Description
Mr. MacLellan reflects on how nationalistic Canadian soldiers were, and how he now interacts with his fellow Veterans.
Campbell MacLellan
Campbell MacLellan was born in Nanaimo, British Columbia, on February 17, 1900, and grew up in Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia. Coming from a background of poverty, he enlisted when he was just under fifteen years of age at Amherst, Nova Scotia. He trained at Valcartier for a time with the 22nd Battalion and was later selected for the 6th Canadian Mounted Rifles. He sailed to England aboard, ironically enough, the German cattle boat Herschel. At Ypres, Mr. MacLellan suffered a serious leg wound. The intervention of a young American doctor saved his leg from an earlier verdict of amputation. Prior to this, he had also taken shrapnel in the lungs. His later reflections speak of the patriotic attitude of Canadian soldiers. He was discharged at the rank of sergeant in February 1919. He married Joanna Nolen on April 21, 1924, and had two sons. Mr. MacLellan died on November 5, 1986.
Transcript
I know that my own men were loyal. They were good. We were a breed apart. It’s because of our mode of living, I believe. I believe that. Here I was from a mining community. Cripes, I never should have been mixed up in horses or anything, but anyway I was. And these fellows from the west, I knew a lot of them too, see, because they just mixed right in as one. They were Canadians. That’s the one and only reason I have that button on is that I want to be recognized. If a fellow comes up to me and he tells me that he’s a Veteran, he can’t go more than ten words before I find out whether he is a phony or not. Because, and if he is a phony, I’ll tell him to shop on the other side of the street. If he is a real war Veteran, I help him. I will not turn him down.