Sapper Allan G. Lonsberry 871768

 Sapper Allan  G. Lonsberry

183^rd Canadian Overseas Battalion/107^th Pioneer Bn.

Regimental Number 871768

 Allan Gordon Lonsberry was born on September 29^th, 1895 in Warsaw, Ontario. He was the son of Frank and Matilda Lonsberry.   

Allan was living in Mosten, Saskatchewan and working as a farmer when he enlisted with the 183^rd “Manitoba Beavers” Canadian Overseas battalion in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on April 10^th, 1916. He was 20 years of age and indicated that he had no previous military service.  He was recorded as standing 5 feet, inches tall and weighing 135 pounds.  He sported a fair complexion, blue eyes and dark brown hair.  He listed his religion as Methodist.  Allan was unmarried and listed his father Frank Lonsberry of Warsaw, Ontario as his next of kin.

He left with the Beavers when they left for Camp Hughes, Manitoba during the summer of 1916.  After several months in camp the understrength battalion entrained and headed for Halifax where they boarded the SS Saxonia on October 4^th 1916 for overseas.

Lonsberry arrived in England on October 26th and was posted to the Canadian camp in Witley.  Upon arrival, the 183^rd, like most Canadian battalions at the time, were broken up and re-assigned to other units.  Lonsberry was one of a large draft initially assigned to the 100^th Winnipeg Grenadiers.  He would continue to train in England with that battalion, spending a couple of weeks in an English hospital in December with measles, before he was redeployed on January 12^th in the 11^th Reserve battalion.

The next step in Lonsberry’s journey came on February 3^rd 1917 when he was taken on strength with the 107^th “Timber Wolves” Pioneer Battalion, with which he arrived in France with at the end of the month.  Though this unit was originally trained to fight as infantry, it had been re-designated as a unit that would carry out labour and and limited engineering tasks.  Upon arriving, the Timber Wolves joined the Canadian Corps in their preparation for the assault on Vimy Ridge.  In this sector, the Pioneers spent the next 2 months digging and repairing trenches, constructing dugouts, tunnels and shelters, hauling ammunition, burying telephone cables, erecting and repairing barbed wire fences, building roads, laying tracks for light railroads from rear area supply depots to the front and building plank roads so artillery could be pulled forward through the mud. 

During the battle which launched in the early hours of April 9^th 1917, Sapper Lonsberry with the 107^th played an important and often dangerous support role in keeping the roads, tracks and trenches open and the troops moving and supplied as they pushed forward.

In August, the 107^th with the Canadian Corps, played another important role in the Battle of Hill 70, where it followed the leading assault troops. Of the 600 soldiers engaged, 21 were killed and approximately 140 wounded. After this battle, one company volunteered to search for and bring in the dead and wounded. In all, the company recovered 30 dead and carried 25 wounded to dressing stations, for which the soldiers received high praise.

It was during this battle that Lonsberry was himself reported wounded by a gas shell on August 21, 1917. Suffering from a hoarse breathing, temporary blindness and severe chest pains, he made his way from the front to the casualty clearing station and then by ambulance to the No.30 General Hospital in Calais, before being evacuated to the War Hospital in Chester England on the 26^th.

Sapper Lonsberry recovered from the worst effects of the gassing by September 30^th, and was moved to the Canadian Convalescent Hospital at Woodcote Park to continue healing.  Another 3 weeks were required before being discharged to the Canadian Casualty Depot on October 19^th, with which he stayed with until January before moving on to the 18^th Canadian Reserve Battalion until March 1917.  On the 21^st of that month he was transferred to the Canadian Engineer Training Depot in Seaford before being selected among a draft to be sent to the reinforcement pool in France on April 10th. 

By June 21^st 1918, nearly ten months after being evacuated to England, Lonsberry rejoined his old unit, the 107^th Timber Wolf Battalion in France.  He remained with that unit until the end of the war.  He returned to England on April 17, 1919 and was shipped back to Canada on the 10^th of May.  Lonsberry was formally discharged on May 23^rd 1919 in Toronto, Canada, he returned to the village of Warsaw on June 4^th 1919.

