We had a very nice trip over.

Heroes Remember

We had a very nice trip over.

We were shipped from Petawawa. We got on that train there at Petawawa and run down to Halifax. We were put in the agricultural building up on a hill in Halifax, as a place for us to stay until we got transportation overseas. Now the other thing was in those days, the transportation overseas was not so regular, and we were six or eight weeks in Halifax before we got a ship to go over. We had sort of a free hand at what we did as long as we did it when we were off duty and we didn’t get ourselves in trouble. And we had certain areas which were out of bounds, of course, and there was other times we went and did as we pleased. So it was really a right holiday for us there, except for the work, of course, was not. They didn’t have any fixed drills there because we were waiting for a ship and we didn’t know when the ship was coming. Fortunately, we had the best quarters on the ship, because there was some infantry went on the ship as well and they went on first. And they went on and went down in the hold and around the... and then the artillerymen, secret service, you know, they come in and they got into the deck cabins. So, that’s where the artillerymen were, on the upper border of the ship. So, that’s what we had. We had a very nice trip over except we had, of course, as we got closer to the other side, we had warnings about submarines and all the rest of the things that went on in those days.

Mr. Manson describes arriving in Halifax, waiting to ship overseas, and having unusually good accommodations on the voyage to England.

Arthur Bennett Manson

Arthur Manson was born in Nanaimo, British Columbia on March 5, 1899, as the second of three children. His father worked as a lumberman, then became a provincial politician, moving his family to Fort Simpson and finally to Prince Rupert. The family moved to Victoria when his father became BC’s Minister of Agriculture. Arthur Manson’s older brother had enlisted as a machine gunner and had attained the rank of lieutenant. Mr. Manson enlisted at Victoria in March, 1917, stating that it was “the thing to do.” He trained in Petawawa, Ontario as an artilleryman, and did the same at Whitley in England. However, he was spared front line duty by being attached to 2nd Brigade Headquarters. After the armistice, Mr. Manson joined the army of occupation in Germany. When he returned to Canada, Mr. Manson obtained his medical degree and practiced medicine in British Columbia. When the Second World War was under way, he joined the Forces as a Medical Officer in BC in response to the perceived threat from Japan.

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 2:08
Person Interviewed:: Arthur Bennett Manson
War, Conflict or Mission:: First World War
Location/Theatre:: Europe
Branch:: Army
Units/Ship:: 2nd Brigade Headquarters
Occupation:: Adjutant

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Date modified:: 2024-12-30