Yet they made good, fulfilled their contracts, went on to productive lives, raising families and rarely talked about their past.
And I suppose the greatest contribution they made was to serve in the armed forces during the two world wars. Women as well as men “took part in Canada's war effort in large numbers, not only through direct participation in the armed forces and auxiliary services, but also in business, industry and agriculture while large numbers of Canadian men served overseas.” *
My great uncle was one of those who went. Aged just 17 and having been in Canada for just a year he enlisted in the August of 1915. Now I have written about his troubled first year in Canada on farms across New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and his equally colourful record of four court-martials but today I just want to explore the experiences of a young man who lied about his age, changed his name and spent three years fighting for his adopted country.
I am sure his was a common experience. After enlisting he was posted to Britain in the November of 1915 and was stationed at East Sandling in Kent in preparation for going to France.
A few of his letters have survived and they reflected the routines of army life.
“I was shooting on the ranges a day ago. We are in huts and it is fearful muddy all around, we have bayonet fighting, physical drill etc.”
The usual preoccupation of waiting for pay day followed by the comment that “the Canadian Government put half our pay in the bank so that of our $33 a month $16 go in the bank”
In some ways army life was suiting him, “I have” he wrote “put a bit of flesh on since you saw me last.” But his inability to get on with authority led him to the first of his court-martials for refusing to follow orders. And in all of this there was that ever present knowledge that at some point soon he would be shipped to France.
There are no letters from his time on active service but there are his military records which track him across the three years he served and the regimental war diaries. Both are an invaluable insight into the life of a young soldier. His records cover everything from his state of health, further infringements of army discipline and his eventual discharge and journey from France to Britain and back to Canada.
But it is the war diary which best I think opens up the life of my great uncle. Now these regimental diaries had been introduced after the South African war and were meant to help assess how successful army units were under fire and so draw valuable lessons about how to improve performance. They do not record individual soldiers but describe the daily routines, including the periods of rest and recuperation, time in the front line, unit strength and even the weather. Here in great detail are descriptions of attacks and the losses incurred. So armed with these it is possible to know something of his life during those years.
So on October 15th 1917, “weather fine. Battalion carried on with musketry and squad drill during the morning. Afternoon Recreation. Attack in the north continued, all objectives gained”
So here is the usual mundane and routine of army life, but mixed in are the reports of planned actions, real fighting and the casualties. On the morning of October 30th 1917 the diary recorded that
“Barrage opened at 5.50 am sharp. Enemy artillery opened up immediately. Our troops left trench at 5.54 am. At 6.00 am covering fire became intense. At 6.20 am supporting platoons of “A” and “C” Coys left the trench. On account of smoke it is very difficult to see any movement beyond Woodland Copse. At 6.25 am, “B” Coy, went over the top. A considerable amount of our shrapnel in bursting short at this time, some bursts occurring right over our trench.”
These were made in the heat of battle and only later typed up. This particular entry was timed at 6.30 and signed by Captain W.J. Atherton. Shortly after wards the diary continued with
“one of the runners bringing the report was wounded enroute and the other runner Pte, LeMarquand, stopped and bandaged his comrade’s wounds before delivering the report."
A little over an hour later “C” Coy had reached its objective and the men were “digging in”
Later after the fighting was over the diary attempted
an assessment of the attack which reported that the artillery barrage was “generally faulty and unsatisfactory. Many causalities being inflicted by our own artillery barrage on our men before they left their trenches for attack”
“The going was extremely heavy on account of the marshy nature of the ground over which the attacking troops had to pass. In many cases men could only advance by helping one and another long.” **
And concluded with the list of causalities which amounted to 400 men killed, missing or wounded out of a total of 590.
Now that the Great War has faded from living memory and the conflict becomes just a topic to be taught in schools and a source for books, films and television programmes, there may be a temptation to gloss over the sacrifice made by all those who fought. I hope not.
Most of us across Europe and in Canada, and all the countries of the old Empire as well as the USA will have relatives who took part. In my own family I can count two uncles, a great uncle, a grandfather and great grandfather as well as family who served in the forces of Imperial Germany. It didn’t turn out to be the war to end all wars but on their return those veterans tried to make the most of the peace that that followed. And I hope that my own British Home Child did the same.
Picture; detail of one of the letters written by my great uncle and George Bradford Simpson with friends, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
* Library and Archives Canada http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/military/025002-6070-e.html
**War Diary of the Canadian Mounted Rifles, courtesy of Library and Archives Canada
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