Description
Mr. Henry describes being sniped at and wandering into uncharted mine fields in the Sinai desert.
William Henry
William Henry was born September 2, 1939 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. His father was a Second World War Veteran, which inspired Mr. Henry to join the School Cadet Corps. He received officer training and was commissioned in the 17th Recce, PEI Regiment. Upon completing his degree at Dalhousie University, he was re-commissioned in the Royal Canadian Dragoons. Mr. Henry eventually joined the Lord Strathcona’s Horse, attaining the rank of Major. His tours of duty included Cyprus, writing the orders of occupation for Sinai, and acting as an observer in Lebanon, a role he found difficult given his training as a military strategist.
Transcript
Sometimes the troops, some of the troops were left in the desert a little too long and I think without an awful lot of water. They saw mirages and they didn’t understand what you were doing. You’re not dealing with brain surgeons here. Some of them would take a shot at you to see, you know, what you’d do. Sometimes all of a sudden you’d realize that you had a, the map you were following was not up-to-date and that little mound over there was a landmine and there are other little mounds all around you and it wasn’t camel dung. And so you tiptoed through the tulips very carefully. There’s a lot of truth in the, you would see a Bedouin family going through and you would see the wives and the children, the girls out front, the sons and the father and then the camels. That’s how they sort of went through the desert. It was a very touchy time.