He fell dead at my feet
First World War Audio Archive
He fell dead at my feet
Transcript
Hill 62 Memorial Belgium.
18th Battalion men and I was standing right near a chap. He was looking over the parapet of the front line and bullets were coming over, right along, plenty of bullets and a bullet caughtCourtrai Memorial Belgium.
this chap right in the forehead as he was peering over watching to see what was going on, which he was supposed to do, and heLe Quesnel Memorial Belgium.
fell dead at my feet. The shelling started about nine o’clock and continued until four o’clock that afternoon. They sent all sorts of stuff over. The small ones we used to call “fish tails.”Gueudecourt Memorial France.
And you couldn’t see them coming. You’d hear them and they’d land and burst. Sometimes they’d land in the trench. And one of them did about eleven o’clock and caught one of my men, this young lad from Dundurn, caught him right in the chest. I took him outDury Memorial France.
behind the (inaudible) and opened his shirt and I saw little marks on his chest where the shrapnel had struck him. He asked meMonchy Memorial France.
for a drink of water, and I said, “Oh, I’m not supposed to give you any water if you’ve got a wound in your chest,” and I thought I must get him back to the first aid station. So I asked my menPasschendaele Memorial Belgium.
who were watching me if I could have some volunteers to carry the lad back. Half a dozen of them immediately said, “Sure, we’ll take him back,” but I only wanted four. So I put him on a walk,Masnières memorial France.
board walk that we laid him on because we had no stretchers, and so they start taking back over then, and on the way back he died on this board walk. Later on that afternoon, my corporal,Bourion Wood Memorial France.
Hewitt, who was another NCO in my platoon went berserk, went absolutely crazy with shellshock so I had to send him back to theCourcelette Memorial France.
casualty station. Twenty-five feet behind our, behind our front line there were two chaps that were sending Stokes gun shellsBeaumont-Hamel Memorial France.
over into the... against the enemy. I talked to them and watched them sending the shells over. And I came along a few minutes later and I saw there had been a direct hit on them.St. Julien Memorial Belgium.
The gun was blown up and the two men were also blown to bits. I can remember distinctly there’d be a leg, about 10 feet away and another arm would be a few feet in the other direction andCanadian National Vimy Memorial France.
they were just blown to bits. That was quite a day. One which I never want to go through again.Description
Mr. Copp describes one deadly day in the trenches: a soldier killed by a sniper, another by shrapnel, a corporal going crazy from shell shock, and two of his men killed by a direct artillery hit.
John Percy Copp
John Percy Copp was born on February 2, 1889 at Baie Verte, New Brunswick. He enlisted in the 65th Battalion at Saskatoon. Shortly thereafter, in June, 1916 he went overseas to England, training for a very short time at Camp Bramshott. On August 10, 1916 he shipped to France as a member of B Company, 46th Battalion. Mr. Copp held the rank of Lieutenant and led his men in several major actions: Ypres, the Somme, Lens and Vimy. He was awarded the Military Cross by King George V at Buckingham Palace. His story is most compelling, for in it his concern for his men is the predominant theme. At the time of his interview, Mr. Copp lived in Lajolla, California.
Meta Data
- Medium:
- Video
- Owner:
- Veterans Affairs Canada
- Duration:
- 3:43
- Person Interviewed:
- John Percy Copp
- War, Conflict or Mission:
- First World War
- Location/Theatre:
- Europe
- Battle/Campaign:
- Ypres
- Branch:
- Army
- Units/Ship:
- 46th Battalion
- Rank:
- Lieutenant
- Occupation:
- Platoon Commander
Attestation
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