Collection search - Neil, Richard H. - Interview

Record information – Brief

1

Neil, Richard H. - Interview

Item number (ISN):

379013

Series title:

[The Great War and Canadian Society]

Hierarchical level:

Item (Accession level)

Date:

1974-06-25

Item number (ISN):

379013

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:

1974-06-25

Production company:

Opportunities for Youth

Production credit:

interviewer, Bradley K. Adams

Description:

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Interview of Richard H. Neil, age 81, who was born in Orangeville in 1893. Subjects discussed include: his enlisting at age 21; his being naive at that point, having come from a sheltered, comfortable life on a farm; the preponderance of British immigrants among the men who enlisted first; the decision to enlist to get a "free ride home" for the immigrants, to have an adventure and travel, and out of loyalty to Britain and the Empire; Toronto as a good place in which to grow up; typhoid fever in the summertime; the variety of income levels in the Jarvis Street area and the lack of apparent class lines; his graduation from high school in 1912, unsure of what to do; being on a canoe trip when the war broke out; enlisting in the Queen’s Own; the nickname "Baby’s Own" because most of the enlisted men were like himself, still wet behind the ears; the desire to throw off the shackles of farm work or factory work as another reason to enlist; the sense of comradeship among the soldiers; having no problems adjusting to the life of a soldier; his sense that he was a typical soldier, not ambitious; the militia experience of most of the officers; army pay; hardships at the front, such as lice and the dampness; the foolhardiness of youth, leading to high casualties; getting wounded at Passchendaele; convalescing in an English camp; contracting tuberculosis; not wanting to be sent home and being a "consumptive"; wanting to go back to the front; the strong sense of companionship and wanting to back among his friends at the front; the awareness of death; training versus actual fighting; the supremacy of British methods; how much of the pageantry was dropped once the soldiers got to France, but the discipline was the same; the continuation after the war of the sense of camaraderie; recollections of general aspects of battles; memories of Ypres; examples of life at the front, such as cold steaks and Christmas dinner; the preparations for the Battle of Vimy Ridge and his role in it; the German counterattacks; bringing up reserves; meeting his brother at the front; momentum in the fighting; gas attacks; losses; the panic caused by gas attacks; his view that most of the non-commissioned officers were quite capable; the self-sufficiency of the Canadian soldier; his feeling sorry for the young, inexperienced soldiers coming up in the reserves; the mortality rate in his battalion; a patrol to root out Germans just before the Armistice; the breakdown of military discipline when the war was over; fighting influenza among the troops; the riot at [Witley] over hucksters cheating soldiers; soldiers anxious to get back to Canada; his learning to accept discomfort and human nature; the lack of bitterness toward the average German soldier; a story about a young German prisoner; his feelings of loneliness when he returned to Toronto; the sense of loss for the people killed in the war; school chums killed in the war; and the camaraderie among the veterans.

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. 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.~4. 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.
~5. 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:

436274

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

C01356

Vault code:

GAT

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

R/R

Technical description:

POLY

Made from:

FROM LOANED MATERIAL

Status:

MASTER

Vault ISN:

436275

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

C01357

Vault code:

GAT

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

R/R

Technical description:

POLY

Made from:

FROM LOANED MATERIAL

Status:

MASTER

Vault ISN:

438317

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

A1 2007-05-0023

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

CD

Duration:

79:28

Status:

REF

Vault ISN:

438321

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

A1 2007-05-0024

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

CD

Duration:

67:47

Status:

REF

Vault ISN:

736933

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

1975-0098/033
1975-0098/034

Vault code:

GAT

Number of items:

2

Kind of sound:

CASSETTE

Made from:

DEPOSIT

Status:

ORIG

Vault ISN:

1003787

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

A4 2007-05-0023

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

CD

Made from:

C01356
C01356
C01357

Status:

MASTER

Vault ISN:

1003788

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

A4 2007-05-0024

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

CD

Made from:

C01356
C01357

Status:

MASTER
Ordering and viewing options

Conditions of access:

Open

Consultation copy number:

A1 2007-05-0023
A1 2007-05-0024

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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