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Saving a man’s life

Heroes Remember

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Saving a man’s life

Transcript
And he told me, he said, "I have, my brother is off a few miles away, I want to go and see him." So he left me there by myself. So I'm standing, the windows of course are all blown out of the, the station, and I was standing by the window, and these crazy engineers had a bonfire out on the railway tracks, and they were burning a bunch of rubbish. And unknown to them, there was ammunition in there, and suddenly they, they started going off, and there was, right where I was standing, looking towards it, there was a soldier walking right by me and he only got about two feet, and all of a sudden he fell. He'd got hit, got hit right in the groin, right there, right with that artery, and I jumped out of the window and got a pressure bandage on it, and stopped the bleeding, and then they, they rushed over, and they brought a jeep ambulance over, and they kept the pressure on this, on him, got him on a stretcher, and took him back to the nearest medical unit. And all the time these shells are, are flying all over the place, and I get back into the station and I think, "John, you were a crazy fool to jump out that window," because I could have got just as easily hit as he had, as he did. Interviewer: You saved his life. I saved his life and they told me that, later that he didn't lose his leg or anything. He had, he was grateful, yeah. It was what I was supposed to do, you know, and thats the way it was all in the war. It was what you had to do, you know.
Description

Mr. Weicker talks about saving a man's life.

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:
01:56
Person Interviewed:
John Joseph Weicker
War, Conflict or Mission:
Second World War
Location/Theatre:
Germany
Branch:
Army
Units/Ship:
4th Armoured Division
Occupation:
Nursing Orderly

Copyright / Permission to Reproduce

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