Sources

Canada. "Military Service File of Allan Lonsberry." Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa: Record Group 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 9692-57. Item Number 269279.

Evening Examiner. Photo “Pte. A.G. Lonsberry”.  September 20 1917. P.5

The Canadian Encyclopedia.  “107^th Timber Wolf Battalion”.  March 10, 2024.[www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/107th-timber-wolf-battalion]

Pte. James Wesley Rodgers 1063087 247th Bn CEF

 

Pte. James Wesely Rodgers

247^th Canadian Overseas Battalion/ 74^th Company, Canadian Forestry Corps

Regimental Number 1063087

 James Wesley Rodgers was born on October 5^th, 1894 26^th, 1895 in Dummer Township, Ontario. He was the son of John and Caroline Rodgers.   

 James was living in Clarina in the northern part of Dummer Township and working as a farmer when he enlisted with the 247^th Canadian Overseas Battalion on January 12^th, 1917 in Peterborough, Ontario.  He was 22 years old, stood 5 foot, 9 inches tall and weighing 140 pounds.  He sported a dark complexion, grey eyes and brown hair.  He listed no previous military experience and his religion as Methodist.

 James remained in Peterborough a short time with the 247^th as it attempted to recruit up to strength during the winter of 1917.  In early February, the battalion was transferred to the Canadian Barrifield training camp at Kingston for further training.  It was here that Rodgers underwent a further medical examination and was classified as Category B.2, and fit only for non-combatant service overseas because of defective vision.  By April, the battalion was still far below the 1000 men it needed, and it was amalgamated with the neighboring 235^th Durham & Northumberland Battalion to bring it up to a full compliment.

 Rodgers left with the 235^th for England aboard the SS Metagama on May 3rd 1917 and was assigned to Otterpoole camp, the Canadian forces base in West Sandling on May 14 1917.  As typical to newly arrived battalions at that time, the 235^th was broken up and its ranks taken on strength to the reserve battalions in France.  Rodgers, because of his defective vision was would take an alternate route to France: first being assigned to the 3^rd Canadian Reserve Battalion, then to the1^st Central Ontario Reserve Depot on August 20^th. Two days later he was posted to the 74^th Company, Canadian Forestry Corps at their base in Sunningdale, England.

Men of the Canadian Forestry Corps

 Most forestry companies were engaged in work such as clearing and processing timber used as the front. Rodgers’ soujourn in England ended two weeks later when the 74^th crossed the Channel to France on September 6 1917.  He served a year on this capacity before being granted leave to England on September 7^th.  About a week into his leave, Rodgers was admitted to the Canadian Military Hospital at Etchinghill and spent the remainder of the war there, being discharged on November 26^th to the Canadian Forestry base at Sunningdale. 

 James Rodgers embarked for Canada on January 12^th 1919 and was discharged in Kingston a month later on February 17^th.  He  returned to Dummer and married Annie Smith in October of 1919.  He died in 1967 and is buried in Norwood, Ontario.

 Sources

Canada. "Military Service File of James Wesley Rodgers." Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa: Record Group 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 8419-32. Item Number 604285.

 

Cpl. Herman Rusaw 636600 4th CMR

 

Lance Corporal Herman Rusaw

155^th Battalion/ 4^th Canadian Mounted Rifles

Regimental Number 636600

Herman Francis Rusaw was born on February 15^th, 1897 in Dummer Township, Ontario. He was the son of Isaac and Charlotte Rusaw.   

Herman was nearly 18 years old, living in Coe Hill, Ontario and working as a labourer when he enlisted with the 155^th Overseas Battalion on February 10^th 1916.  He stood 5 feet tall, weighed 130 pounds and had a ruddy complexion, brown hair and brown eyes.  He was a member of the Church of England and had no previous military experience. 

