The Effects of a Mine

Heroes Remember

The Effects of a Mine

Transcript

I would say about a week or ten days after we ran over a mine, a Teller mine. One of the tanks was coming down the road so we moved over about two feet off the road on the verge and we run over a Teller mine. I was in the back end of the truck, there was three of us across the back end of the truck standing, we were going down the highway and all at once I heard this big boom and I looked up in the air and there was the front tire about twenty feet up in the air. The two personnel beside me, they got wounded pretty bad and there was a corporal and a driver also got wounded. Myself, nothing happened to me, of course, I didn’t realize it at the time it give me a perforated ear drum. There was bombing every night, shelling every night and you were around that type of stuff you never noticed it, you know, but my ears have been ringing for seventy years now.

Description

Mr. Sommerville speaks about a time his crew drove over a mine, inflicting wounds to his fellow crewman and recalls his sheer luck in escaping injury.

Donald Sommerville

Mr. Donald Sommerville was born September 19, 1922 in Chatham, Ontario. Mr. Sommerville grew up on a farm and attended public school. He and his buddies decided to join the army and left for overseas as part of the Royal Canadian Engineers. Mr. Sommerville became part of the 23rd Royal Canadian Engineers, 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. He takes pride in the service provided as part of “Operation Duck” - an operation that lasted nine days before the war ended. Mr. Sommerville has returned to Holland for commemorative anniversaries. He now resides in Ontario with his family.

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