Rum and Courage

Heroes Remember

Rum and Courage

Transcript

Well at night, you know, you'd patrol "No Man's Land." from shell hole to shell hole, you know, and try to get as close to a German post or something like that, and you just gradually took what was coming to you afterwards. They'd give you a shot of rum, rye, rum, always rum, your lieutenant always had a flask of that. And if you were going over, he'd give you, and I'll tell you it just raised your head right up, made your hair stand on end, it was rum, and you were raring to go. That was it. There was no fear.

Description

Mr. Routhier describes the fearlessness with which he embarked on night patrols after being administered a tot of rum prior to heading out.

Harry Routhier

The third of five children, Harry Routhier was born in Chesley, Ontario on December 6, 1899. His father was a railroad engineer, and his grandfather has the distinction of having written the lyrics for “ O Canada”. Mr. Routhier's family moved to British Columbia, and lying about his age, enlisted in the 217th Battalion at Camp Hughes, Manitoba. Prior to deploying overseas, he trained in St. John, New Brunswick. Although Mr. Routhier's narrative centers on Amiens, his experiences there are typical of many of the battles which occurred during the First World War.

Meta Data