Description
Mr. McNiven describes what he'd most like to forget about the Second World War.
John Percy McNiven
Mr. McNiven was working as a truck driver in Regina, Saskatchewan, before the Second World War began. As propaganda increasingly encouraged young men to join the service, one weekend evening Mr. McNiven and a friend worked up the courage to join. After basic training as a truck driver and mechanic, Mr. McNiven rejected the opportunity to serve in Canada and instead entered the Signal Corps. in order to make it overseas. After completing signaller training, Mr. McNiven was sent overseas to northern England to reinforce 2nd Division. Eventually the division shipped out, destined for Juno Beach. Since 2nd Division was part of the 3rd wave behind 1st and 3rd Divisions, the fighting at the beach had finished by the time Mr. McNiven reached shore. From there Mr. McNiven served in a special force of signallers, working with three others in the division. As the War progressed the division worked its way across France and Holland, and eventually into Germany where they were when the War ended.
Transcript
Interviewer: Is there anything you'd like to forget about war?
Is there something I'd rather not remember? I'd rather, rather not remember the war altogether, but the thing that... the death and destruction, and the mutilated bodies is the worst. We learned, we learned to treat a body with respect. Shells and bombs don't do that. Kids, people, blown apart. It's factual, it's there. That's one thing, definitely, I don't want to see. It's no way to treat a human being. He's got a brain, he's got eyes, he's trying to live, he's trying to be here. You drop a bomb and blow the poor thing up. Not right, not right. Although I was in a war, soldier, but I thought I was in a war to end all wars.