Almost Fatal Mistake

Heroes Remember

Almost Fatal Mistake

Transcript

I think we were in the Hochwald for a while, forest, and putting in time, more or less there. And we went from there to, up along the river, and I think it was March the 23rd, 23rd, 24th night. The, our officer, was our last officer, he went across with the 51st Highland Brigade, the Tee's and Tynes Scottish Regiment. They made the first assault across the Rhine. And about three or four o'clock in the morning, we went across our platoon, his platoon, Mr. Eisner's. And I know I was in the first boat and I think I put the, second or third man to put a foot on the ground, thought there was another who could make that same claim. I know there's like going through a hail storm almost that stuff cracking by, and it was pretty rough. Though my letters say it wasn't too bad. You couldn't tell the folks that. It was all also up there at the time too ahead of that Matt Holten(sp) I think it was written a, he went across the day after and he said he never saw so many dead people around, in all his life. He said he's talked to the officer of the Highland Light Infantry and he say he never, he said the shell fire and so on and explosions was horrendous. The officer from the Highland Light Infantry told him, "You should have been here yesterday when it was really bad." It must have been hell. But that same day we landed across the Rhine. A captain, not one of the officers the Tee's and Tynes Regiment, Scottish Regiment had told us that the village of Speldrop was clear, there was nobody in there. There was men there but the Germans were back in there again. So he sent "B" Company in to clear the town out again. And there was a real mix up because there was still some of those Scottish soldiers left in the town. In fact, I shot one accidentally. But he wasn't supposed to be there you see. I seen this moving in the basement, and I opened up the American grand I had and put four holes through his shoulder. He thanked me after for his trip back to England. But anyway, another fella from up Wingam way he went round the back, he saw somebody running across an open doorway he opened up on him with a Bren gun, he's just a guy right across here, put five holes in him and none of them were fatal. The guy says there, "Careful there, mate," he says, "I'm British." And Buchanan, our guy he says, "Screw me, chum." he says, "I'm sorry." Then he yelled, "These guys are British in here!"

Description

Mr. Tomlin describes a near tragedy resulting from poor reconnaissance.

Glen Tomlin

Mr. Tomlin was born in Clinton, Ontario, in 1923. His family moved to Harriston when he was very young. Once he was old enough he worked in a box factory earning $7/week for 60 hours of labour. Despite having had rheumatic fever, which made it impossible for him to walk at a marching pace, Mr. Tomlin was accepted by the army, where he trained as a field gunner. He later switched to infantry, joining the Hard Light Infantry, 9th Brigade, 3rd Canadian Division. Mr. Tomlin's service saw him in several combats in Northern Europe, often engaging the enemy at very close quarters. Mr. Tomlin now resides in Palmerston, Ontario.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 2:35
Person Interviewed:: Glen Tomlin
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Europe
Battle/Campaign:: Rhine
Branch:: Army
Units/Ship:: Highland Light Infantry
Rank:: Private
Occupation:: Gunner

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Almost Fatal Mistake

Heroes Remember