Deception at Amiens

Heroes Remember - The First World War

Deception at Amiens

Transcript

Germans had a very active, what do you call it, spy system. They knew where we were going as soon as we did and that confidence had to be broken. We were told we were going north and our 27th Battalion was sent north so we went south and opened the Battle of Amiens and went seven miles the first day. It thinned out their strength and up north. They were waiting for us up north and we went south. On that day the German high command said to prepare the people for peace because we had lost the initiative.

Description

Mr. Morrison describes how the Germans were deceived into weakening their defenses at Amiens. As a result of this, the Canadian army advanced seven miles on the opening day of the Battle of Amiens.

Alex Morrison

Mr. Morrison was born March 17, 1897. His father had a men's wear store in Sydney, NS. He started working with his father when he was a boy of eight years. He enlisted in 1916 at the age of 19. He trained at Aldershot, Nova Scotia for 6 months, then left Canada from Halifax bound for England. He was on the 13th voyage of the SS Olympic and eventually arrived in Liverpool. He proceeded to Whitley Camp for further training and was held there for a year until he turned 21. Mr. Morrison was then moved to France in February, 1918. He took part in battles at Amiens, Cambrai and Mons. At the end of the war, he returned to Canada, arriving in February 1919. He returned to work with his father in his men's wear store for three years before joining the work force in the automobile industry in Detroit, Michigan.

Meta Data