Plows, Arthur Howard: my Army recollections (August 18, and 31, 1978)

Interviewer: Main, Chris D.

Rank: Major.

Interviewee: Plows, Arthur Howard, b. 1903

ABSTRACT: Maj. Arthur Howard Plows Canadian Scottish Regiment Plows_A_0116_01.mp3 (Side 1) Born on Nov. 15, 1903 in Victoria, B.C. Father and two brothers served in the Army in the Great War. Became a rural school teacher. Joined the 2nd Battalion, Canadian Scottish Regiment. Gives some details of the composition of the Canadian Scottish Regiment, how various highland regiments amalgamated to become the 16th Battalion, C.E.F. (15:00) Details of training dispersed units of the 2nd Battalion, recruiting problems in 1939/40, lack of boots, etc. (30:00a) Commissioned in the mid thirties. The battalion was stationed at several camps on southern Vancouver Island before moving to Debert, N.S. (45:00) Plows_A_0116_02.mp3 where, among other things, they began training in tactics and as ski troops. As a captain he took the advance party to England. (20:00) Admiration for the British people. Describes the old barracks at Aldershot. (30:00) Plows_A_0116_03.mp3 (Side 2) Living conditions in England; barrack stores, rations were a bit scanty by Canadian standards. Considerable sports activity mingled with intensive training. (15:00) Defended the south coast of England. Many were anxious to get into the war and requested transfers to the reinforcement stream to Italy. As exercises became more professional soldiers' outlook changed and grumbling became less pronounced. (25:00) Mentions Dieppe and the effect on the 2nd Canadian Division. Assault training over beaches began. (35:00) Describes the "mix" in an assault craft; usually included support services such as engineers, perhaps an R.A.F. officer, provost carrying signs, an artillery observation officer, naval wireless operator, and so on. (45:00) Plows_A_0116_04.mp3 Every sort of equipment was made available to the troops, almost on a personal wish basis. Trained with tanks. British battle school in Yorkshire. Boarded their landing craft on June 4, 1944. Went ashore in small assault craft on D-Day. Describes sights and sounds. At the beach dropped into about eight feet of water, paddled ashore, and moved inland. Describes German opposition. Believes that the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division was used properly and was well trained. (30:00) Comments on Falaise. Company commander. On July 8, 1944 he was wounded during heavy fighting. Although his wound was not serious, he was evacuated to England as there were no proper hospital facilities in Normandy. Returned to the Canadian Scottish Regiment in Oct. 1944. (48:00)

An interview/narrative of Arthur Howard Plows's experiences during World War II. Major Plows served with the Canadian Scottish Regiment. Interview took place on August 18 and 31, 1978.

In Collection:

• Canadian Military Oral Histories

Contributor

• Main, Chris D.
• Plows, Arthur Howard, b. 1903

Subject

• Dieppe Raid (1942)
• World War (1939-1945)
• Naval history
• World War (1914-1918)
• Military history

Language

• eng

Date created

• August 18, 1978

Relation

• Part of the Reginald H. Roy collection of interviews.

Resource type

• Sound

Rights statement

• In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Extent

• 4 sound recordings (MP3)

Geographic coverage

• British Columbia--Victoria
• England

Coordinates

• 52.16045, -0.70312
• 48.4359, -123.35155

Additional physical characteristics

• One original sound tape reel (ca. 165 min.) : 1 7/8 ips, 2 track, mono. ; 2 sound cassette copies : standard, mono. in Special Collections.

Physical repository

• University of Victoria (B.C.). Library

Collection

• Canadian Military Oral History Collection

Provider

• University of Victoria (B.C.). Library

Genre

• interviews
• sound recordings
• oral histories (literary genre)
• reminiscences

Archival item identifier

• PAH_116

Fonds title

• Reginald Herbert Roy fonds

Fonds identifier

• SC104

Is referenced by

• Special Collections Finding Aid: https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org/reginald-herbert-roy-fonds

Date digitized

• August 16, 2006

Technical note

• Digital sound recording in .wav format at 16 bits and 22 kHz. In .mp3 format at 56 kbps and 22 kHz. Digitized by SC and JF, technical and cataloguing metadata provided by JF and JP. Transferred from audio reel to audio cassette between 1987-1997. Interview migrated to digital format for UVic Special Collections in 2006. Migration metadata by KD and MT.

Rights

• This interview has been posted with the understanding that it may be used for research purposes only. Should the interviewee or their heirs have any objections to this interview being accessible on the Internet, it will be removed promptly. Contact UVic Special Collections for permission if using for other than research purposes: speccoll@uvic.ca

DOI

•  https://doi.org/10.58066/n0kr-qh50

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