Maintaining communications
First World War Audio Archive
Maintaining communications
Transcript
Seven soldiers posing for a picture.
as a rule we’d have two tapping-in stations. Our line would probably be, oh, two miles long, so you’d alternate. You’d be at “A” tapping-in station today, “B” tapping-in station the next day and then the observation post the next day. Then you have one day off at the battery where you were a battery signaller. We’d lay wire, telephone wires, generally along the ground from our battery to the two batteries on either side of us, and to headquarters, divisional headquarters behind us, and the observation post. The observation post would be in the front line wherever there was a little hill or any place where you could observe the enemy’s line. And they, of course, would know justA soldier sitting with another standing behind him.
where they were. We’d be constantly shelled. And it was our boast at the time that they couldn’t keep us, Fritzie couldn’t keep us out of communication for more than ten minutes at one time, and I think we lived up to that.Description
Mr. Conrad describes with pride the role of a battery signaller in maintaining communications among three lateral batteries, and headquarters.
Frank Benjamin Conrad
Frank Benjamin Conrad was born in Sturgeon, Prince Edward Island on July 25, 1894. He enlisted in November 1914 with the 9th Field Ambulance and trained at Valcartier until June, 1915 when he transferred to the 2nd Canadian Siege Battery at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. He sailed to England aboard the S.S. Lapland on November 28, 1915, and arrived in France on June 1, 1916 as a signaler with the rank of Gunner. He saw action at the Somme, Vimy Ridge, Hill 70, and Passchendaele. He was wounded twice, was gassed at Hill 70, and won the Military Medal for maintaining communications under fire. After the war, Mr. Conrad married Florence Jessie Lantz on September 22, 1923 and established a wholesale food company in Charlottetown. He joined #6 Signals Company as Lieutenant, and eventually commanded the Company before retiring in 1938 as a Lieutenant-Colonel. He re-enlisted in 1940 as a Major with 3rd Divisional Signal Regiment, and served in England and Italy, commanding the Canadian Brigade Reinforcement Unit as a Lieutenant-Colonel. After the Second World War he was appointed District Administrator, DVA, for Prince Edward Island. Mr. Conrad died on August 13, 1986.
Meta Data
- Medium:
- Video
- Owner:
- Veterans Affairs Canada
- Duration:
- 1:06
- Person Interviewed:
- Frank Benjamin Conrad
- War, Conflict or Mission:
- First World War
- Location/Theatre:
- Europe
- Branch:
- Army
- Units/Ship:
- 2nd Canadian Siege Battery
- Rank:
- Gunner, Lieutenant
- Occupation:
- Signalman
Attestation
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