Occupied St John's: A Social History of a City at War, 1939-1945 Interviews

Occupied St John's: A Social History of a City at War, 1939-1945, Edited by Steven High

The Occupies St. John's project is an anthology sponsored by the Johnson Family Foundation to explore the history of St. John's, Newfoundland during the Second World War. The wartime story of this city is one that blurs the usual North American distinctions between "war front" and "home front". So numerous were the soldiers, armed and sailors from Canada and the United States, that the residents of St. John's took to calling their arrival a "friendly invasion" or "occupation". There is little doubt that the war years had a profound effect on the City and its inhabitants, yet this crucial chapter in St. John's history has been little studied. Therefore, the anthology fills a void in the scholarship.

This project is an anthology with a difference. Contributions have had access to extensive newspaper research as well as to the 50 oral history interviews that were conducted for this project. By making these life story interviews with residents and former servicemen central to the story being told our book will explore wartime experiences from the perspective of ordinary people. The oral history interviews ties these disparate parts together.