born on 1 June 1926 in Redan, Ontario, Mott enlisted in the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve in 1943. He served as a DEMS gunner in both the Atlantic and Pacific theatres during the war. DEMS (Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships) was a Second World War program through which naval gunners served aboard merchant ships. In this testimony, Mott recalls losing tankers to U-boats in the Atlantic, and the celebrations when Japan surrendered. After the war, he served with the RCMP Marine Division (1946–71); he was then captain of the CFAV Firebird (fire protection) at HMC Dockyard in Halifax (1971–89). Mott died 26 June 2017 at Camp Hill Veterans Hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia. 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.