The trenches of Vimy Ridge left their mark
The four Bliss brothers (Pat, Joe, Tassiverie and Billy) all fought in the trenches of the First World War on the Western Front, but only two had the distinction of fighting at Vimy Ridge 100 years ago this week. For Joe and Tassiverie (also known as Tassie), their experiences during those intense days would mark them for the rest of their lives.
“Joe was wonderful. Sometimes when he would have a couple drinks, he would talk about the war. There was always a sadness to him when he spoke of it,” remembers his niece Daisy Legare.
“And Tassie was strong,” she adds. “He had one arm off he lost in the war. He was a good guy, but he was sad a lot too, eh? He had bad memories of the war.”
Daisy points to a picture of Joe in his younger days, standing beside his older brother Pat with a big smile on his face wearing sixguns, chaps and tall cowboy hat — a common outfit for Joe in those days. Joe died at Vimy Ridge, she says; it just took a few more decades to make it official.
“He told me about the story where he was wounded,” she remembers. “The doctor and nurse they had overseas, they stood beside him at the hospital and pronounced him dead. That’s how badly wounded he was. They sewed him up in one of them (body) bags, and he started screaming.
“The doctor later told Joe the nurse fainted and he almost had a heart attack. Joe died when some shrapnel dug into his brain. He was 57 years old. So, in a way, he was killed at Vimy Ridge.”
A few months after the battle, Joe’s brother Billy came to visit him in the hospital at Norwich, England, and sent a letter home to his father Bill Sr., parts of which were published in the Medicine Hat News at the time. Joe was eager to recount his experience at Vimy Ridge.
“Joe’s first story after awakening and finding his brother beside him was the story that will never be forgotten — how they took Vimy Ridge,” the News wrote in summary. “They went over the top of the bags ‘as easy as going over a fence,’ and then the barrage dropped and the boys continued going over in waves.”
A little later, the same column makes mention of Joe’s brother Tassie.
“Tassie is back again at the front,” it reads. “He was also wounded at the Ridge. He has been hit three times but is in the fray again.”
Tassie would be out of the war for good a few months later when he got hit by a shell round near Mons and had his arm severed.
Daisy fights back tears as she recalls Tassie’s horrific story of how he got his injury. (Warning: the following passage has some graphic details).
“He told me he was sitting next to his best buddy, and he had his arm around him. Tassie said he saw the Angel of Mons, and when he turned to tell his buddy what he saw, he suddenly looked down and saw he had his arm off, and his buddy’s head was laying on the ground beside him.”
The Angel of Mons was a persistent legend that came out of the war. Tassie always figured the angel had saved his life when the shell struck him.
“Tassie received an Angel of Mons medal. There are only two I know of who ever received it,” said Legare.
Sadly, the incident caused Tassie to suffer from PTSD for the rest of his life.
“That’s why my mother took care of him right to the end,” said Legare. “He never really had a normal life after he lost his arm.”
Joe, on the other hand, carried on cheerfully until the Vimy wounds finally took him.
“We had fun with Joe,” remembers Legare with a sad smile. “When he got sick and was sent up to the Belcher hospital in Calgary, he fell into a coma there and died.”
Legare will be thinking of Tassie and Joe in particular as she watches the Vimy Ridge 100-year anniversary ceremony on Sunday.