and Canada went to war. Anyway, I was always a kind of unsettled character on account of my youth. From the time l was 10 years old, | just took life on a day to day basis. I went down to Boughton Island for a weekend and was talking to my brother Peter and Lloyd King, and told them that l was thinking about joining the PEI Highlanders. Lloyd said that he was thinking about going himself. I said to my brother, I will leave my fishing gear with you if I enlist....After the weekend, the pick and shovel seemed like a poor combination so I quit and caught the bus, driven by the late Floyd Johnston to Charlottetown. I went directly to the Army barracks but they were not taking any recruits at this time so I took a walk down Kent street and ran in to Woodrow Jackson, a friend of mine from Cambridge. After telling him about my plans , he told me they were recruiting at the Naval Depot, I called in, he said. Why not join with me and that’s what I did. We were on the parade grounds at 2 o’clock in the afternoon.

The pay-$1.00 a day- quite a big deal but this is the way it started- a new way of life! ..... l enlisted on Oct 16, 1939 along with 40 other volunteers who were a great group of men....

MARRIAGE

Just before I was drafted, I married Margaret Gosbee. We had known each other for a number of years. We were married on the 10th of February, 1940 by the Reverend John Stirling, United Church minister in Georgetown. We drove across the ice to Boughton Island to see my mother and family. Margaret stayed there for a couple of weeks. The next day, the 11th of February, Lloyd King and I walked across the ice to Georgetown and stayed the night. The following morning we boarded the train and headed back to the Royal Canadian Naval Depot.

(Following the war, John Clarey took courses in carpentry, built a house in Murray River and began an extensive career as a builder and renovator, being responsible for a total of 57 buildings large and small)

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