Our line had been cut

First World War Audio Archive

Our line had been cut

Transcript

At Hill 70, we were supposed to have done an excellent job of

Crew of soldiers posing for a photograph.

signalling, so much so that we were able to get information back to the artillery about three German counter-attacks. They were preparing for a counter-attack, but we kept the wire up and we were able to break-up the counter-attacks with our artillery fire. We had an observation post in an old house. There was just one wall, part of a side wall and there was a brick out of it. And it was up there that we established our observation post, and it was fine, we could just see right over the country side. But then it was just like, I suppose there was

A soldier is standing and another is sitting in this photograph.

a distance of about 50 yards before you came to another block of houses and that 50 yards is very much exposed to enemy fire. And the German front line was no more than five or six hundred yards from us. So, our line was lying on the ground and every now and then there would be a burst of machine gun fire and we’d find that our line had been cut. And there had been a shell hole there You could almost put this room in it. So what we used to do was to pull the line in if we were on - no matter which side we were on - pull the line in, depend on as much as we figured we needed.

Photograph of a group of soldiers with one holding a small dog.

Then we made a fine dash out and jumped into this hole. Then you could hear the machine gun bullets going overhead. Then, as soon as they stopped, we’d back up as far as we could, then we’d race out the other side and we’d get the other corner. I was given the military medal for that show. There was another chap now, the two of us. We both got MM’s for that.

Description

Mr. Conrad describes the circumstances at Hill 70 which led to his being awarded the Military Medal (MM) (conspicuous bravery under enemy fire) for repairing communication wires while being strafed by German machine gunners.

Frank Benjamin Conrad

Frank Benjamin Conrad was born in Sturgeon, Prince Edward Island on July 25, 1894. He enlisted in November 1914 with the 9th Field Ambulance and trained at Valcartier until June, 1915 when he transferred to the 2nd Canadian Siege Battery at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. He sailed to England aboard the S.S. Lapland on November 28, 1915, and arrived in France on June 1, 1916 as a signaler with the rank of Gunner. He saw action at the Somme, Vimy Ridge, Hill 70, and Passchendaele. He was wounded twice, was gassed at Hill 70, and won the Military Medal for maintaining communications under fire. After the war, Mr. Conrad married Florence Jessie Lantz on September 22, 1923 and established a wholesale food company in Charlottetown. He joined #6 Signals Company as Lieutenant, and eventually commanded the Company before retiring in 1938 as a Lieutenant-Colonel. He re-enlisted in 1940 as a Major with 3rd Divisional Signal Regiment, and served in England and Italy, commanding the Canadian Brigade Reinforcement Unit as a Lieutenant-Colonel. After the Second World War he was appointed District Administrator, DVA, for Prince Edward Island. Mr. Conrad died on August 13, 1986.

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