Pte. Rusaw made his way east with the 155^th to the port of Halifax, where they boarded the S.S. Northland on October 17, 1916.  After 11 days on the Atlantic, they arrived safely in England and we then entrained for Bramshott.  The 155^th was broken up and used to reinforce Canadian battalions already at the front.  Rusaw was part of a draft sent to reinforce the 4^th Canadian Mounted Rifles in France on November 11^th 1916.  The 4th CMR (unlike its name infers) was an infantry unit that had arrived in France close to a year prior and had since that time seen terrible fighting at Mount Sorrel and the Somme, on weeks earlier.

Rusaw arrived a relatively quiet time as the battalion was preparing to move to the Vimy sector to train and prepare for the upcoming assault.  These few months preceding the attack on Vimy were not without casualties, as the 4^th CMR would take on a steady trickle of killed and wounded men, referred to as trench wastage, merely holding the line, as well as from the various raids into enemy trenches .

The “Big Show” of the Vimy attack came in the early hours of Easter morning on April 9^th 1917.  The 4^th CMR, as part of the initial assault, advanced behind a heavy scree of artillery, and were able to push over a kilometre into the German lines in a couple of hours. The rest of the day was spent fending off counterattacks and avoiding enemy artillery that pounded the newly won trenches.

The 4th Mounted Rifles listed 44 men killed and 131 wounded during that day, among them Pte. Rusaw, who was wounded by shrapnel in the right leg.  He would have been stretchered off the battlefield, or possibly walked out with the aid of a comrade to a first aid post as his wound was recorded as “slight”. There, his wound would have been dressed before he was sent back the line to a casualty clearing station and then on to the No.3 Canadian General

Hospital at Boulogne on April 11^th.  At the hospital he was listed as receiving treatment for a superficial shrapnel wound on the inside of his left thigh, before being sent across the Channel at the Horton Convalescent Hospital in Epsom, England on April 13^th.  After nearly a month, he was transferred to nearby Woodcote Park to further convalesce, before being discharged on May 24^th.

Pte. Rusaw would spend another 6 months in England with the 8^th Reserve Battalion at Shorncliffe, before rejoining the 4^th Canadian Mounted Rifles at the front on November 29^th 1917.  He continued his service at the front and was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal on July 25^th.

Rusaw would receive his second wound on August 29^th 1918 during the 3 day battle of Arras in the form of a shrapnel wound to his right arm.  He was evacuated to No.7 Canadian General Hospital Etaples, and then sent back to England on September 1^st to a hospital in Manchester.   After two weeks in hospital he was transferred to the convalescent depot at Woodcote Park, Epsom, where he was found as unfit for further military service. 

Rusaw remained in the Canadian military camps in England until the wars end, sailing home aboard the SS Metagama on January 15^th, 1919.  He was discharged on February 5^th.

 

Sources

Canada. "Military Service File of Herman Francis Rusaw." Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa: Record Group 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 8546 - 13. Item Number 617501.

Cpl. George L Spencer 1063022

 

Pte. George Spencer
247^th  Battalion, No.3 Special Service Company
Regimental Number 1063022

George Leonard Spencer was born on April 22^nd, 1895 in Sydney Township, Hastings County. He was the son of Mr. & Mrs. Edward Spencer.

George was living in Hall’s Glen, Ontario and working as a cheese maker when he enlisted with the 247^th Peterborough Battalion on the 18^th of October, 1916.  He was married to Lena Spencer and had one 2yr old son.  He was nearly 22 years old, stood 5 foot, 4 inches tall and weighed 120 pounds.  He was described as having a fair complexion, blue eyes, and light brown hair.  He was Roman Catholic and had no previous military experience.  Though it is not described in his attestation, later medical notes describe him as missing the first phalanx of his little finger on his right hand.

