Shell-Shocked Patients

Heroes Remember

Shell-Shocked Patients

Transcript

And at night in that hospital, in all those hospitals, all the way along, at night, as soon as the guys were starting to drop off to sleep, these are very badly stressed guys and they're, the officer's wards have, seemed to have the most of the screamers and they're all yelling fire orders or, "Get down! Get down!" or every sort of order you can possibly think of and swearing and... So finally I asked to be put in a separate room, in the number 4, 4 general. They put me down with a room with a guy who had several mortar fragments through his lungs and couldn't yell at all. I got some sleep then. And this poor guy died a couple of days later but they would come in every few hours and aspirate him. They'd have to stick a great big needle into his chest cavity and suck out all the blood and fluid that had got in around his lungs. And the next fellow they brought in after he died, was my, one of my old high school teachers who was also in the Hamilton Light Infantry named Harry Toolshire and he'd come in as a reinforcement. The RHLI had lost a lot of officers, as I told you all, except my friend Hugh Errol, who was a company commander made it right through and was at law school with me after the war. Anyway, Harry Toolshire was my next one in there. And another artillery officer down the hall from me named Mac Ferguson, had been hit by a mortar bomb and both his arms, chest wounds, but both his hands were in casts and he couldn't move them and he was a very heavy smoker. I, I had been smoking, but after I was wounded, I never had any interest in tobacco whatso, whatsoever. I don't know, something to do with the wounding maybe. Anyhow, Mac Ferguson, I'd go in to see him and I'd shave him. By that I had, they'd got me into a wheelchair after a reasonable length of time. Although, the cast was so it was cocked out in front of me. And I'd go in and shave him and write letters to his wife and he would have me light a cigarette for him and he'd put it in his mouth and then every now and then some other passing nurse would put a cigarette in for him. Every now and then I'd hear [mumbling], and somebody had left him with a cigarette burning in his mouth and he didn't want to shake it out or he'd set the bed on fire. So, poor old Mac Ferguson had quite a few bad burns around his lips from these cigarettes. I felt he was, he should have quit, but you couldn't talk him, couldn't talk him into it.

Description

Mr. Smith has trouble sleeping in the hospital due to the screaming of shell-shocked officers until a move to another room. Mr. Smith further tells of his acquaintances from back home in Canada, who are also in the hospital.

Arthur Britton “Britt” Smith

Mr. Smith was born on May 13th, 1920 in Kingston, Ontario. His father was a lawyer, and Mr. Smith was headed to the law firm at a very young age to follow in his father's foot steps when he decided to branch over and become an army officer with the 32nd Battery at the age of 15. Mr. Smith climbed the ranks quickly, becoming a signal sergeant by his 18th birthday. Educated on what was happening throughout Europe, Mr. Smith was not surprised when he heard of the outbreak of war in 1939, and within a year of the declaration, his unit was overseas undergoing artillery training. While in Europe, Mr. Smith's unit became a vital part of the Normandy Campaign, fighting on the dangerous and unforgiving battlefields of France. After the Dieppe raid of 1942, Mr. Smith was promoted to Captain at the young age of 22, carrying the weight and responsibility for 85 men. Mr. Smith's military career was ended abruptly in 1944 when he was wounded in action on the Verriere Ridge in France. Upon arrival home Mr. Smith was awarded the military medal and was finally able to marry his childhood sweetheart Sally. Mr. Smith returned to law school and became a lawyer, creating a home for himself and his wife in Kingston, Ontario.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 03:05
Person Interviewed:: Arthur Britton “Britt” Smith
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: France
Battle/Campaign:: Normandy
Branch:: Air Force
Units/Ship:: 4th Field Regiment
Rank:: Captain
Occupation:: Gunnery Officer

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Shell-Shocked Patients

Heroes Remember