Language selection


Search veterans.gc.ca

An Accident at Caen

Heroes Remember

Transcript
We got up right on the outskirts of Caen and a reinforcement had found a grenade where... We were sneaking along underneath hedgerows that night and the sergeant said to me to get rid of t for him. He didn't know what to do with it. So I threw the thing as far as I could. It was a German concussion grenade and I could throw it a long ways and the only part on that could hurt you came back and hit me on the chin. The plug on the back, back end of it which is a miracle anyway so I was out for about two weeks. I got sent back to England, I had a (inaudible) there, I really didn't need it but when I came back two weeks later, they had advanced on past through Caen and rejoined the unit. On our platoon at that time, about a 30 man platoon or so, there was one person left in that platoon. For one reason or another the rest were gone.
Description

Mr. MacLeod describes being wounded while disposing of a German grenade, and after two weeks medical leave returning to his platoon and only finding one original member left.

Malcolm MacLeod

Malcolm MacLeod was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on March 21, 1923, and was one of three children. Despite his father being a rural school teacher, he had to complete grade twelve via correspondence. Mr. MacLeod enlisted in the army rather than the air force in the spring of 1943, and the army performed hernia surgery which he couldn't personally afford. He was quickly sent overseas to reinforce post D-Day efforts in France, joining the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders. Mr. MacLeod's war service ended near Antwerp, Belgium when his leg was badly fractured during a shelling.

Meta Data
Medium:
Video
Owner:
Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:
1:22
Person Interviewed:
Malcolm MacLeod
War, Conflict or Mission:
Second World War
Battle/Campaign:
Northwest Europe
Branch:
Army
Rank:
Private
Occupation:
Infantryman

Copyright / Permission to Reproduce

Related Videos

Date modified: