Did You See the Flash? It’s Too Late!

Heroes Remember

Did You See the Flash? It’s Too Late!

Transcript

I was going up the trench, and I saw a shell burst, and I dropped in the mud. The sergeant come behind me, "What are you donig down there?" I says, "I just saw this shell burst." He said, "Did you see the flash?" I said, "Yeah." He said, "you're too late. Get up. Away you go!" Another time, I'd been laying out there in the open, with a machine gun fire coming in, tat, tat, tat, in front of you, you know, throwing dirt up in your face. Poor chap hit on this side and this side. This fellow gets up, runs over to a shell hole for shelter and a shell drops down over there. See, little things like that comes back to me, but it's pretty hard for me to remember all those things. Laying out in the open, I've seen these observation planes. Those days just a single plane, and they fly very low. I've seen the odd dog fight, you know. The German came over and seen the two, seen two planes get at one another. All of a sudden, you see black smoke. One fella drops out of the plane, and thigs like that, things, like that, that when I look back. Another place there, we're laying out in the open and there was a sap. It's like a trench, running straight up and down, like that. A lot of boys would run for that to get under cover, but he just dropped that shell into that shell hole. Some things that I don't ... I mean, I've seen … Well, you're going up the trenches, probably it's not a very nice thing to say, but you're wondering, you're walking on something soft You know you're walking up there ... some poor chap is buried there, you know, things like that. Then there's conditions, too. Poor chaps get out there, a lot of sickness, you know. A lot of death through sickness too, you know, trench feet and pneumonia. There was conditions that were so bad that, just as well, sometimes, that you don't remember these things. I can remember a lot of things like that, where the people were badly wounded by the shells coming over. But you can’t do anything for them You just got to go. I mean, the time I mentioned about staying with this friend of mine that got badly hit. I should have gone with my unit, but I couldn’t leave him. I thought, probably, I would be able to help him. But then, when I saw this stretcher bearer come along, he just stared. He just dropped and run. See, things like that, that you look back on, and you ... it’s sad in a way. Then, there was your pals that would go over there, and not come home. Yeah, war’s terrible. I mean, it’s sad in a way that, as I say, there should be some way of avoiding all this.

Description

Mr. Ford reflects on some of the events and situations which most affected him during his time at the Front, ending with a reflection on death.

George R. Ford

George Ford was born on March 19, 1897 in Barrie, Ontario. In 1899, his family moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and, when his mother’s health started to fail, on to Victoria, British Columbia. Here, Mr. Ford studied mathematics and surveying, which resulted in employment with the provincial government in the mapping department. Against his parents wishes, he enlisted in 1916, joining the 103rd Infantry Battalion. Mr. Ford went overseas aboard the SS Mauritania, landing in Southampton, England, where he was deployed with the 54th Battalion. He later transferred to the Light Trench Mortar Battery. Mr. Ford saw action on many fronts, but only discussed Vimy in any detail. However, his clear perspective on the futility of war, death, mutual respect, honour, and patriotic duty, honed over a 102 year lifespan, are well worth the viewer’s attention. After the war, Mr. Ford returned to his job as a surveyor. He joined his local Veterans Association, and some time later, the Royal Canadian Legion, Victoria, B.C.

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