Description
Mr. Copp describes the effects of fatigue depleting his Company’s ranks during a forced march to Mametz after five days in action at the Somme.
John Percy Copp
John Percy Copp was born on February 2, 1889 at Baie Verte, New Brunswick. He enlisted in the 65th Battalion at Saskatoon. Shortly thereafter, in June, 1916 he went overseas to England, training for a very short time at Camp Bramshott. On August 10, 1916 he shipped to France as a member of B Company, 46th Battalion. Mr. Copp held the rank of Lieutenant and led his men in several major actions: Ypres, the Somme, Lens and Vimy. He was awarded the Military Cross by King George V at Buckingham Palace. His story is most compelling, for in it his concern for his men is the predominant theme. At the time of his interview, Mr. Copp lived in Lajolla, California.
Transcript
After dark, it would be perhaps, oh nine o’clock at night, we started out and we came to the Albert-Bapaume road. And we were told that we had to go out to X-11A, that’s called the chalk pits. We took a path to the left of the Bapaume road toward where the chalk pits were and it was rainy and cold and muddy, and it was probably, oh, maybe ten or twelve miles. And my men and I were awfully tired, there’s no question about that. We’d been in since Monday night, this was Friday night. We’d had no rest, no sleep, not even a place to lie down in during that time. And when we marched along for an hour or so, and I said, “Well, we’d better stop and have a rest,” and they just laid down in the mud, had a few minutes rest and I’d say, “Come on boys, let’s get going again.” And they’d get up and I’d lead off again. Each time I did this I found that a few of them never could get up. They were just still lying there in the mud and my company is getting smaller. We got out to X-11A and the chalk pits about four o’clock in the morning and I only had six men with me when we got there. I went into that affair with 150 men and when we started out we only, we had 125, so the rest of the company was, they were all lying in the mud miles back. So it’s a pretty tough experience.