A solid line of horses
First World War Audio Archive
A solid line of horses
Transcript
Picture of young soldier.
that they used the cavalry down there on the Somme - the first time they had used them for two or three years. They couldn’t use them in trench warfare, of course. But that day down on the Somme, I guess they figured they were going to break through. They must have had them up pretty close, in reserve, and then we did break through, of course, right out. Middle of the afternoon that day, we were just going through a kind of a big valley and the fellow alongside of me said, "Look behind, Steve!" I thought the Germans was behind me or something. I wheeled around and over the hill behind us, those fellas were coming in a solid line, about four or five feet apart. It was just as far as you could see, right and left for what, at least a half a mile. A solid line of horses coming just at the lope. They went right through us, of course. Right after they went through the valley, we were in the next one before the Germans hit them. But the Germans in this little wood posted there and they really knocked them horses down coming up that slope. But they split and went around that wood. And they got those guys, all that was in there. They never had a chance to get out because they went around and got behind them. But they really knocked them pretty bad going up there. There was dead horses laying all over that slope and a lot of dead men, too. There was more dead horses than dead men but there was a lot of dead men too. But to see that line of horses just coming at the lope. That particular day, they proved their worth alright. Because they went far enough back, they even captured a whole train load of German troops that they were rushing up towards the front for reinforcements. They just pulled into a little town back there somewhere, forget the name of that, too. Just as the cavalry got there when the train come to a stop, the cavalry men were lined up outside the windows of the train. They never fired a shot, thousands of them, I suppose, Germans on that train.Description
Mr. Stevenson describes a cavalry assault on a German emplacement at the Somme, with many casualties on both sides. He also describes the uncontested capture of a German troop train during the same foray.
Donald Robert Stevenson
Donald Robert Stevenson was born in Bracebridge, Ontario, on October 28, 1897. His family moved to Saskatchewan where he worked with his father, a farmer. Mr. Stevenson felt duty bound to support the British Empire and enlisted on February 3, 1916, in the 217th Battalion. He took his basic training at Indian Head, Saskatchewan. He went overseas in May 1917, going to Bramshott where he joined the 46th Battalion. Mr. Stevenson’s service saw him in action at the Oppy Front, the Somme, and Canal du Nord. He was wounded in the neck and back, and returned to Canada to his family’s farm and then received a homestead through the Veterans Land Act, farming on his own at Fir Mountain, Manitoba. He married his wife, Elizabeth Helen, on November 7, 1923. He worked for Public Works in Winnipeg, and finally joined the railroad as a yardman, retiring in 1952. He then joined the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires. Mr Stevenson died on June 27, 1985.
Meta Data
- Medium:
- Video
- Owner:
- Veterans Affairs Canada
- Duration:
- 1:57
- Person Interviewed:
- Donald Robert Stevenson
- War, Conflict or Mission:
- First World War
- Location/Theatre:
- Europe
- Battle/Campaign:
- Somme
- Branch:
- Army
- Units/Ship:
- 217th Battalion
- Rank:
- Private
- Occupation:
- Lewis Gunner
Attestation
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