18 Pounders on the front line

First World War Audio Archive

18 Pounders on the front line

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Transcript

We used to be in with an 18 pounder, we used to be in the first

Picture of Soldier with arms crossed.

line, you know. Because you could roll them up and put them in,

Guns on carriages on muddy, wet terrain.

you see. Oh, an 18 pounder, it depends on the shot you were

Soldier standing on artillery gun.

firing. It could be shrapnel, it could be high explosive, it could be anything, you see, in them days. It depends how far

Artillery gun being loaded.

Gun in front of mound.

away you were. We were, half the time we were about maybe a

Soldiers with carriages in field.

hundred yards away from the Germans. That’s why we used to have the 18 pounders right on the front line pretty near us. And it

Soldiers in bunker, loading gun.

Soldiers on the move on horse and carriage.

depends on, if it was a battle scene that was coming up, well, you had everything there, way back to the six pounders, and the

Horse and carriages towing gun over a trench.

eight pounders, 18 pounders, forty-fives. Well Vimy Ridge, there is Petit Vimy and Vimy, you see. Petit Vimy is right on the

Train travelling through the country side.

canal bank there, just sort of a bank, you know, a railroad and everything else there, you see. Well, that was the largest,

Gun crew loading and firing gun.

at that time, that was the largest barrage that was ever fought in any battle, you see. We had them going, we had them shooting

Big Gun on rails being fired.

from about 21 miles away... from the front line I’m talking about

Varies types of guns of different sizes being fired

now, you see. And they used to, oh God yes, and that’s why we

Explosion in a field.

won the Vimy Ridge, you see, just through that. We had so much

Four soldiers bringing ammo to load a gun with.

Another explosion.

Another gun being fired and loaded.

artillery back of us, see, it was just out of this world.

Varias guns being fired.

Just out of this world.

Description

Mr. Wood describes the role of the 18 pounder artillery piece and its variety of ordnance, and then discusses the shelling of Vimy Ridge and its effect on the outcome.

Thomas Wood

Thomas Wood, a native of Edinburgh, Scotland was born on March 23, 1898 into a family of printers. His family emigrated to Canada shortly before the war and he grew up in Ottawa, Ontario. At age 16, in 1914, Mr. Wood left school and joined the recently mobilized 1st Battery in Ottawa, followed by training in Valcartier, and went to England in October, 1914. He then went to France in February, 1915, a member of the 57th Battery, 15th Field Artillery Brigade. Mr. Wood was involved in the Vimy bombardment, viewed German gassing technology at Ypres, and sustained a hip and leg wounds from shrapnel. After the war, he was a fixture maker and also a sign painter and lettering artist for Coca-Cola Co. for about 40 years. He was transferred to Toronto, then to Vancouver where he worked as the sign shop manager until retirement. He was married twice and had one son. Mr. Wood died on January 2nd, 1988 in Vancouver, BC.

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