Getting Shot Down (Part 4 of 4)

Heroes Remember

Getting Shot Down (Part 4 of 4)

Transcript

So I told this guy who I was, and I said, would he help me. And he said, “I will come back in an hour or so. You keep heading south.” And so I did and about an hour or so I came to a road and he was there. And he took one look at me and he said, “Merde. Ce n’est pas possible. Vous es blinde.” That you’re blind. And I said, I could still see if I did that and but my eyes sealed shut and then they healed shut. So he sat me on a stump and he said, “You never saw anybody. You’ve been blind since you landed.” I said, “I understand.” And, so then about, oh not more than twenty five minutes I think, I heard dogs, and the Germans had been following me all along but I’d, I’d kept ahead of them. And so then they took me to hospital and that’s, that’s, that was how I ended up. No anaesthetics, but they, they, no they did a good job and, by, I was ready to be shipped I think it was just after Christmas and they cut my eyes open. And then the German who did it, the doctor he said, “(German, inaudible).” Good God, he can see. I spoke German and French and that was useful because I, I never told them, and it came in handy a couple of times. And my German was terrible and my French was terrible too. I had the worst accent any, Frenchmen told me that and the Germans they said, “(German, inaudible).” And the French would say the same thing. I had a terrible accent. So anyhow, then they took me to Dulank (sp) and then from there I went to Barth and Barth to, to (inaudible).

Description

Mr. Weir remembers being picked up by the Germans and being treated in a German hospital.

John Weir

Mr. Weir was born in Toronto on July 22, 1919. His father was DSO MC in the First World War, a colonel. He was machine gunner in the 19th Battalion, and was gassed at Vimy and suffered from then on with asthma. After seeing the horrific pictures of the trench warfare from his father's service, Mr. Weir decided to join the Air Force rather than serve in the trenches. He joined the service the day after war was declared and began his training in Winnipeg. He started off as a pilot officer-provisional but wanted to be a fighter pilot. During his service, Mr. Weir was shot down in Barth and captured. He was a prisoner in a Gestapo jail, and was involved in "The Great Escape from Stalag Luft III". He was moved to various prison camps and witnessed atrocities of the Holocaust. He eventually escaped on a forced-march from Bremerhaven to Lübbecke by bribing a German guard.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 02:12
Person Interviewed:: John Weir
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Europe
Branch:: Air Force
Units/Ship:: 401 Squadron
Occupation:: Pilot

Language selection

Getting Shot Down (Part 4 of 4)

Heroes Remember