Stop or Keep Going? (Part 2 of 2)

Heroes Remember

Stop or Keep Going? (Part 2 of 2)

Transcript

So I got wounded, obviously the company commander, I saw the company commander, give us our orders, I went as far as I could being in the, what I might call, the river bed, what was the river bed. In World War One they might had called it well a river bed or a big trench, but it was wide enough. Now the danger of staying in that bloody river bed was that to me as a mortar platoon officer qualified, was an obvious target. I would have had my mortar pluck on that, on that target for anyone coming down there and catch them with the two high banks on both sides and have the guy in between the sandwich you see. Oh God, I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe it, so I didn’t dare go far on because there their gun went sloping down. Otherwise, we would have had to make a big detour, that’s what they did after. So we, we attack and in no time I got a bullet in my leg, my thigh and then I got something here in the elbow and then, and then I got the chest wound. And then, after I recovered, my senses from the chest wound on the right side, if it had been an inch further to the left, I would have been dead, an inch to the right what saved my life, it’s funny how it works. After that, the what do you call it, then I had the German, my troops came to obviously give me medical pressure to strap around my chest. We had no, no anti-doping, no shot that we could give ourselves. (Morphine?) No, no, no. (Sulfa?) No, no, no, we didn’t have that.

Description

Mr. Robitaille talks about the attack at Santa Maria, and getting wounded.

Guy Robitaille

Guy Robitaille was born October 2, 1920 in Lauzon-Lévis, a small military town. Mr. Robitaille had four brothers and three sisters. His mother died in 1925 and his father died in 1936. After his father's death, Mr. Robitaille made the decision not to finish school, but rather to work and help his family. On August 26, 1936 he received his mobilization papers and started full time with the army. Shortly after, he transferred to the Vandoos training centre. In August, 1941, he arrived in Brockville, Ontario where he became an officer and later returned to Valcartier. In Italy, wounded in the thigh and chest, Mr. Robitaille spent nine months in hospital where he went through five operations. While in hospital he heard on CBC radio that he had received the Military Cross. In November, 1943, he returned to Canada to recover in a Québec City hospital. Upon recovery, he returned to service with the Canadian Army.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 02:45
Person Interviewed:: Guy Robitaille
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Europe
Battle/Campaign:: Sicily
Branch:: Army
Rank:: Platoon Officer
Occupation:: Intelligence

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Stop or Keep Going? (Part 2 of 2)

Heroes Remember