I participated in many raids

First World War Audio Archive

I participated in many raids

Transcript

There was sometimes 6, 8, at the most 10. On each raid we had

Picture of Mr.Butterworth as a young soldier.

some objective in mind. We were instructed to try and do this, try and do that. Go and blow out a dugout or go bring back a couple of prisoners, or whatever. How we manoeuvred to accomplish this I’ve forgotten, but it was done so slick. We have to remember, of course, that the Germans weren’t asleep. They had their man on the front line, also. So how we did it, I don’t remember, but we got between two of them. Two of us would then head to the trench. Another fellow, either right or left, would tap his tin helmet or cough or make some noise to attract the attention of the guard at a dugout. He would naturally turn to see. When we first started, we carried rifles and later, rifles are very, very, awkward to pack under and over barb-wire, concertina wire, and various wires. A colt revolver was issued and that is what we used from then on. Now, as the German soldier was attracted to the left, for instance, as pre-arranged, when he looked back one of our revolvers was five inches from his head, from his nose. Down would go the rifle and up would go his hands. “I come with you, yes, please?” So we say, “Up,” and away he would go. How, I don’t remember just how we accomplished all this but I made more raids than I have fingers and toes. We were on the crawl, of course, and always within reach of the man before

Picture of an older Mr.Butterworth.

you. The man behind you could touch your foot. You could touch the foot or the leg of the man preceding you and so on. Anyone in the line who thought he could hear something or see something would merely tap the man in front of him who would in turn tap the rest of them. The man behind naturally would stop. And on one occasion, there was the copycat Fritz with his patrol dressed in a copycat fashion and they were within ten feet of us as they crawled by.

Description

Mr. Butterworth describes the procedure used to safely capture enemy soldiers during night raids on enemy outposts.

James Howcroft Butterworth

James Butterworth was born in England and emigrated to Canada in 1907 with his Parents and syblings. His family moved to Alberta where they became farmers. Mr. Butterworth remembers an act of great sacrifice and kindness by a German farm family in Alberta which was to affect his attitude for life. He enlisted on October 27, 1915, with the 65th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, and joined the 46th Battalion. He served in France and was wounded in the foot and knee (accidental). He left the service on February 26, 1919, at rank of private. On June 21, 1926, Mr. Butterworth married Gertrude E. Wilson and they had three children. He was a farmer and worked as a grain buyer for United Grain Growers and later for the Veterans’ Land Act, both in Alberta. He retired in 1961 and settled in Calgary where he died on January 4, 1976.

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