Collection search - Morris, Burt - Interview

Record information – Brief

1

Morris, Burt - Interview

Item number (ISN):

379015

Series title:

[The Great War and Canadian Society]

Hierarchical level:

Item (Accession level)

Date:

1974-07-11

Item number (ISN):

379015

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

Production credit:

interviewer, Bradley K. Adams

Description:

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Interview of Burt Morris, age 78, who was born on a farm 12 miles from Petrolia, Ontario, in 1896, fought in the First World War and later became a civil engineer. Subjects discussed include: Oil Springs; his high school education; farming; his father’s encouraging him to get an education at a time when it was rare for the sons of farmers to go to school; his wanting to be an engineer; the Barnardo Boys as farm labourers; his view that the Barnardo Boys, who were from England, were not very good, but his higher opinion of the English after he was in the army; his father; drunkenness among farm workers; temperance; literature for boys; reading the Christian Guardian; his public school education; the mistreatment of the Barnardo Boys; more on his high school education; finding out that war was declared in August 1914 when he was building at fence at the front of the house; his father’s stopping him from enlisting then; going to Normal School in 1914 to become a teacher; teaching in Morris, Saskatchewan; the Mennonite community in the area; reasons for enlisting, including a desire for adventure and to see the world, and the pride of belonging to the British Empire; his resignation from the teaching job after 6 months and going to Morris to enlist; his enjoyment of army life; at army camp in Manitoba; his father’s acceptance of his decision; going overseas in February 1916; on the troop train; a friend buying whiskey from a bootlegger when the train stopped in Montreal, but the liquid turned out to be urine; shipping Americans, who joined the Canadian army, overseas as fast as possible so they would not desert; the trip across the Atlantic Ocean and to Bramshott Camp in England; poor camp conditions due to bad weather; an incident with a horse; the 10th Field Ambulance Corps; the arrogance of officers; how the Canadian Army was less hierarchical over time, with many officers coming up through the ranks, a reason for the army’s effectiveness; his transfer to the Machine Gun Corps to get a commission; being in England when the war ended; the Ypres Salient; the fighting at Sanctuary Wood; his work as a stretcher bearer under shell fire; going to shows while in on leave in Paris and visiting Versailles; the good reputation of the Salvation Army aid workers; the Red Cross; the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA); the dislike by the soldiers of the YMCA because its members included "enlistable" men; how war became normal life for soldiers; no contact with conscripts; boarding with a French family; in a Sussex camp during the Armistice, where discipline was maintained; the breakdown of discipline among the troops elsewhere; drinking among the men during the Armistice; the Camp Commandant calling muster, standing on a kitchen table and threatening them with military discipline if they did not get themselves under control; the soldiers getting leave so they would get out of the camp; his return home on January 1, 1919; feeling like a fish out of water when he was demobilized; not wanting to talk about the war and being uncomfortable around civilians; and university as the best place to adjust because half the men studying engineering were veterans; his decision not to marry the Winnipeg girl with whom he had been corresponding, because he had changed in the war and she hadn’t; his work for the [Hearst Engineering Firm]; working throughout the Winnipeg General Strike; a job on a work train; working conditions; foreigners employed on the work train; building a pipeline; problems during construction; Communists among the workers; fear that the Russian Revolution would prolong the First World War; his university education; his university colleagues; his career; how the war taught maturity, organization and how to get along with people; and how some workers were treated at Bell Telephone. <65mn 5s>

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.
~6. Fact sheet lists his name as Burt Morris and the date of the interview as 11 June 1974, but the deposit agreement/publication agreement lists him as H. Morris and the date of the interview as 11 July 1974.

Detailed holdings information:

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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:

436276

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

C01358

Vault code:

GAT

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

R/R

Technical description:

POLY

Made from:

FROM LOANED MATERIAL

Status:

MASTER

Vault ISN:

438378

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

A1 2007-05-0030

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

CD

Duration:

79:28

Status:

REF

Vault ISN:

438382

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

A1 2007-05-0031

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

CD

Duration:

79:28

Status:

REF

Vault ISN:

736935

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

1975-0098/036
1975-0098/037

Vault code:

GAT

Number of items:

2

Kind of sound:

CASSETTE

Made from:

DEPOSIT

Status:

ORIG

Vault ISN:

1003794

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

A4 2007-05-0030

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

CD

Made from:

1976-0012/1
C01357
C01358

Status:

MASTER

Vault ISN:

1003795

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

A4 2007-05-0031

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

CD

Made from:

C01357
C01358
C01359

Status:

MASTER
Ordering and viewing options

Conditions of access:

Open

Consultation copy number:

A1 2007-05-0030
A1 2007-05-0031

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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