Witnessing Death and Despair

I was wounded in my knee and shrapnel and stuff and two of the soldiers were badly wounded. They were kind of out laying on the ground and the Germans were only about a hundred yards away behind that railroad. They had dug in positions and two of them crawled over with Schneider guns. And they made me, I was the only one that could get up on my feet, made me pick up these guys when they’re wounded and look at them and then put them down, put their foot on their chest. And that was the first time I seen a man killed right close up. I’ll never forget it. The other Canadian with me, Jack Chimaraque, that’s the one that was prisoner of war with me, his eyebrow was hanging down over his face and blood and the German was ready to shoot him and I took a shell dressing they called it and I wrapped it around his head. I don’t know how I did it or what stopped the bleeding but they said, “Okay you two, come with us.” Crawled back into their positions and I spent two to three weeks, I guess maybe ten days, I don’t know, under shell fire. I had more action after I was a prisoner of war. I was in the front line with the Germans carrying out their dead and wounded.