George remained in Peterborough with the 247^th as they slowly continued the attempt to recruit up to battalion strength throughout the winter of 1916.  By April 1917, with the battalion quota of 1000 men still far from being filled, orders were given to amalgamate the men of the 247^th into the neighboring 235^th Battalion of Durham Northumberland County.  At this time, Spencer was transferred to the No.3 Special Service Company on April 18 1917 and posted to Trenton, Ontario.  This reason for this transfer was likely due to the re-emergence of a hernia which Spencer had experienced as a young child, and would explain why he was posted to a unit generally reserved for men overage or with a physical disability. It was very likely that Spencer was engaged in garrison duties and to guard vulnerable points in that area.  He received promotion to Corporal on September 18^th 1917.

Spencer remained with the Special Service Company in Trenton for the duration of the war.  During that time his service file contains two notations: a citation for seven days detention in January 1918 for an unknown offence, and a request to have himself reverted down to the rank of Private.   Spencer remained in Trenton until the 26^th of November 1918, at which time he left for the Barriefield Camp in Kingston.  He was later discharged as medically unfit on March 7^th 1919.

Sources

Canada. "Military Service File of George Edward Spencer." Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa: Record Group 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 9189 - 9. Item Number 243920.

 

Pte. Albert W. Tamblin

93^rd Peterborough Battalion/5^th Canadian Mounted Rifles

Regimental Number 195568

Albert Tamblin with son John Henry,
Daughters Prudence Elizabeth and Ina Jane on his knee 

Albert Wellington Tamblin was born on June 26^th, 1877 in Dummer Township, Ontario. He was the son of Agnes and Robert Tamblin   

Albert was living at 56 Victoria Avenue, Peterborough and working as a stone mason, when he enlisted as a Private with the 93^rd Battalion in that city on January 21^st, 1916.  He indicated that he had one year previous service with the 46^th militia regiment and 5 years with the Peterborough 57^th Militia Regiment.  Albert was a widower and left three children in the care of his mother Agnes, who he also named as his next of kin.  Tamblin was 38 years old and stood 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed 105 pounds. He had a light complexion, blue eyes and light brown hair.  He listed his religion as the Church of England.  He passed his medical inspection and was declared fit for overseas service.

Tamblin remained with the 93^rd throughout the winter of 1916 until it had recruited up to battalion strength and left for Barrifield Camp at the end of May.  At the Canadian forces training camp, the 93^rd received more training before heading west by train to the post of Halifax and departing aboard the Empress of Britain on July 15^th.  After an eleven day trip across the Atlantic, Tamblin and his battalion arrived safely in England where they were posted to the Canadian camp at West Sandling.

At Sandling, the 93^rd received the disappointing news that it was to be broken up and its ranks dispersed among the Canadian battalions already fighting at the front.  On September 8^th, 1916, Pte. Tamblin would be one of a number of 93^rd men who would be drafted to the ranks of the 5^th Canadian Mounted Rifles, an infantry unit which at that time was engaged in brutal fighting at the Somme.

Tamblin and comrades made their way to France, first joining the 3^rd Entrenching Battalion upon landing for two weeks, then making their way to the 5^th Mounted Rifles on October 2^nd, to replace the shocking casualties it had taken in the horrific fighting over the past several weeks.  Tamblin joined B Company of the 5^th in the rest camp of Albert as it spent the next week re-fitting and introducing the raw recruits into the battle-hardened battalion.

Tamblin would experience his first taste of trench warfare when the battalion entered the front line in the early hours of the night on October 10^th.  Over the next two days his nerves would have been put to the test as Canadian and German artillery pounded each other incessantly.  Though the 5^th CMR was not involved in any attacks it did take casualties from shelling, snipers and machine-gun fire.  Tamblin and his unit were relieved form the front line 2 days later and returned to the rest camp on the 12^th. 

During his next tour at the front, on October 14^th, Albert was reportedly injured with a contusion of the testicles.  His service recovered does not indicate the origin of the injury, though the battalion records describe heavy shelling that day.  What is apparent was that the injury was significant enough to warrant his evacuation to the general hospital at La Havre and an additional seven days to recover.

Tamblin's grave marker.
with two unknown soldiers.

