Aboard the hospital ship
First World War Audio Archive
Aboard the hospital ship
Transcript
Hill 62 Memorial Belgium.
wounded. We ended up in Bologne and I climbed up three flights ofCourtrai Memorial Belgium.
stairs by pulling one leg after the other. It was a hospital andLe Quesnel Memorial Belgium.
the doctor come in the morning with a nurse and said, “Make him aGueudecourt Memorial France.
stretcher case.” So that night we were going over to England on a hospital ship and there’s four guys carrying me down them threeDury Memorial France.
flights of stairs and one was obviously a Cockney, he says,Monchy Memorial France.
“These bleeding buggers walk up here and we got to carry the buggers down.” I wanted to snicker, but I was afraid they mightPasschendaele Memorial Belgium.
drop me so I didn’t do anything. But when I was on the hospitalMasnières memorial France.
ship you really saw the after-effects of war; the fellows with the legs off and arms off. The fellow next to me had an eye out.Bourion Wood Memorial France.
He was, seemed to be in terrible pain. Anyway, when the shipCourcelette Memorial France.
landed, why, volunteers were carrying us to the ambulance.Beaumont-Hamel Memorial France.
I went piggy-back with quite a big Englishman. I felt kind of sore when he was holding my bum up on his back.St. Julien Memorial Belgium.
But anyway, I landed up in Norfolk in Norwich hospital where I spent 34 days there before the wound healed up.Canadian National Vimy Memorial France.
Description
Mr. Close describes being evacuated to England from France, and being hospitalized until his wound healed.
John Hamilton Close
John Hamilton Close was born in Mitchell, Ontario on July 4, 1896. After the death of both his parents, he went to work on his uncle’s farm in Garrett, Ontario. On March 15, 1916, Mr. Close enlisted with the 114th Battalion in Hagersville, Ontario. He started training immediately and was sent to Camp Borden. After going overseas to England he was quickly deployed to Le Havre. He was wounded at Vimy Ridge, rehabilitated in England, and returned to France to fight at Amiens and Arras where he won a Military Medal for bravery. Mr. Close ended his service with the rank of Corporal. He died in Hagersville, Ontario in February, 1993.
Meta Data
- Medium:
- Video
- Owner:
- Veterans Affairs Canada
- Duration:
- 1:35
- Person Interviewed:
- John Hamilton Close
- War, Conflict or Mission:
- First World War
- Location/Theatre:
- Europe
- Branch:
- Army
- Units/Ship:
- 114th Battalion
- Rank:
- 2-stripe Corporal
- Occupation:
- Section Leader
Attestation
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