Military Oral History Project

By Col (Ret) John C. Eggenberger

The University of Victoria and RUSI of VI have joined in launching an Oral History Project. It will train graduate students in the skills and techniques of interviewing veterans, thus continuing the outstanding Oral History Library created at UVIC by Dr. Reginald Roy. Our two members representing RUSI are Dr. Reg Roy and Col John Eggenberger, PhD.

The project is designed to preserve the experiences of Canadian military veterans for future generations; and, to provide ready access of primary sources for historians and for students, to learn from veterans.

UVIC Special Collections

Within the University of Victoria Library Special Collections resides a Canadian Military Oral History Collection that is composed of hundreds of taped and transcribed interviews with veterans of primarily the World Wars. Over 370 recordings done by Dr. Roy and his students are the largest holding in this category. Summaries of the interviews can be found by searching the Canadian Military Oral history collection by subject.

It took 30 years to record approximately 400 reels of tape in these collections. Many of the interviews were made by Dr. Roy's students working part-time on DND funds. Each interview has thus to be seen not as an assembly of facts. It is rather, a product of collaboration between the interviewer and the interviewee. What is said on each tape must be heard, and is indeed listed in a guide, in the context of not just the interviewee but also of the interviewer and the project they represent.

This primary collection has been used frequently by historians and researchers from across Canada and Europe. Now it will be expanded to cover our military oral history from the end of the Second World War, by a graduate-level semester oral history course at UVIC.

Semester Course

The semester course will be modeled upon the trial project, successfully completed under the direction of Professor D. Zimmerman (Military History) during this past winter term. Five UVIC students from a senior undergraduate course selected essay topics, and then were matched with RUSI of VI veterans who had been involved with the topic events.

Topics and interviewees  were:

• Normandy, The breakout - Former B.C. Lt. Gov. Robert Rogers
• RCAF Bombing operations over Europe - F/L (Ret) G. Wright
• Cyprus, the early days - BGen (Ret) Larry Gollner
• Naval air Operations – Col (Ret) Stan Brygadyr
• Korea - Kapyong - LCol (Ret) John Bishop.

A five hour (each hour separate) seminar was developed by Dr. R. Roy and J. Eggenberger which enabled the students to conduct a responsible interview, recorded on tape – and then used as a primary source for the essay.

The essays were very well done, and the interviewees and interviewers all reported enthusiasm for the project.

It is planned to commence the acquisition of oral history materials as soon as is practicable. Funds are being sought for the project in the order of $20,000 annually. These funds will dedicate $5,000 to deliver the semester course, $10,000 for the collection and cataloging of oral history materials, and $5,000 to defray the costs of operating the oral history section of the special collections area, located in the McPherson Library of the University of Victoria.

An account with the UVIC Development and External Relations department has been authorized. It will hold deposited donations and tax receipts for donations will be issued by the University of Victoria as appropriate. The name of this initiative is “The University of Victoria--Royal United Services Institute of Vancouver Island Veterans Oral History Project”.  Dr. David Zimmerman, University of Victoria, will manage the project with authority to disburse funds from the account in support of the project.

Well qualified persons, skilled in conducting oral history interviews are available to begin work by this Sept. It is expected that “on average” each interview will require 1-hour preparation time, 3-hours of interview, with 1-hour required for writing up the synopsis of the interview for final cataloging and web-site uploading.

It is proposed to pay the interviewer $40 per hour for this work, so initially each interview will cost $200. RUSI VI will be in a support role here; the Liaison Group will assure a good connection with potential interviewees from all military organizations on Vancouver Island – as well as link with veterans who do not belong to any of these organizations. The prospective interviewees will be briefed upon the project, and then made known to the interviewer.

RUSI VI has formed a liaison group that will provide certain oversight to the project including finding suitable veterans for interviews. Considerable thought and work was devoted to making sure that the relationship between the student and the veteran was positive. Meetings were set up, and administrative matters of a variety of sorts enabled the work to get done on time and in an efficient manner. It is intended that RUSI VI will continue to carry out this mandate during the life of the project.    _