Tamblin was discharged from hospital on Oct 21^st and re-joined the 5^th Mounted Rifles, still on the Somme front.  Though the battalion would not be part of any of the continuing larger scale attacks, they did see action through regular rotation into the front line.  Enemy shelling, raids, patrols, snipers and sweeping machine-gun fire meant a steady rate of casualties.

December 7^th, 1916, the 5^th Mounted Rifles were posted in the front line near Arras.
Records report that an enemy rifle grenade was shot into the trenches and wounded 3 men in B Company.  Of these was Albert Tamblin, who was hit by shrapnel in the chest and abdomen.  He was evacuated to the No. 30 Casualty Clearing Station behind the lines but succumbed to his wounds the next day.

He was buried by his comrades at Aubingy Communal Cemetery the next day. He was survived by three children, John, Prudence and Ina.

Sources
Canada. "Military Service File of Albert Tamblin." Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa: Record Group 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 9493 - 48. Item Number 267233.

Sgt. Albert Taylor 504589 Canadian Engineers

 

Sgt. Albert Taylor
12^th Field Company, Canadian Engineers
Regimental Number 504859

Albert Edward Taylor was born on August 27^th, 1894 in Warsaw, Ontario.

Albert was living in Vancouver, British Columbia when he attested into the Canadian Engineers in Vancouver on January 29^th 1916. He was married to Gertrude Taylor, and listed his occupation as a teamster and rough carpenter.  Taylor was 41 years old, stood 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weighed 220 pounds.  He had a ruddy complexion, grey eyes and grey hair.  His religion was Methodist.

Taylor embarked from Halifax, Canada aboard the S.S. Baltic on May 15^th 1916.   Eleven days later the ship arrived safely in Portsmouth, England.  He was immediately posted to the 12^th Field Company of Canadian Engineers on June 1^st.  He remained in the training camps of England for a little over a month before being drafted to the front on August 12^th. 

Taylor would spend the next year in France with the Engineers.   Little appears in his service file until on November 12 1917 when he was granted 14 days of leave at the winding down of the Battle of Passchendaele.  He returned to his unit on November 28^th and served with them through the remainder of 1917 and up until January 7^th 1918 when he reported to the No.12 Canadian Field Hospital with “General Debility”. 

Medical records describe him as suffering from four days of indigestion as well myalgia: pain in his legs attributed to varicose veins.   His condition was severe enough to warrant nearly two weeks in French hospitals and another week and a half in a Convalescent depot before returning to duty on February 2^nd 1918.

Men of the Canadian Forestry Corps in France

Pte. Taylor was soon transferred to the Canadian Labour Battalion on March 3^rd and
reposted to the 1^st Division Canadian Forestry Company five days later.  He served with this unit processing lumber for the front until the end of the war

He returned to England on December 7^th 1918 and was posted to the no. 44 Company of the Canadian Forestry Corp at their depot in Sunningdale, England.  With this posting came a promotion in rank to acting Sergeant and then to full Sergeant on the 31^st of December.  Taylor remained with the Forestry Corps until he sailed for Canada on February 23^rd 1919 aboard the HMS Belgic.

He was discharged on March 31^st 1919 in Vancouver, Canada.

Sources

Canada. "Military Service File of Albert Edward Taylor." Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa: Record Group 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 9512 - 40. Item Number 272231.

 

Pte. Bertie Watley 195633 93rd Bn/ 87th Bn

 

Pte.Bertie T. Watley

93^rd Battalion

Regimental Number 195633

 
Bertie Theodore Watley was born on March 26^th, 1895 in Dummer Township, Ontario. He was the son of Edward and Mina Watley.   
 
Watley was living in Lakefield and working as a farmer when he enlisted with the 93^rd Peterborough Overseas Battalion on February 2^nd 1916.  He was nearly 19 years old, stood 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighed 135 pounds. He sported a sandy complexion, brown eyes and light hair.  He listed his religion as Methodist, his marital status as single and that he had previous military service in the 46^th regiment of militia.  After an initial medical exam, he was declared fit for overseas service.
 
