Digging trenches
First World War Audio Archive
Digging trenches
Transcript
Horse and carriage.
and we hadn’t been back very long until they put us on. What they were doing at the time was digging more trenches. They had a bunch of Chinese coolies digging them. They hung way behind the line. You can guess why, if you read about the advance that the Germans had made in the early spring of 1918, when they got within 39 miles of Paris, eh. And they were getting ready for possibly another advance. And we were put on with the engineers. They were making dugouts in chalk there again. There seemed to be an awful lot of chalk in that country. It was just like rock, you you know, except a little softer. But we were digging, or they we were doing the digging, the excavating there and filling sand bags, and we were lined from down in this dugout to the outside trench, passing sandbags of chalk from one to the other. And the last one dumped it and passed the bags back again. Now you hear men here complaining about being on shift work.Two soldiers posing for a photograph.
That’s the only time I ever was on shift work. But the ones here that complain about it, they’re on eight hours and off twelve, eh We were on eight and off eight, and on eight and off eight, that for two or three weeks. Those dugouts were never used, luckily. But they had to be there just in case the Heinie came again.Description
Mr. Gleason describes the long hours and drudgery of digging trenches which were sometimes never used.
Patrick William Gleason
Patrick William Gleason was born in North Dakota, USA, on October 31, 1897. His family moved to Yorkton, Saskatchewan in 1907. Mr. Gleason was a student in Yorkton prior to his enlistment in the 196th Regiment. He was accepted for duty on May 10, 1916, at Brandon, Manitoba, and arrived in France in early 1917 in preparation for the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Mr. Gleason was wounded in the thigh by machine gun fire at Vimy on April 12, 1917. After returning to active duty in France, he spent the remainder of the war hauling munitions to the front lines, and survived a shell explosion and two gas attacks at Amiens. Mr. Gleason was discharged, rank of private, on June 10, 1919. After the war, he farmed for a few years, then taught at several country schools until 1930 when economic and agricultural conditions left the school board with too little money to pay a teacher’s salary. Mr. Gleason then returned to farming in the Yorkton area, and was also employed as postmaster in his hometown of Tonkin from 1950 until he retired in 1973. He was instrumental in organizing sports activities in his community, as well as a Credit Union of which he was secretary treasurer for a number of years. During the 1940s and 1950s, he was also secretary treasurer of the local school board, president of the Saskatchewan Trustees Association, and president of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party. Mr. Gleason married Marion Cecilia Robinson in 1925 and had eight children. He died of cancer on June 21, 1978, and is buried in Yorkton.
Meta Data
- Medium:
- Video
- Owner:
- Veterans Affairs Canada
- Duration:
- 2:03
- Person Interviewed:
- Patrick William Gleason
- War, Conflict or Mission:
- First World War
- Location/Theatre:
- Europe
- Branch:
- Army
- Units/Ship:
- 196th Saskatchewan Regiment
- Rank:
- Private
- Occupation:
- Infantryman
Attestation
Related Videos
Over the top
Mr. Gleason describes the assault at Vimy Ridge on the fourth day, losing three friends, being wounded, and nearly drowning trying to evade enemy shelling.
Enlightening experience
Mr. Gleason describes being helped to a dressing station by a badly wounded Japanese-Canadian soldier from an adjacent battalion, and years later giving a neighbour a lesson in tolerance.
We hoofed it all the way
Mr. Gleason describes moving from Arras to Amiens on foot.. He has an interesting take on the army’s definition of “non-essential kit.”
He put me in charge
Mr. Gleason describes escaping a dangerous situation with his ammunition supply team, and a dangerous yet amusing situation arising from a girlfriend’s photo.
They’d break your leg
Mr. Gleason discusses the challenges of moving supplies, in particular moving mule teams over pontoon bridges, and driving trucks at night in total blackout conditions.
Missing rations
Mr. Gleason describes the fact rations intended for the soldiers were sometimes sold, resulting in unnecessary hunger among the troops. He complains to his officer, resulting in a unexpectedly positive outcome.
Everything stopped
Mr. Gleason describes the lack of celebration when the armistice took effect, and how his war experience later resulted in nightmares.
- Date modified: