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Description
Mr. Green recalls being gassed by the Germans while at the Front Lines of Northern France. He describes how the German soldiers were quite surprised to find any survivors let alone enough left for defence.
Transcription
Interviewer: Did you, were you affected by the gas where they let the gas?
I was and it was on the 23rd day of April in 1915, I remember it well.
Interviewer: Oh dear.
It killed a lot of people, it didn't kill me. My training as a boy scout for the forest fire, you got a blanket around your head, a damp blanket.
Interviewer: Oh that's what you did eh? (Yeah) Good. And you were actually, could you actually see the enemy from your trenches? Were you close to the enemy line?
Oh, they came to see us. (Did they? ) It was an attack. We had to defend Canada against the Germans and they were coming in after the gas evaporated and they apparently had been told that nothing possibly could live it. And they came with the rifles slung over their shoulder, smoking cigarettes and talking to each other. (Really? ) And then they got near us, the people who were, the soldiers were over here were from the north of Africa.
Interviewer: Yeah, oh, Algeria . . .
And they ran, they didn't do anything they just ran. So we had to throw our line around on a forty-five degree and we had to get the Germans as they came down.
Interviewer: Did you succeed? (What? ) Did you succeed?
Oh yes, they were very much upset about it. They ran back.