Bertie joined the 93^rd Battalion training in Peterborough for the next three months while they continued to recruit up to strength.  By the end of May the battalion moved to the Canadian Forces training camp at Barriefield, near Kingston.
 
Watley embarked with the 93rd from Halifax on July 15^th 1916 aboard the S.S. Empress if Britain, arriving safely in Liverpool 10 days later.  Upon arriving his battalion was sent to West Sandling Camp.  Like many infantry units at that time, the 93rd was soon served with the news that it would be broken up and its ranks used to reinforce fighting units already at the front.
 
While waiting for his re-assignment, Watley was admitted to the Military Hospital, at Otterpool with appendicitis on August 22^nd, 1916. He was transferred to Moore Barracks Hospital three days later, and then to another hospital at Shorncliffe, where he stayed until October 2^nd, when he was discharged.
 
Upon leaving the hospital, Bertie rejoined the 93^rd Battalion at Shorncliffe before being transferred a few days later to the 39^th Reserve Battalion on October 6^{th. .}  He would spend another two months in England before finally being transferred to the front on December 6^th.  He was among a draft of men who were attached to the 87^th Grenadier Guards Battalion, a unit that had been in France since August. 
 
Joining the 87^th in the trenches would be somewhat of a round-about journey, as Watley would first spend a month at the Canadian Base Depot in France, before being transferred to the 4^th Entrenching Battalion (a labour battalion) from January 4^th to April 21^st 1917.  At this time he joined the Grenadier Guards in a rest camp the Arras sector as the shattered battalion had recently left the trenches of Vimy to regroup and refit.
 

Peterborough Examiner - 1917 06 Jun 23 Pg11.

Watley spent the first two weeks May training with the 87^th before moving into the
trenches on Vimy Ridge May 10^th.  Watley would have fought with the 87^th Battalion at Vimy in April and later at Lens where he was wounded on June 10^th 1917.  It was there Watley suffered a gunshot wound to the right hand, a wound sufficient enough to warrant evacuation to the Beaucroft hospital in Wimbourne, England on the 14^th of June.
 
Watley’s wound healed sufficiently to be discharged from hospital September 9^th to resume gradual duty at the 3^rd Canadian Casualty Clearing depot.  Doctors notes report that his first and second fingers remained permanently still at the first joint, resulting in him being declared unfit for active service.  He would be sail back to Canada on September 22^nd 1918, but not before he was married.
 
Pte. Watley was given a full discharge in Kingston, Ontario on October 9^th 1918.
 
Sources
Canada. "Military Service File of Arthur Tighe." Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa: Record Group 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 10127 - 4. Item Number 301477.

Pte. Charles Morrison 195723 93rd Bn/ 5th CMR

 

Pte. Charles Morrison

93^rd Peterborough Battalion/ 5^th Canadian Mounted Rifles

Regimental Number 195723

 
Charles Morrison was born in Toronto, Ontario on June 8^th 1896 to unknown parents.
 
Charles was 19 and a half years old when he enlisted in the 93^rd Peterborough Battalion on December 29^th 1915.  He was unmarried, a Roman Catholic, and was living and working in Warsaw as a farm labourer at the time.  He listed his “foster-father” Patrick Fitzpatrick, of Warsaw as his next of kin.  Charles stood 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighed 127 pounds and sported a dark complexion, gray eyes and dark brown hair.  He had no previous military experience.  He was declared fit for overseas service.
 
The 93^rd Battalion continued to recruit in the Peterborough area during the winter of 1916, and moved to Barriefield camp, Kingston when they finally were up to full strength at the end of May.  There they received two months more training before heading east by train to the post of Halifax, where the entire battalion boarded the S.S. Empress of Britain for England.
 
After a fairly uneventful ten days crossing the Atlantic, Charles and the 93^rd landed safely in Portsmouth on July 25^th and were marched to their new home at Otterpool Camp, near Folkestone, Kent.  At Folkestone the 93^rd, like many other battalions at the time, were broken up and its men used to reinforce other battalions already fighting at the front.  Morrison was one of a large draft of 9rd men to join the 5^th Canadian Mounted Rifles.  The 5^th CMR, unlike its name, was not a mounted unit, but rather regular infantry.

Charles landed in France on September 8th, first spending two weeks with the No.3 Entrenching battalion before joining the 5^th Mounted Rifles in the Somme area on the 2^nd of October. Though he was new to battle, he most likely saw action during the brutal attack against Regina Trench on October 1^st.  By the end of the Canadians part in the gruelling Somme offensive on November 1^st, 1916, Charles and his comrades could have officially called themselves veterans.
 
The next several months were spent behind the lines reforming the shattered battalion.  By January 1917, the entire Canadian Corps moved into the Vimy sector to begin planning their historic attack on that Ridge.  Charles would have spent the next three months alternating between holding the front lines and training in the rear.  Morrison would make up part of a machine gun team that would include three other Dummer boys, brothers Clayton and Verne Selkirk and Vivian Jackson.  Months of preparations would come to fruition in the early morning of April 9^th, when Morrison and the 5^th packed into the tunnels leading up to the front line jump off points. The 5^th’s War Diary described: “one continuous roar.  The ground shook and there is mingled with the roar of the guns, the swishing and screeching of the shell-filled air.”  The 5^th did not make the initial assault, but remained in support and ready to reinforce the leading units of the assault.  By mid-day Morrison and his machinegun team were moved up to reinforce the front lines on the Ridge.  A letter written by his fellow gunner, Vivian Jackson, describes the team’s experience during the attack:

“Well, dear mother, we had some time at Vimy Ridge. I suppose you read about it in the paper. Gee, it was some day to spend a Bank holiday.  It rained and snowed to beat the band and you could hardly hear yourself speak for the rattle of the machine guns and our artillery.  When we got to the top of Vimy we started to dig ourselves in. Clate, Morrison and myself bet it for shell hole a little piece in front.  We were mighty near frozen, having been on the move all night. Well, we stayed in the shell hole for a while and along came our Sergeant, who said: ‘Well, boys, how would a wee drop go?’ We said, ‘fine’; so he gave us a shot of rum out of his water bottle. It put new life into us. Well, after a short while we moved further over the ridge and came to our final objective- one of Fritz’s trenches. There we started to dig funk holes in the side for a little cover from shrapnel. We had not been in the trench five minutes when he started putting over some of his blooming stuff. Say, there were casualties in no time. He could drop his shells right into the middle of the trench.
Well, dear mother, it was the third shell he put over that got me.  I was working away at my funk hole when bang went the shell. Gee, I was dazed for a minute or so.  I did not know what was wrong. I stood up and then I began to feel something warm run down my arm and leg.  I found my coat sleeve was torn in three places. Morrison was not three feet from me, but he escaped.”  
 
It was most certain that Morrison did not escape unhurt, as he was struck in the left knee by shrapnel and received a minor laceration and severe bruising. He was determined to stick it out on his gun though, remaining with Clayton Selkirk for another 12 hours, before being sent to the No.3 Canadian General Hospital for two days, then to a convalescent depot for another ten, before being discharged back to his unit.
 
Charles Morrison remained with the 5^th Canadian Mounted Rifles and participated in the many engagements throughout 1917 and 1918, including as part of the spearhead of the Canadian Forces as they pushed into the city of Mons on the 11^th of November of 1918.
 
Pte. Charles Morrison returned to Canada and was formally discharged in Montreal on March 19^th 1919.  He would later move to British Columbia shortly after returning to Canada.
 
Sources
Canada. "Military Service File of Charles Morrison." Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa: Record Group 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 6401 - 7. Item Number 205068.
 

