Becoming an Officer’s Assistant

Heroes Remember

Becoming an Officer’s Assistant

Transcript

An officer went around asking you what did you want to be, and I wanted to be a dispatch rider. A few days after, he came back, he said, “You are going off to Tunbridge Wells.” I was gonna be an officer’s assistant, plotting the range and switch on the map. I said, “No sir,” I said, “I put in for a dispatch rider.” And he looks at me with a serious look and he said, “You’re in the army now.” So, that ended that and I had to go on the course and I was glad I did. I liked my job after. I was assisting an officer by the name of Captain Gordon Warren and I really enjoyed my time with him. Sometimes it was forward but usually it was Battery Headquarters, we would have to pass the information on to the troops for the guns to fire, you were always plotting on the map references that you would get from the OP. Interviewer: And the OP, of course, is the Observation Post? Yes, I’m sorry. Yes. Interviewer: So the, the information would be passed back from the OP, or the Observation Post, to Battery Headquarters where you were and you would be plotting the map for the officer? For, for the officer in the OP, plus the troops that were gonna do the firing.

Description

Mr. Spracklin describes how he came to be an officer’s assistant and the duties of the position.

Leslie Milton Spracklin

Leslie Milton Spracklin was born in Charlottetown (Bonavista Bay), Newfoundland on September 4, 1917. Mr. Spracklin was going to join the navy with his friends, however his mother had a heart attack and he stayed with her. When another draft came along he joined the army and ended up in the 166th Light Artillery. He went overseas in September, 1942 and the 166th Artillery Regiment went into Italy in the fall of 1943. They spent the winter fighting on the Sangro River and then went on to attack the Germans at Monte Cassino.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 01:38
Person Interviewed:: Leslie Milton Spracklin
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Europe
Battle/Campaign:: Italian
Branch:: Army
Units/Ship:: 166 Field Artillery Regiment
Rank:: Bombardier
Occupation:: Officer's Assistant

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Becoming an Officer’s Assistant

Heroes Remember