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Hitler Jugend

Heroes Remember

Hitler Jugend

Transcript
The end of the war, we were 16 miles north of Oldenburg, we pulled back from Holland through a place called Oldenburg anyway, and we were 16 kilometres north of Oldenburg when the war ended, and in a farm house again. And I, the night before the war ended I, we hadn’t, we didn’t know at that point it was going to end. We’d taken a bunch of German prisoners, I didn’t know it but my carrier was out in the garage part of the house, you know, and it was big, like a barn thing, cause a lot of the barns were attached to the houses, and I had a wire run in with a microphone, you know, sitting in with the infantry Colonel and what not. And we were negotiating the surrender, something or other. But I’d been inside for about an hour or two, you know, and somebody says, “You better go out and tell so-and-so something.” So I went out to the carrier and I had to push my way in the dark through about a hundred Germans. They were all in the, all surrendered, you know, but all in the thing. They still had their rifles and everything. Yeah. And, and so, but it was towards the end of the war and they didn’t want to fight anymore, you know. Although, to end it all off, after the word came down that at eight o’clock tomorrow morning, you know, is the cease fire, and of course, nobody said anything. There was no hats in the air and all this stuff. Everybody was so relieved I guess, and, and having their own thoughts about having survived and what’s gonna happen next and having to take up again, you know, but then there was the whole lot of shooting broke up out about a quarter of a mile, half a mile, you know, away. And we went, “What’s that?” Somebody didn’t get the word, you know. We had to be careful because not everybody was told at once. Then we found out later that it was a group of German Youth Hitler Jugend who were led in an attack against the Canadians up a little while, a little way away up a hill. And they said, “You know, we couldn’t stop them. We had to, we had to kill them.” He, he said, “These kids were wearing German army Grey Coats and they were tripping over them, they were too long for them. And falling down as they went up the hill,” and they had to stop this attack because it, it was coming in on them, you know. So there was a whole lot of kids died, you know, these German youth, unnecessarily.
Description

Mr. Field talks about the day before the war ended, and his encounter with some German POWs, and the Hitler Jugend.

Richard (Dick) Field

Mr. Richard Field was born in Toronto, Ontario, on November 11, 1924, where his father was an accountant for Brazilian Traction Light and Car Power Company located in Toronto. After hearing stories from his grandfather and friends about the service, Mr. Field and his father enlisted in 1943. Serving as a Gunner in the Royal Canadian Artillery, Mr. Field went to the continent after the summer of 1944, and landed at Dieppe. Having witnessed battles such as the Battle of the Bulge, which was, on record, the coldest battle fought during the Second World War, encounters with German POWS and the German SS, nothing stirs up memories such as the moving story about the Highland Light Infantry returning from battle, wearily marching on to battle, serenaded by the haunting melody of the bagpipes. Mr. Field returned home to Toronto and married his high school sweetheart, however, the war never left the dreams and thoughts of Mr. Field, who still, quite frequently, is plagued by dreams and nightmares of life on the front.

Meta Data
Medium:
Video
Owner:
Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:
02:48
Person Interviewed:
Richard (Dick) Field
War, Conflict or Mission:
Second World War
Location/Theatre:
Europe
Battle/Campaign:
Northwest Europe
Branch:
Army
Occupation:
Gunner

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