Description
Mr. McAuley recalls the frequency of death and how the bodies were dealt with.
William Archibald McAuley
William Archibald McAuley was born on February 4th,1921 in McAuley, Manitoba. He worked on the farm while going to school. After graduating, he worked at a neighbors farm for seven dollars and fifty cents a month until he joined the army on September 17th,1939 when he was eighteen years old.
Transcript
We had coffins coming in the morning and full ones going out at night, that was just God-awful and the old saying, you know and I’ve told my kids this, it's a horrible thing to think of but the coffins were made short for Japanese, they would break their legs here and fold them over and set them into the coffins. It's not a pleasant thought but that was a fact and then we'd cremate them. We'd take them out, we'd haul them out in a two-wheel cart, then cremate them, and then bring them back in jugs. Your friend, his bed would be here and his jug would be there with his remains in it. It was terrible, that diphtheria.