The Story of Johnny Smith - A Soldier Who Returned
My name is Johnny Smith and I am 23 years old. I am
one of the lucky ones. I fought in the war in the trenches
of France and survived to return home. Many of my
friends and comrades did not return and lie buried in
the battlefields. When we heard the news of the
armistice on November 11, 1918, we were overcome
with joy and much celebrating took place.
Our happiness soon turned to anger. With the end of
the war, we were so anxious to get back to our friends
and family in Canada. We expected to be home in a few
weeks. Government officials soon ended that hope and
dream. We were taken to camps in England where we
spent many months going through endless, frustrating
boring meetings and sessions of filling out forms. It
seemed that every clerk, accountant and scribe that had
ever lived had to be satisfied with a completed form of
some kind. I hear that some of our soldiers rioted at
some of the camps as they waited to go home.
Finally, as spring approached in 1919 we were taken
home. Would you believe that I was jammed into the
same troop ship that taken me to Europe to fight two years before? We even arrived at the same wharf in
Halifax as we had left from. The memories of the last two years flashed through my mind and heart as I
prepared to leave the ship.
All the bitterness and frustration of the long wait to return home soon vanished as we joined our hero’s
welcome with a huge parade in Halifax. Then, after what seemed like an endless train ride, I got to my
hometown of Hamilton where we had another great parade.
My life seemed like an emotional roller coaster as I experienced the joy of armistice, the anger of waiting
in England, the exhilaration of the welcome home and now the frustration and hurt of finding a job. I had
left behind in 1917 a wife and a one-year old son. I had to get to know them all over again. I also had to
find a job to support them. My old job in the factory had not been kept for me, so I had to go hunting. It
hurt me to think that after fighting for my country, that I would come back to be unemployed and
desperate for work.
Part of my problem in finding a job was there were so many like me. The newspapers say that every
month after New Years’ in 1919 there were 3500 soldiers returning home to Canada. We all needed jobs
and so there I was with all those thousands of other veterans who had faithfully “served” Canada who were
now unemployed. What a crushing blow after the sacrifice so many of us made that our country would
treat us like this. The politicians say that there are problems in adjusting the Canadian economy as we
move from wartime production to peacetime production and that we are experiencing a temporary
recession that will soon be over. I don’t understand that fancy political talk. All I know is that they told me
they needed me badly in 1917 when I joined the army during the poster campaign and they seem to be
saying they don’t need me.
The Story of Johnny Smith….
Answer the following questions based on the accompanying article:
1) Johnny Smith says that his life has been “an emotional roller coaster”. On the roller coaster line
below, label each up and down Johnny describes. Make sure to indicate the time, place, occasion
and reason why Johnny felt this way. The first one is already done for you.
Nov.11th 1918 – Joy- Armistice
2) Name 3 reasons why Johnny was finding life in post war-war Canada difficult:
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3) Give 1 example of an item produced during the war that would not be needed after the war. Now
think of one peacetime product that the same factory might be able to produce. What would
happen to the workers while factory switched over to the new product?
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