Collection search - McQueen, William N. - Interview

Record information – Brief

1

McQueen, William N. - Interview

Item number (ISN):

380579

Series title:

[The Great War and Canadian Society]

Hierarchical level:

Item (Accession level)

Date:

1974-07-15

Item number (ISN):

380579

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:

1974-07-15

Production company:

Opportunities for Youth

Production credit:

interviewer, William Richardson

Description:

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Interview of W.N. McQueen, age 84, who was born on a farm in Huron County in 1890. He talks about: his family; attending university; farming then and now; fruit farming; his siblings; being pushed into the direction of the ministry while at university; going overseas in 1916 as a honorary captain with the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMWA) attached to a Belleville-area battalion; his experiences in battle overseas; hand-to-hand combat; a counter-attack; getting wounded; the miserable conditions in hospital in France, where patients were dying and there were screens around beds; the life of the ordinary soldier; some reflections on the Second World War and the proliferation of nuclear weapons; anti-German feeling in the ranks; trench warfare; the miserable business of night raids; constant fear and hostility; his graduation in 1912; being invited to join the YMCA after that; his convalescence in London; being strapped to a board because of his leg injury; being sent back to Canada on a hospital ship; more convalescence in Canada at a hospital for officers; getting released from army; his unsuccessful effort to get into the air force; giving lectures under the auspices of the Red Cross; an interjection by his wife at this point in the interview to describe this work; Americans getting into the First World War; people’s attitudes about the Germans; how he met his wife; his return to Toronto; various jobs he held after the war, such as with a publishing company and with an association to help returned veterans; loans to help veterans get more education; the fellowship among returned veterans at university; postwar adjustment to civilian life; an interjection by his wife at this point in the interview that the veterans believed in the work ethic; recollections by his wife of disembarking soldiers and the sense of sadness over the tremendous slaughter in the war; his recollection that people liked being in the army because they had no responsibility, whereas after the war they were back on their own; postwar changes in society, notably changes in attitudes about religion; his wife’s comments postwar changes in moral standards; church attendance; and his wife’s comment that in a democracy it is necessary to have some common standards by which people guide their lives.

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. Poor audio quality.

Detailed holdings information:

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Vault ISN:

437699

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

C02498

Vault code:

GAT

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

R/R

Technical description:

POLY

Made from:

FROM LOANED MATERIAL

Status:

MASTER

Vault ISN:

737191

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

1975-0098/243

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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