Collection search - Walton, William Spencer - Interview

Record information – Brief

1

Walton, William Spencer - Interview

Item number (ISN):

378998

Series title:

[The Great War and Canadian Society]

Hierarchical level:

Item (Accession level)

Date:

1974-07-11

Item number (ISN):

378998

Type of material:

Sound recordings

Found in:

Archives / Film, Video and Sound

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Record information – Details

Fonds/collection:

THE GREAT WAR AND CANADIAN SOCIETY PROJECT

Accession:

1975-0098

Media:

Sound

Part:

1 of 1

Production date:

1974-07-11

Production company:

Opportunities for Youth

Description:

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Interview of William Spencer Walton, of Belmont House, Toronto, age 80, who was born in Rostherne, England in 1894. He came to Canada in 1913. His father was a baker. When his father was age 50, the family moved to Canada because business was not prospering in England. His father drove a grocery wagon and did odd jobs. This is part of a series of recorded interviews with elderly citizens who lived in Canada during the period of World War I. The interview material consists of their opinions and observations about the war, the war years, and the effect on Canadian society during and after WWI. Subjects discussed include: working as an accountant; his salary; his working at Consumers’ Gas when he enlisted; the company offering him his job back after the war, but at the same pay, which was too low; his getting into real estate; the sentiment in Canada when his family emigrated that "no English need apply" for jobs because criminals had been sent to Canada from England and they gave the rest of the English immigrants a bad name; the type of work done at Consumers’ Gas; getting news of the First World War; worries about relatives back in England during the war; happiness of being safe in Canada with enough to eat; reasons why he enlisted; patriotism; how his secretarial skills were useful; the mimeograph procedure; serving as private secretary to the colonel of the regiment; going overseas; his desire to be posted to active duty; building railways in France; the distinction between officers and soldiers and how this formality declined once the troops were in France; how few officers insisted on privileges and how the soldiers felt little resentment toward them; going on leave to visit relatives; meeting old friends in the army; going on leave in Toulouse; roller skating; corresponding with family through field cards; problems with lice and rats; censorship of letters; censorship of information about living conditions; getting newspapers from London; how the outside world knew more about the war than did the troops; riots during demobilization because it took so long; unrest in Wales during demobilization because the soldiers were restless, wrecked canteens and stole things; reaction to discipline; the effect of the war on his health and the difficulty of proving long-term effects; women taking over jobs for men who were overseas; his difficulty settling down after the war because he did not like accountancy and wanting to work with his hands; getting a job at a factory and meeting his wife there; leaving for another job at a travel agency and then with the Department of Veterans Affairs; and his 39 years at Veterans’ Affairs in internal audit. At the end of the interview he recites a poem he wrote about the inspection department at a factory where he worked.

Language:

English

Notes:

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1. The interviews took place in 1974 and resulted in the publication of a book entitled "The Great War and Canadian Society" edited by Daphne Read - copyright 1978 - New Hogtown Press, Toronto.~2. Release forms, data sheets, and summary analysis/transcripts are available in binders labelled Opportunities for Youth - War and Canadian Society in VSA's audio-visual section.~3. The interviewee signed an agreement giving consent for a recording of this interview to be placed in the Public Archives of Canada for the purposes of historical research and also signed a publication agreement allowing any transcribed portions of the interview to be used in the book under the condition that no full names, addresses or phone numbers would be published.~4. Subject description is based on information found in the fact sheet, deposit agreement, publication agreement and summary analysis.

Detailed holdings information:

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Vault ISN:

436267

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

C01349

Vault code:

GAT

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

R/R

Technical description:

POLY

Made from:

FROM LOANED MATERIAL

Status:

MASTER

Vault ISN:

437679

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

A1 2007-05-0009

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

CD

Duration:

58:55

Status:

REF

Vault ISN:

736918

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

1975-0098/013

Vault code:

GAT

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

CASSETTE

Made from:

DEPOSIT

Status:

ORIG

Vault ISN:

1003774

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

A4 2007-05-0009

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

CD

Made from:

C01349

Status:

MASTER
Ordering and viewing options

Conditions of access:

Open

Consultation copy number:

A1 2007-05-0009

Restrictions on consultation:

No Restrictions / Pas de restrictions

Reproduction access:

With written permission of Copyright Owner / Avec la permission écrite du détenteur des droits d'auteur

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