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Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.
Transcript
Our major was Major Wiggan. He was a man that I would say him and God walked together, put it that way. At any time or activity where we were in danger, he would always have us out of there before the danger got there. And he just seemed to have a sixth sense to do this or to do that and get out. And we owe a lot, our lives to that major. Because he got us out of places where I could tell you that would make your hair stand on end. He had orders to take us to this certain area and to round up the mechanics. And he was moved out of this area. He got there and he said, I don’t like it, I’m moving out of here. Let’s get out down the road. Sergeant-Major came along and told me - I looked after electrical equipment - told me to pack up all the electrical equipment and get out of here, we’re moving. So we did. We got out of there that night and boom, they landed two bombs right in the middle of the camp where we were. We had such things as that happen three times. And this major, don’t know whether he had a sixth sense or whether God had directed him or what. But he got us out three times that we could have got badly, badly hurt. We worked unloading vehicles and one Sunday he says, you guys go into town and have a bit of time. I want nobody in the camp. That afternoon, there landed a Buzz Bomb [German missile] right in the middle of the camp, boom. There were a lot of us would have been killed. He seemed to have a sixth sense that major, to move at the right time and get out to the right place. And Major Wiggan was his name. We were moving [in Belgium] and I turned this corner and I hit a bit of a rut and I rolled a tire on my 1600 weight [truck] and got left behind fixing it. So anyway, I got the tire fixed up, of course, the others had moved on. When we came along later, but not knowing where in Sam Hill we were going. And we were sailing along, we come to a place where trees were burning and everything was drawing fire and [the next thing I hear is] “get out of here, get out of here, enemy, Germans, Huns”! We were behind the lines! And we got out of there in a hurry.