The trenches half caved in
First World War Audio Archive
The trenches half caved in
Transcript
Picture of young Soldier.
there, couldn’t call it an adventure, I don’t know what you would call it. But they had periodically done a little shelling upSoldiers digging trenches.
there, you know, and we had a lot of rain. Sometimes we had some snow. It never lasted more than, you know, snowed at night and went the next day. But it created a sea of mud in thisSoldiers trying to push truck stuck in the mud.
no man’s land and everywhere else. Actually, I don’t think there was much chance of either side attacking over there or youWater buildup in trenches.
wouldn’t be able to get across no man’s land in this sea of mud. But we had a really wet period. One period we were on the line and the trenches were about half caved in with the amount of rain they had. So they were a ditch full of mud instead of a trench.Troops moving trucks stuck in the mud.
They pulled everybody out of the line except for the Lewis gunners. They could have pulled us out too. I think, because likeSoldiers walking in the mud with their horses.
I said, I don’t think anybody could have come across, left us in there. That was about the third day in about seven days.Wagon being pulled by soldiers.
We had about four days pretty rough there really of the weatherMore soldiers walking with horses.
conditions not, you know, not the fighting conditions,Soldiers digging out flooded trenches.
but weather conditions. I remember they had issued us all with hip rubber boots, the machine gunners. We needed that to walk upGuns being dug out of the mud.
Flooded fields.
and down the trenches and when we were relieved coming out of there, I can remember getting stuck. Now this may sound kindaSoldiers walking through thick mud.
like some of these tall stories fellows tell but, actually, it was the truth, getting stuck in the trench and somebody having to pull me out, walking along the communication trenches. There was so much mud there you’d get in there and youTroops taking time to wash their feet.
couldn’t - you’d try and lift one foot out and you just couldn’t do it. You had to have some help.Description
Mr. Stevenson describes trying to move around in mud caused by heavy rain collapsing the trenches, and being issued hip waders so he could man his Lewis gun position.
Donald Robert Stevenson
Donald Robert Stevenson was born in Bracebridge, Ontario, on October 28, 1897. His family moved to Saskatchewan where he worked with his father, a farmer. Mr. Stevenson felt duty bound to support the British Empire and enlisted on February 3, 1916, in the 217th Battalion. He took his basic training at Indian Head, Saskatchewan. He went overseas in May 1917, going to Bramshott where he joined the 46th Battalion. Mr. Stevenson’s service saw him in action at the Oppy Front, the Somme, and Canal du Nord. He was wounded in the neck and back, and returned to Canada to his family’s farm and then received a homestead through the Veterans Land Act, farming on his own at Fir Mountain, Manitoba. He married his wife, Elizabeth Helen, on November 7, 1923. He worked for Public Works in Winnipeg, and finally joined the railroad as a yardman, retiring in 1952. He then joined the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires. Mr Stevenson died on June 27, 1985.
Meta Data
- Medium:
- Video
- Owner:
- Veterans Affairs Canada
- Duration:
- 1:40
- Person Interviewed:
- Donald Robert Stevenson
- War, Conflict or Mission:
- First World War
- Location/Theatre:
- Europe
- Battle/Campaign:
- Oppy front
- Branch:
- Army
- Units/Ship:
- 217th Battalion
- Rank:
- Private
- Occupation:
- Lewis Gunner
Attestation
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