Collection search - Neal, James - Interview

Record information – Brief

1

Neal, James - Interview

Item number (ISN):

380549

Series title:

[The Great War and Canadian Society]

Hierarchical level:

Item (Accession level)

Date:

1974-07-08

Item number (ISN):

380549

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:

1974-07-08

Production company:

Opportunities for Youth

Production credit:

interviewer, Sharon Mintz

Description:

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Interview of James Neal of Toronto, age 76, who was born in England. Subjects he discusses include: his childhood in Toronto; going to the Mail and Empire building in Toronto to read about the war; seeing a man with a Union Jack draped over his body to demonstrate his patriotism; working at a grocery store on College Street; his deciding to enlist; being rejected because he was under age; lying about his age to get into the army; army training in and around Harbord Collegiate; training at Camp Borden until 21 October 1914; poor conditions at Camp Borden; a visit by Sam Hughes; soldiers being ordered not to carry water bottles while on parade; soldiers angry at Sam Hughes; getting used to army discipline; sailing for overseas on the Mauritania; a rumour aboard the Mauritania about a German submarine attack; the arrival in Liverpool and being taken to Bramshott camp; a friend who died of spinal meningitis and the subsequent quarantine of the battalion; two drafts being sent to the 58th and 75th Battalions; ending up with the 134th Battalion; training at Whitby camp; crossing the English Channel to go to the combat zone; more about the strenuous military training he received in England; route marches; more training in France; joining the 19th Battalion; the relationship with officers; a letter written by a lonely soldier in the publication Jack Canuck; his battle experiences; going into the front line; having to dig into the white chalk because the trench he was in was very shallow; getting hit by a piece of metal; a story about stretcher bearers falling into shell holes; his ending up in a convalescent home on the French coast; conditions at the convalescent home; returning to the unit and applying to be a company scout; a story about getting food and a drink of rum; raids by the Canadians against the Germans; a story about two men from the Van Doos regiment putting a Union Jack up behind the German lines; the lack of hostile feelings between English Canadian soldiers and French Canadian soldiers; the rescue of two captured Canadian soldiers; machine gun batteries; becoming a gunner; not being able to change his mud-saturated uniform; gong on leave to England; returning to action in France and finding his battalion in Amiens; the fighting in Amiens; a story about a soldier who killed German prisoners who were walking to their prison camps; a gas attack; being hospitalized; returning to his unit for Armistice Day; his not believing that the war was over at that time; serving in the army of occupation in Germany; being in the pouring rain without a raincoat, although the officers had raincoats; the lack of lice and other improved living conditions while in Germany; his arrival in Toronto, where he was welcomed by his family; having trouble finding a job at first; going to business college; family members who worked for the Eaton’s department store; how Eaton’s treated its employees who enlisted; some animosity between conscripts and volunteer soldiers; his mother knitting for the Red Cross; a pass for the YMCA given to war veterans; his not being sorry that he fought in World War One and his opinion that he would “hate like the devil to go through it again”; his postwar job with Rowntree’s for 38 years; working as a purchasing agent for an air observer school during the Second World War; and some comments on society after 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:

437653

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

C01998

Vault code:

GAT

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

R/R

Technical description:

POLY

Made from:

FROM LOANED MATERIAL

Status:

MASTER

Vault ISN:

737163

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

1975-0098/211

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

CASSETTE

Made from:

DEPOSIT

Status:

ORIG

Vault ISN:

737164

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

1975-0098/212

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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Date modified:: 2024-05-10