The Ross rifle
First World War Audio Archive
The Ross rifle
Transcript
Picture of Soldier with arms crossed.
or heard about him. Well, he was the Minister of Defence at the time so he produced all the rifles. In other words, he made the rifles for us. That was the Ross rifle, I guess you’ve heard of that. The Ross rifle is the most beautiful gun. That’s how it wasPicture of Soldier looking directly at camera.
made in Canada, you see. It was a very tall rifle, it wasn’t high and by the time you got your bayonet in there, boy, you could hardly reach it yourself, you know. And the Lee Enfield, we used to throw the Ross away. Every Englishman that got killed, we used to throw our gun down and pick up his.Serviceman wearing a tuxedo.
Different gun all together. Ten shots.Description
Mr. Wood compares the Canadian designed Ross rifle, which was long, cumbersome and 5-shot bolt action, to the much more reliable 10-shot British Lee Enfield rifle. He describes how Canadians scavenged British rifles from dead soldiers.
Thomas Wood
Thomas Wood, a native of Edinburgh, Scotland was born on March 23, 1898 into a family of printers. His family emigrated to Canada shortly before the war and he grew up in Ottawa, Ontario. At age 16, in 1914, Mr. Wood left school and joined the recently mobilized 1st Battery in Ottawa, followed by training in Valcartier, and went to England in October, 1914. He then went to France in February, 1915, a member of the 57th Battery, 15th Field Artillery Brigade. Mr. Wood was involved in the Vimy bombardment, viewed German gassing technology at Ypres, and sustained a hip and leg wounds from shrapnel. After the war, he was a fixture maker and also a sign painter and lettering artist for Coca-Cola Co. for about 40 years. He was transferred to Toronto, then to Vancouver where he worked as the sign shop manager until retirement. He was married twice and had one son. Mr. Wood died on January 2nd, 1988 in Vancouver, BC.
Meta Data
- Medium:
- Video
- Owner:
- Veterans Affairs Canada
- Duration:
- 0:48
- Person Interviewed:
- Thomas Wood
- War, Conflict or Mission:
- First World War
- Location/Theatre:
- Europe
- Battle/Campaign:
- Vimy
- Branch:
- Army
- Units/Ship:
- 15th Field Artillery Brigade
- Rank:
- Bombardier
- Occupation:
- Gunner
Attestation
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