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RAF bombing raid and the German Attack

Heroes Remember

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RAF bombing raid and the German Attack

Transcript
That, there were, the Tank Corps, all the men were just running, a mass of Canadian soldiers running away from, from the danger, and they were running towards us, you know, and it, it was a sight that I, you know, I can't forget really. And we were, course, this was our, our real first test of what we could do, and we had more casualties that day than we ever had all through the war. And we would have, the worst part really was that we had these wounded on stretchers, and they're lying there, and they're looking up at the sky, and seeing all this kindling wood coming down, you might say, and we, we literally had to hold them down, we literally had to hold them down and treat them as fast as we could. And this went on, oh for quite some time. I don't know how long, it must have been about well, four or five hours we were treating patients and moving them out as fast as we could, and some of them, we just pushed to one side because we felt they just they weren't going to live, you know. I remember one particular one, that all the top of his head was blown off and you could see the brains and everything, you know, and he was just barely breathing you know, and... Interviewer: What a nightmare. Oh it was, it was. And to make matters worse, this was, then at, at night time, the Messerschmitts came over, and they're dropping fire bombs on us, and, to light up the whole section because we were right at the front and they would light up the section, and we would jump into our foxholes and soon as these firebombs would land, we'd jump out and put sand on them to put them out and they would come down strafing us, and we would jump back into our foxholes again. And this went on for almost the whole night, so that it was 24 hours of, of particular hell for all of us, you know.
Description

Mr. Weicker continues to talk about the horrors of RAF bombing raid, the casualties and then being attacked by the Germans that same night.

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:
02:17
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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