Trenches
Heroes Remember
Trenches
Transcript
Well, being young, we really didn't know the real danger.
We thought it was a big joke, more, more than anything.
We wasn`t afraid. We came sort of... oh, living in a hole
in the ground, oh, it was great, living like a little puppy.
Interviewer: Do you remember where you went first?
Oh, we went different...oh, yeah, we used to, we used to stay
around Lens and a around the various districts. But this is
before Vimy, Avion. (Inaudible). That used to be our, we used to
go out there and sleep in the barns in them little wire racks.
You know, little chicken wire (inaudible). Oh, that was great.
Interviewer: When you first, when you first got there, Mr Evans,
what was the morale like of the soldiers of the Canadian Corps?
Oh, we thought we was something. We, we could beat the world.
We had no, no... we didn't realize what we was in,
to tell you the truth. That's honestly speaking. We thought it
was more fun than it was a disaster until you got a bump.
Interviewer: Do you remember the first engagement you had with
the enemy. Do you remember the first time you went into battle?
Oh, yes, ya over the top. Oh yes, it was quite a thing.
You feel like a million dollars, you feel as though you could
beat the world. We used to get an extra shot of rum.
Interviewer: What do you remember about going
over the top and crossing No Man's Land?
It's hard to describe, you get that sort of killer instinct in
you, you know, and you, you think you can beat the other guy,
and that's the main thing, you see. Oh, you gotta, it comes
to you, you have a job to do and you do it. You don't realize
what's around you until you, until one of them closes too close
to you and tells you it's pretty dangerous. But, being young, you
don't realize the danger. That's about as far as I could put it.
Interviewer: You saw friends of yours killed? (Pardon?)
You saw friends of yours killed, Mr Evans?
Oh yeah, oh gosh yeah. Yes, I've seen them. Well I don't think
there's any left of the five of us that transferred to the
Rangers in Val Cartier. I think I'm the only one that come out.
Oh, they drift away one at a time, you know, killed off. One was
wounded, one at a time. But, oh it was a case of every man
for himself. You jumped over the top and you jumped into the
trench and if there was any anybody there you'd put him away.
And sometimes you, there was a, you say to yourself in comfort.
You know, you'd get a little upset and wicked but all in all,
they would just surrender and we used to take them prisoner and
you'd get a, get detail to pick them up and take them back to
the line. But the whole thing, I don't know, seems to be as
though, as a useless, useless. You get so used of the shell fire
and the noise it's, it's outrageous. You sort of get,
I don't know what you, what you call that. You see, it's just a
big game. That's truthfully, truthfully speaking. You see,
it's a big game. You don't realize that it's another man's life
your taking, you know. But I didn't do too much of the shooting.
I got that job and I, I stuck to it
and I thought it was a great thing for me.
Description
Mr. Evans remembers his first day in the trenches at the front. He served with his unit as a runner.
Fred Evans
Fred Evans was born on August 15, 1897 in London, England. He moved to Montreal with his family in 1910, where his father was a baker. He had two brothers and five sisters. Mr. Evans was 101 years old when this interview was recorded with him in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1998.
Meta Data
- Medium:
- Video
- Owner:
- Veterans Affairs Canada
- Duration:
- 06:21
- Person Interviewed:
- Fred Evans
- War, Conflict or Mission:
- First World War
- Branch:
- Army
- Occupation:
- Runner
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