Aftermath of Falaise

Heroes Remember

Aftermath of Falaise

Transcript

And the sad part about it was that we were walking in fields just before the air field, and there were Canadians killed right there in the field that had, hadn't even been picked up yet, you know, and that was, you know, when you first go into battle and this is what you see, I mean it's, you, of course you get hardened pretty quick, but, you know. No, well you see so much of it you know, you see so much, that it, it, it's a job, it's what you have to do, you know. So, you know, it's, it's hard to describe getting used to it, but it's, you see so much of it that it's, I guess its like even in a hospital even today, you know, you see so much things that, you know, you'd, you know sometimes they say nurses are very hard, well this is the whole thing, they see so much. Well that's, that's what I am getting to now is, right on this Falaise, we had moved into what was Falaise crossroad. And on one corner was a farmhouse and a barn, the other corner was a tank unit and we were on this third corner, and the fourth corner was just trees. And the RAF came over with a thousand plane raid, and they were to bomb the front, which was a mile ahead of us. And the first 200 planes came over and bombed their objective, but the Germans had thrown a shell over back at us, and for, it unfortunately hit the ammunition dump in this tank unit right across the street from us and blew it up. And the second wave of bombers came over and they saw this and thought this was their objective. And they stopped dropping these bombs on us, and they're coming out just like kindling wood, you know, and coming down at us. And I've never seen anything like this before, I've never saw anything like this.

Description

Mr. Weicker talks about the aftermath of Falaise, he also reflects on the horrors of war, and discusses a bombing raid he and his unit faced at the hands of the RAF by mistake.

John Joseph Weicker

John Joseph Weicker was born on November 17, 1920, in Duncan, British Columbia. Mr. Weicker attended Duncan High School and completed his first year of university there as well. He attended Gonzaga University for his second year and returned to Victoria, BC, in 1941 to work at St. Joseph's Hospital as an apprentice pharmacist. Mr. Weicker got a call to join the army, however, was given an exemption because there was a requirement of four years apprenticeship before he could write the pharmacist exam. The Pharmacy Association allowed him to do one year apprenticeship and the other three years would be served while he was in the army. He was exempted until August. From there he did basic training in Vernon and at the Camp Borden Medical Training Centre. He was then sent to Chilliwack Military Hospital. While there he volunteered to go overseas. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Weicker was sent to Vancouver to Hastings Park where a unit was forming, 12th Field Dressing Station. In May 1942 his unit was sent overseas to Northern Scotland, and was eventually assigned to the 4th Armoured Division. There was no call for an apprentice pharmacist so Mr. Weicker was listed as a nursing orderly. On D-Day he crossed the Strait of Dover and made his way to Juno Beach. From there he went on to Falaise, Normandy. After the war ended he crossed the Rhine to Wilhelmshaven, Germany. After leaving the Army, Mr. Weicker completed pharmacy school and passed his pharmacy exams in 1947.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 02:10
Person Interviewed:: John Joseph Weicker
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: France
Branch:: Army
Units/Ship:: 4th Armoured Division
Occupation:: Nursing Orderly

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Aftermath of Falaise

Heroes Remember