Dòmhnall Alasdair Johnson agus an Cogadh Mòr.
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1970.36.A+B
Original Tape ID
Summary
First World War experiences.
Donald Alasdair Johnson was called up in 1916 and was first sent to Inverness Barracks. He wanted to go to sea and was assigned to the Royal Naval Division, which was part of the army. He trained in Bradford for three months and was attached to the Drake Battalion. Two Haisgeir men were there also, and he gives information on other Uist men who served with him.
He was then sent to France for final training before being sent to the front. They were given a tot of rum before going over the top. An account is given of the first attack he was involved in, and of being shot at by a sniper. They had several days off before the next attack.
They took three prisoners, and another unit found 60 Germans hiding in a cellar. Shelling began the following day and hardly a building was left standing by nightfall. The next six weeks were very quiet.
Information on further attacks: fighting for Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele, and a place called 'Suicide Corner'. They went to Ypres; they spent a week marching there. He was shot in the shoulder, was operated on and sent back to England, first to Hammersmith, then to convalesce in Broughty Ferry and then home.
He went back to the War and was wounded for a second time, in the elbow. He was sent back to London, and then to convalesce in Glamis Castle, where he saw the Queen Mother. He was demobbed. He married Anne MacLean, who died in 1962. They had no family. Donald Alasdair has been crofting since he returned home after the War.
Item Subject/Person
Johnson, Dòmhnall Alasdair
Language
Gaelic
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good