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Topic spans: 1939 - 1945
1939-1945: A Soldier's War
From 1939 to 1945 Canadian soldiers, sailors and air force personnel lived and died in lands far from home. CBC Radio was one of the few links friends and family in Canada had to their loved ones abroad. Through reports from the front, dramatizations and direct greetings from soldiers, CBC revealed what life on the battlefront was like.
18 radio clips
The slit trench
Broadcast Date: Nov. 21, 1944
"Is your man in the infantry? Do you know what it is like?" asks Capt. Athol Stewart in Holland, 1944. "Of course you don't. You have never slept in a hole in the ground which you have dug while someone tried to kill you...A trench is dug just wide enough for the shoulders, as long as the body, and as deep as there is time. It may be occupied for two hours or two weeks."The slit trench
• Soldiers hid in slit trenches to attempt to escape enemy bullets or artillery shellfire. Though the trenches offered little protection, some soldiers felt like they were safe from everything except a direct hit. Many prayed, or resigned themselves to fate.• Slit trenches also served as graves, or as latrines. They are sometimes still used on today's battlefields.
Photo: Daniel Guravich / Canada. Dept. of National Defence / National Archives of Canada PA-133168
The slit trench
Medium: Radio
Program: CBC Radio News
Broadcast Date: Nov. 21, 1944
Guest(s):
Reporter: Lt. Jack Scott, Capt. Athol Stewart
Duration: 4:28
Last updated:
Sept. 15, 2003
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18 clips in this topic . page
Radio
25:28
May 7, 1945
Victory flags are flying high, church bells are ringing, and people are celebrating in the streets. It's May 7, 1945, and the Allies have secured victory in Europe.
Radio
3:27
Dec. 30, 1941
Winston Churchill delivers an electrifying address to the Canadian Parliament during the Second World War.
The slit trench.
The CBC Digital Archives Website.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Last updated: Sept. 15, 2003.
[Page consulted on Feb. 15, 2012.]