Collection search - Holmes, William J. - Interview

Record information – Brief

1

Holmes, William J. - Interview

Item number (ISN):

379348

Series title:

[The Great War and Canadian Society]

Hierarchical level:

Item (Accession level)

Date:

1974-07-11

Item number (ISN):

379348

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, Catherine MacLeod

Description:

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Interview of William J. Holmes, age 74, of Toronto, who was born in a log house on farm near Belleville, Ontario in 1899. He talks about: his father’s farm; his childhood; the family’s religion; his strict religious upbringing; studying for the ministry at Albert College but leaving his studies; his view that the First World War brought people closer to religion and the church; working in the grain field when the Methodist Minister came by with news that the war had broken out; the shock of hearing the news even thought it was expected; his brothers not enlisting because they were married; his running away to enlist to get away from home, even though he was under age; his father finding out and getting him out of the army before he went overseas; his view that it was a just war; a thunderstorm that killed a number of people on Queenston Heights; a story about soldiers throwing a mean officer over the side of a ship before they got to Europe; his being needed on the farm during wartime; his later resentment that his father had gotten him out of the army; how the war affected people’s lives, especially those who lost relatives; how the war gave Canadians a sense of themselves as a nation; how Canadian soldiers adjusted to military discipline, training and military life; Canadian Prime Ministers Robert Borden, William Lyon Mackenzie King and Arthur Meighen; conscription; not noticing any food shortages on the farm; his leaving the farm for good in 1928; how unions came along after the war because of unemployment; the influenza epidemic; a story about a submarine, and his opinion of the U.S. troops during the war.

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:

436416

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

C01427

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

R/R

Technical description:

POLY

Duration:

133:00

Made from:

FROM LOANED MATERIAL

Status:

MASTER

Vault ISN:

737105

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

1975-0098/142

Vault code:

GAT

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

CASSETTE

Made from:

DEPOSIT

Status:

ORIG
Ordering and viewing options

Conditions of access:

Open

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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