Page 11 - The Halifax Explosion & Going to Siberia

ISSUE : Issue 34

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1983/8/1

didn't, it didn't. But all the people to Citadel Hill, on the side of Citadel Hill, and they were black there--the crowd. And it was cold. It was a cold, frosty, still morning, you know. And the next day was worse, the next day was a big storm. Next, we opened up an emergency hospital on Spring Garden Road in the old Colonels' Mess. We had 65 patients. I had 6 women and one baby first, and a 3-month-old baby, and mother, had her head almost cut off, only the main cord. She's living in Hali? fax yet--she'll be 92 next month. I send her flowers every year, and I go to see her every time I go to Halifax. She was a married woman. She was in bed. In those days, most of the homes in the country had wide waistboards. It broke off of the wall and cut her head almost off, but one par? ticular cord. And she was all bound. And I had to look after them without a nurse for 4 nights, from 6 o'clock till 7 in the morning. After that, we get nurses from the Montreal General Hospital and the Mas? sachusetts General Hospital. The officer gave me charge of the desk, then. On the parade ground the morning after the Halifax Explosion, there was a returned man there that I knew from Waterford. And I said to him, "This will give us an idea of what we'll run up against in France," He said, "You won't see anything as bad as this in France." In April, we closed out the hospital. Then I volunteered for Siberia, Russia. Spent 9 months in a city called Vladivostok. I was assistant to the doctor there. After 9 months we left there, and arrived in Hali? fax June 6th, 1919. Ken MacLeod: We were training for guerilla warfare because we didn't know what we were going to get up against when we got down in Siberia. A revolution was on there. Ken MacLeod and John K. Fraser, two men who served in Siberia. you know, the Russian Revolution, they called it. The Russian army gave up, where they were fightin the Germans; they gave up and they quit altogether, threw down their arms. That's why we were sent down there to fight. They called them the Bol? sheviks. There were the Red Russians and the White Russians. The White Russians were on our side, and the Red Russians were the Bolsheviks, which were fighting against the Russian government. (Were you to go there and fight Russians?) Oh, yes. We were to fight the Red Russians. There was a small lot of Polish there, and Czech- oslovakians went down there with us. And the Canadians. And the British had quite a big force there--they even took up quite a few men from down in South Africa. And the Americans, they had over a hundred thou? sand troops in there at that time, too. The Americans and the Japs took the brunt of the fighting. We went aboard a troop ship at Esquimault, B. C. On the way down to Siberia, we ran into a tjrphoon off Japan. It was a terri? fic storm. We were making 12 knots, and the sea started running mountains high. And when the troop ship tipped on one of Capt Bmon 3Be6 Welcome To Tour Home A'iiiray From Home! Our Bed and Breakfast program enables you to stay with Cape Breton families and experience the Island's famous hospitality first hand. Look for our welcoming signs all across the Island: in coastal fishing villages, in the scenic highlands, close to beaches, museums and shopping. We invite you to come and make new friends, explore special places, sleep soundly and enjoy home cooking. A list of Bed and Breakfast homes can be obtained at any Cape Breton Tourist Association Bureau. This project is supervised by the Cape Breton Development Corporation. More information can be obtained by writing: P. O. Box 1750, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada BIP 6T7 Attention: Ray Peters. Cape Breton Bed and Breakfast WELCOME TO YOUR NEW HOME AWAY FROM HOME! Family Planning Resource Team Box 1598, Sydney, Nova Scotia BIP 6R8 Telephone: 539-5158 I Every Child a Wanted Child' | Office: 180 Charlotte Street, Sydney INFORMATION * COUNSELLING * REFERRAL CHETICAMP '22A-'2SA Situated on the beautiful Cabot Trail, cranuned with all those little things that you forgot at home, as well as gifts, souvenirs, books, and magazines... to make your vacation even more enjoyable! Bring your sandy feet in to see us, and do have a very pleasant vacation. COMPLETE PRESCRIPTION SERVICE OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK (ii:

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