Eleven Months of Action

Seen fellows killed all around you and you'd be passing them there as if you were going in on attack and you'd be jumping over them. Especially in the grain fields. You know, you wouldn't see them until you were pretty near on top of them. Fellow that would be ahead of you, he was killed. Then you see fellows falling all around you and shell fire exploding all around you and you wonder how anybody could ever survive it. There was times, when there was so much smoke and stuff and noise, that you just couldn't even hear . . . couldn't see very far.

Interviewer: And you'd just keep going through this?

Yeah

Interviewer: So . . .

And that is, you know . . . it wasn't only there. It was time after time, we'd done that. For pretty near a year afterwards. About 11 months in action. You had very little time off. Once in a while they would bring you out for a rest. Then we did have one leave back to England. But the rest of the time, it was all . . . even if they call you to bring you back or put you in the reserve or something you were still in danger of the artillery because . . . that's what I hated was that artillery.

Interviewer: Why is that?

Well you never had no protection against it. There was times that you could get into houses, something like that you had some protection, but in the slip trench, well those things coming down you didn't know where . . . some so close you could feel the heat on them, they were landing that close. And when they exploded, Mr. Man, I'll tell you! It was some racket. And sweat . . . so scared I'd see the water running off me like someone pouring water on my head.