Collection search - Beairsto, Horace Lyle - Interview

Record information – Brief

1

Beairsto, Horace Lyle - Interview

Item number (ISN):

72222

Series title:

The Royal Canadian Legion

Hierarchical level:

Item (Accession level)

Date:

1986-04-03

Item number (ISN):

72222

Type of material:

Sound recordings

Found in:

Archives / Film, Video and Sound

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Record information – Details

Fonds/collection:

ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION, THE

Accession:

1987-0506

Media:

Sound

Part:

3 of 3

Production date:

1986-04-03

Production company:

Lori Raine (Interviewer)

Sponsor:

The Royal Canadian Legion

Description:

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Oral history interview of Horace Beairsto of Sedgewick, Alberta. He speaks about the following subjects: his parents and siblings; his education; his recollections of his childhood; his wife and children; his memory of what he was doing when the Second World War was declared; his brothers Frank and Carl, who were killed while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force; his military service, first with the 14th Calgary Tank Reserve in 1942 and then joining the active force in Mewata Depot Military District 13; his military training in Calgary, Camrose and Valcartier; sailing to England on the ship Queen Elizabeth; places where he was stationed in England after completing his training; being assigned to drive vehicles such as Bren gun carriers, scout cars, tanks to different bases in England; transporting Bren gun carriers to garages in the south of England so that they could be waterproofed in preparation for the Normandy invasion; loading Bren gun carriers onto barges or freight cars as buzz bombs were overhead; his service in the central Mediterranean and Europe; travelling to Italy on a troop ship called the Argentine under corvette escort; joining the Fourth Battalion; six weeks of mountain training in Avellino; moving to the Adriatic; doing reconnaissance with the Prince Louise Dragoon Guards (nicknamed The Plugs); service in France; back to a discussion about combat in Italy; his recollection of three soldiers killed on 15 December 1944; getting wounded by a hand grenade fragment; spending Christmas Day at the 14th Field General Hospital at Perugia; rejoining his regiment; sailing from Italy to the south of France on a Liberty Ship; service in Netherlands about one month before the war ended; patrolling a triangle between Amersfoort, Apeldoorn and Nijkerk in Bren gun carriers; how he spent his time off duty; seeing his two younger brothers, Carl and Dick, while he was on duty in England; hearing the news that his brother Carl had been killed during a raid over the Ruhr Valley; his recollection that when he heard that the war was over he had a strange feeling because he was used to thinking about only one day at a time and it was hard to imagine a whole future ahead of him; how he and his comrades celebrated when the war was over, holding a party with a family in the Netherlands; going on leave in Scotland after the war; rejoining the regiment in Hilversum; street parties in the Netherlands when the war was over; holding a party for local children, who were weak from hunger; moving 50,000 prisoners of war from Rotterdam to The Hague; his postwar jobs in civilian life, such as working in his father's store, working for Begg Brothers Motors in Vancouver; running a farm and mink ranch in Sedgewick; his current job with Beairsto Brothers Limited and his 22 years as an officer with the 1752 Sedgewick Cadet Corps.

Language:

English

Notes:

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1. See binder for release form.~2. See collection file for biographical data sheet and finding aid.~3. Subject description based on transcript.

Detailed holdings information:

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Vault ISN:

71219

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

1987-0506/705
1987-0506/707

Vault code:

GAT

Number of items:

2

Kind of sound:

CASSETTE

Made from:

DEPOSIT

Status:

ORIG

Vault ISN:

143914

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

1987-0506/706

Vault code:

GAT

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

CASSETTE

Made from:

DEPOSIT

Status:

ORIG

Vault ISN:

576144

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

72222-1987-0506-705-S1.wav
72222-1987-0506-705-S2.wav
72222-1987-0506-706-S1.wav
72222-1987-0506-706-S2.wav
72222-1987-0506-707-S1.wav
72222-1987-0506-707-S2.wav

Number of items:

6

Kind of sound:

WAV

Duration:

248:47

Made from:

1987-0506/705
1987-0506/706
1987-0506/707

Status:

MASTER

Vault ISN:

576145

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

72222-1987-0506-705-S1.mp3
72222-1987-0506-705-S2.mp3
72222-1987-0506-706-S1.mp3
72222-1987-0506-706-S2.mp3
72222-1987-0506-707-S1.mp3
72222-1987-0506-707-S2.mp3

Number of items:

6

Kind of sound:

MP3

Duration:

248:47

Made from:

1987-0506/705
1987-0506/706
1987-0506/707

Status:

REF
Ordering and viewing options

Conditions of access:

Restricted by creator/donor

GENCAT identity number:

MSS 25280

Restrictions on consultation:

~With written permissions / Avec les permissions écrites

Reproduction access:

With written permissions / Avec les permissions écrites

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