Being Taken POW

Heroes Remember

Being Taken POW

Transcript

That’s one thing I kind of lost, I didn’t get to know anybody until after I was a prisoner of war. I know the officers in charge of us as we were supplying power to the regular army or the troops ahead of us. He took us into an orchard and made us dig in, there’s water in the orchard about three feet of it and when the Germans come on the 8th of June they got on one end of that and we didn’t have no chance. I never forget that. I thought well you now after I knew more about the army, I thought that what a stupid place to put us. Interviewer: By the orchard? Yes. We didn’t have a chance and there was a three foot wall in the back and as far as I know it was only me and the one other guy that got out of that orchard. We jumped over that three foot fence and got back to the artillery lines and were safe until, I shouldn’t say this, this dumb sergeant major come up with a carrier, a Bren gun carrier, he had ammunition and he was going up to supply the troops. This was the 8th of June, just getting dark and there had been a tank battle on the left of us going on and that’s when the Canadians were getting the best of the Germans, they shot up the little light tanks they had but then they brought in the big heavy stuff later on. He said, “Get in the carrier, we’ll give you something to eat and we’ll go up and I’ll show you where to go to B company lines.” He was a liar because he didn’t know where he was going. He took us up to the German on the Caen highway and there was a railroad track behind the highway and I always remember it because there was a curve in the road and there’s roughly about eight and a half miles in to France and we came up to that road and the carrier was just getting on to the thing when they opened up, the big tank to the left of us shot the tracks right off us. Lucky, it was a solid shot because it just didn’t explode and just like count to ten and they fired a key. That’s when they blew us out of the carrier and I got flung about 20 feet up and other soldiers right around me and I was all full of dust and dirt and I thought if I ever get out of this I’ll never disobey my mother again. First thing when soldiers get hurt like that they think of their mother. I said I will never disobey my mother again.

Description

Mr. Couture recounts his actions on the beach when Germans moved in and took him and many other soldiers as POW.

George Couture

Mr. George Couture was born in Pennsylvania, United States on November 5, 1924. At three years of age his widowed mother moved the family of five children to Selkirk, Manitoba at a time when Canada was experiencing the Great Depression. Signing up to serve his country, Mr. Couture tried two times and on his third attempt joined the infantry with the Winnipeg Rifles. He traveled overseas on Isle de France and through coincidence this was the same ship he returned home on after the war. Mr. Couture volunteered for service which resulted in him being part of the D-Day invasion on June 6, then on June 8th was captured as POW. Spending time in the prisoner of war camps and suffering the life of starvation and disease, Mr. Couture survived and was liberated on April 23, 1945. Returning home to Winnipeg, Mr. Couture continued to serve in the military and volunteered for the Korean War. After thirty years military service he retired from the Canadian military. He now resides in Calgary, Alberta.

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