It means a day of grief, I lost a lot of friends.

Heroes Remember

It means a day of grief, I lost a lot of friends.

Transcript

I hope to God that no similar case … that we had in the last one, because it was really bad. Wartime, what experience I had during the time I was in London with the blitzes every night and the poor working people. They had to sleep in lines in shelters. The air raid shelters and how they suffered it, I don’t know. I think the native people, the people in England, they won the war, not the soldiers. They are marvellous, marvellous people, they really were. War is not a pleasant thing to contemplate, I tell you, and the right to push ... the pride of a country into I always felt that it is really hard to suggest what they should do. Well, I guess if we left, how do you feel to yourself? If you feel that way about it, go ahead, join. But I wouldn’t want this idea to say that you’re forced into this thing. Doesn’t like it because you’re conscripted service. Interviewer: Every year, Mr. Sandland, on November 11th, this country remembers. Remembers only too well. Interviewer: What does that day mean to you? It means a day of grief. I lost a lot of friends. A lot of my friends were killed and you’re bound to feel sad at that particular time. Interviewer: Mr. Sandland, Canada has always been fortunate in having men and women like yourself in times of great crisis. I want you to know sir, that we appreciate very much the service that you gave Canada in two world wars and we want to thank you very much for the service that you’ve given us today by allowing us into your home. Well, that’s very kind of you to say that. You got a strong grip.

Description

Mr. Sandland reflects on English resilience, voluntary vs. conscripted military service, and on the loss of friends during conflict.

Joseph Sandland

Joseph Sandland, one of three children, was born on February 15, 1897 in Tamworth, England. As a youth, he worked on his grandfather’s farm. His father, a brickmaker, moved the family to Comox, British Columbia in 1913. Mr. Sandland recalls the large number of immigrant Italian miners returning home to fight for Italy, Britain’s ally at the time. He enlisted October 16, 1917 with the 72nd Regiment, the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, an artillery battalion. Just over one hundred years of age at the time of his interview, Mr. Sandland remembers virtually nothing of his First World War activities. He was, however, hospitalized in England with cardiac problems shortly after entering active service. After the war, he returned to his pre-war profession of mining engineer and married his wife Margarette in 1926. Mr. Sandland re-enlisted for the Second World War in August 1940 with the 1st Field Survey Regiment and went overseas in December 1940. He worked outside of London, England, plotting the path of incoming German aircraft and passing the information to Beacon Hill, where orders to intercept were sent to the RAF. He was discharged in August 1945. Mr. Sandland died on December 7, 2000 in Chemainus, BC at the age of 103.

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