End of First World War
Heroes Remember
End of First World War
Transcript
Interviewer: Where were you when, the Armistice was declared ?
I was in England.
Interviewer: You were back in England?
Interviewer: Had you been wounded?
Yes, I got this, this piece of barbed wire that was blown to
pieces by the Germans and a it was just a scratch. (Yeah.)
But when I woke up the next morning it was swollen around out
here. It got infected. (Oh yeah.) So I had to go into the
hospital to have an operation and I never went back to the... and
he said, "Don't you fellas worry", he says, "You old timers
won't go back there". He says, "Now we got conscription", He
says, "and now we'll have all kinds of men" and I didn't. (No.)
I went down to the South of France, seaport called Treveau (Yeah)
It's where the races were in peace, in peace time. (Yes.)
And from there I spent two weeks in the South of France. It was
all together different than the North. It was vines with grapes,
it was warm. (Beautiful.) Beautiful (Yeah.) and I had two
weeks there which was lovely. I used to sit there and watch the
women. The, the fleet would come in they were catching fish, ya
know. (Yes.) And they would have to set up their tables on
the dock and they would cut off the tail and the head and slice
the fins and take the big bone out. And I use to sit and watch
them, (Yeah.) cutting these fish up.
Interviewer: So, after that they sent you back to England?
I went back to England. I went a way up North and I was hoping
they would come near my hometown, it's beautiful. No such luck!
Now I went up near Liverpool to a big town called a, starts with
a W, do you know? (Warrington?) Warrington (Warrington.)
I used to take walks and that was (inaudible) I used to take
walks in the country. And the nearest town was Warrington, yeah.
Interviewer: How long was it before they sent you back to Canada?
Well when the war ended.
Interviewer: The war ended they sent you home, did they?
I was at a big camp in Wales (yeah, yeah.) North Wales and then
the sent us back home.
Description
Mr. Chapman recalls the end of the First World War and his eventual return to Canada.
Wilfred Chapman
Wilfred Chapman was born on April 25, 1898 in Peterborough, England. He came to Canada when he was about 14 years old. He moved to Toronto to live with his brother who had preceded him to this country. He enlisted in the Canadian Army when he was about 16 years old. On his arrival in England, he was assigned to a field engineers company. Mr. Chapman died in Peterborough, Ontario on October 29, 1997.
Meta Data
- Medium:
- Video
- Owner:
- Veterans Affairs Canada
- Duration:
- 02:43
- Person Interviewed:
- Wilfred Chapman
- War, Conflict or Mission:
- Second World War
- Battle/Campaign:
- Battle of Vimy Ridge
- Branch:
- Army
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Vimy Ridge
Mr. Chapman recalls his involvement in the famous Battle of Vimy Ridge.
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