Organization of the 5th Division to combat the Japanese.

Heroes Remember

Organization of the 5th Division to combat the Japanese.

Well, that came about because there was a couple of men who were in the army, and had army service, and were... I don’t know how many of them or how much they had in military medical service. I don’t remember that, but they were there. And they were interested in getting a field ambulance going. So they organized it, and they came to me and said, “Will you join it?” And so I said, “Well, sure. If you fellows are going to go there, I’ll go and join it.” So I joined it. When war broke out, like that, we were in the army. They called us all up right straight that day. So we were in the army. It went on like that. We organized ourselves. Only the 12th Field Ambulance was disorganized. And we, the medical people, were sent out as examiners here and there. And we were sent out in various parts of the coast. For myself, I had an appointment. I was made an examiner for a board of three who were examiners for the air force, the people coming into the air force, who wanted to join the air force, and we had to examine them. We were a medical board for the air force and I was with that for about two years, two and a half years maybe. And by this time, they had trained their own men and they had everything going along. We were disbanded of course, let us go, but we were still kept in the army. Then, as war went on and I was a majority and they were appointing me to a hospital, landing hospitals. They were little tiny units. There weren’t very many units at all. They were just a unit of about eight or ten, twelve men, volunteer unit. We were sort of a general first aid unit and a consultant unit to the units around there, the battalions, because they were organizing the 5th Division then to combat the Japanese who had their places. They had taken the islands off the coast of Alaska. They had taken some islands over there and this was the 5th Division which was going to be sent there for any units that the Japanese might send over. So that was about all it was, as we were concerned. We would examine people and send them off. But that was not a real hospital unit, although I was a major in command of eight men, you see.

Mr. Manson describes his role as a medical officer in British Columbia during the Second World War, first screening Air Force personnel and then as Chief Medical Officer for several field hospitals on the BC coast, which had been established because of the threat of Japanese invasion.

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:: 3:38
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