George Carrigan is Mr. Masters’ grandfather. He was a veteran of the Great War, who went off to fight in that conflict with five of his brothers. George was born in rural Nova Scotia, and he often spoke of the war as an opportunity to escape the limited opportunities that awaited him. He was among the initial volunteers and he trained in the Sam Hughes camp at Valcartier and was among the Canadians to arrive in England and then in France. His division was shipped to the front at Ypres, where he was involved in the German chlorine gas attack of April 22, 1915. Wounded on several occasions, he was eventually discharged in May 1918 and sent back to Canada, where he re-settled in Nova Scotia before re-locating to Ontario. He died in 1991 at the age of 102.
In October 2014 Len Carrigan, George’s son, spoke to Mr. Masters, sharing firsthand accounts that he remembered about George Carrigan.
Videos
- 1. Len Carrigan - Memories of His Father George Carrigan, World War One Veteran.mp4
- 2. Prewar Occupations.mp4
- 3. George's Medical Fitness; Fighting for King and Country.mp4
- 4. Valcartier and Salisbury Plain.mp4
- 5. Going into the Trenches; Ypres.mp4
- 6. The Gas Attack.mp4
- 7. Sharing Memories.mp4
- 8. From Ypres to the Somme.mp4
- 9. The Somme.mp4
- 10. Gallipoli.mp4
- 11. Convalescence; A Sniper's Bullet.mp4
- 12. Return to Canada; The Kentville Soldiers Hospital.mp4
- 13. Massachusetts, Rochester and Nova Scotia.mp4
- 14. Armistice Day.mp4
- 15. Memories of Doug; School.mp4
- 16. World War Two.mp4
- 17. Summer 1945.mp4
- 18. Postwar Work.mp4
- 19. The Photo with Stuart.mp4
