A lot of people drowned
First World War Audio Archive
A lot of people drowned
Transcript
Crew of soldiers posing in front of thier tent.
That was in the first of July 1916. And then it was just a matter of gaining a few hundred yards at the expense of hundreds and hundreds of our Canadian troops plus, of course, the other Allied troops. It was just a ghastly affair all the way through. A lot of mistakes made right from the top down. Passchendaele was just, I can remember, Passchendaele was just one sea of mud with duck walks, we used to walk out. Our battery was about a mile from our billets. We had to walk out on those little duck walks. And if you stepped off them, God help you,Soldier standing behind another sitting for a photograph.
because you were liable to go up to your neck right in mud. Matter of fact, a lot of people drowned. Our billets were, of course, at the battery position. We’d move into a village and we’d get our guns placed and then we’d find places for ourselves cellars and dugouts, any place like that we could find. When you get in one of these cellars or anything, you’d find old bags or something that the German troops were sleeping, had been sleeping on and they were always quite lousy. In fact, some of them, they’d could almost walk away with. But the food wasn’t good. For instance, when we signallers used to go out on a wire in the morning before daybreak, we were given three sandwiches. One was a bully beef sandwich, andGroup of soldiers posing for a photograph with a small dog in the centre.
another one was cheese, and another one was jam. That was our day’s ration, that had to do for 24 hours. As a rule, there's water carts that would come up at the battery before we'd leave in the early morning, we’d fill our water bottles with water.Description
Mr. Conrad offers some general comments about the death toll at the Somme, the horrible conditions at Passchendaele, and concludes by describing in more specific detail his own living conditions.
Frank Benjamin Conrad
Frank Benjamin Conrad was born in Sturgeon, Prince Edward Island on July 25, 1894. He enlisted in November 1914 with the 9th Field Ambulance and trained at Valcartier until June, 1915 when he transferred to the 2nd Canadian Siege Battery at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. He sailed to England aboard the S.S. Lapland on November 28, 1915, and arrived in France on June 1, 1916 as a signaler with the rank of Gunner. He saw action at the Somme, Vimy Ridge, Hill 70, and Passchendaele. He was wounded twice, was gassed at Hill 70, and won the Military Medal for maintaining communications under fire. After the war, Mr. Conrad married Florence Jessie Lantz on September 22, 1923 and established a wholesale food company in Charlottetown. He joined #6 Signals Company as Lieutenant, and eventually commanded the Company before retiring in 1938 as a Lieutenant-Colonel. He re-enlisted in 1940 as a Major with 3rd Divisional Signal Regiment, and served in England and Italy, commanding the Canadian Brigade Reinforcement Unit as a Lieutenant-Colonel. After the Second World War he was appointed District Administrator, DVA, for Prince Edward Island. Mr. Conrad died on August 13, 1986.
Meta Data
- Medium:
- Video
- Owner:
- Veterans Affairs Canada
- Duration:
- 2:00
- Person Interviewed:
- Frank Benjamin Conrad
- War, Conflict or Mission:
- First World War
- Location/Theatre:
- Europe
- Battle/Campaign:
- Somme
- Branch:
- Army
- Units/Ship:
- 2nd Canadian Siege Battery
- Rank:
- Gunner, Lieutenant
- Occupation:
- Signalman
Attestation
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