Pte. David Munro 195532 93rd BN

Pte. David Munro 

93rd Peterboro Bn, / 2nd Canadian Infantry Battalion 

Regimental Number 195532 

 David Munro was born on June 04 1891 in Muireford, Rosshire, Scotland. He was the son of John and Catherine Munro. David was living at 190 Perry St. in Peterborough, Ontario when he enlisted with the 93rd Battalion in that city on January 20th 1916. He was 25 years old and employed as a harness maker. David stood 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighed 154 pounds and sported a fair complexion, hazel eyes and light brown hair. He was unmarried and declared having previously served with the Seaforth Highlanders Territorial Forces for two years. He listed his religion as Presbyterian. He was examined by military doctors and found fit for overseas service. 

 Private Munro remained in Peterborough and trained with the 93rd throughout the winter of 1916 as the battalion recruited up to full strength. By mid-March, having secured nearly the full 100 man compliment, the battalion entrained for the Canadian forces training camp at Barriefield, near Kingston. Here the battalion went through an additional four months weeks training before leaving by train to the port of Halifax in early July. Munro would board the ship, Empress of Britain there, and spent 10 days at sea before docking in Liverpool, England on July 25th 1916. 

 Upon arriving the 93rd was stationed at Otterpool Camp in West Sandling. Within a month, orders came down that the 93rd, like many Canadian battalions at the time, was to be broken up and its ranks dispersed to to various other Canadian battalions already at the front. On October 10th, Munro was posted to the Canadian Army Service Corp Depot at the Canadian base at Shoreham, England, where he remained for a year. By August 15th 1917, he was transferred to the 6th Reserve Battalion at Shorncliffe, before being drafted to the 2nd Canadian Infantry Battalion 2 months later. 

 Pte. Munro proceeded to France on October 15th 1917 and joined the 2nd Battalion, on November 13th as part of the reinforcements that would be used to rebuild the Battalion after the terrible losses a month earlier in the Battle of Passchendaele. Pte. Munro would remain with the 2nd Battalion until the end of the war and see action in several major battles including at Amiens, and the Hundred Days series of offensives. 

 Munro was lucky enough to have been in the middle of leave in England when the war ended on November 11th, 1918. He returned to the 2nd Battalion on November 27th and remained in France until March 19th 1919. At that time he returned to England for nearly 6 weeks before boarding a ship for Canada on April 29th. He was discharged from the army on May 9th in Ottawa, Ontario. 

 David Munro passed away on September 12th, 1967 in Edmonton, Alberta 

 Sources 

Canada. "Military Service File of David Munro." Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa: Record Group 150, 1992-93/166, Box 6486 - 26. Item Number 206920.

Pte. John S Moore 1st Depot Bn, Eastern Ontario Regiment

 

Pte. John S. Moore

1^st Depot Battalion, Eastern Ontario Regiment

Regimental Number 3061115

 
John Samuel Moore was born in Warsaw, Ontario on September 30^th, 1899 to parents Robert and Harriet (Hattie) Moore. 
 
John was living and working on the family farm at Cottesloe when he received notice to report to Bellville under the Military Service Act. 
 
He made the trip to that city where he underwent a medical examination and was declared fit for overseas service.  He was living in Saskatchewan and working as a farmer when he enlisted with the 46^th Overseas Battalion in Moosejaw on March 22^nd 1915.  He was 19 years old, stood 5 ½ feet tall, weighed 145 pounds, and sported a ruddy complexion, brown eyes and brown hair.  He was single at the time, was a Methodist and had no previous military experience.
 
John was given the rank of Private and sent to Barriefield Camp to train for overseas service.  This experience was short as less than a week later the Armistice was signed and the war ended.  John remained at Barriefield until November 25^th, at which time he was demobilized on the grounds that his services were no longer required, and he was sent home.
 
Sources
Canada. "Military Service File of Henry John Samuel Moore." Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa: RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 6332 - 1. Item Number 182039.

Pte. Peter Munroe 195757

 Peter Munroe

93^rd Peterboro Overseas Battalion

Regimental Number 195757

Peter Munroe was born on January 15^th 1871 in Brighton, Ontario.
 
Peter was living in Warsaw, Ontario and working as a labourer when he enlisted as a private in the 93^rd Peterboro Battalion in that city on February 19^th, 1916.  He was 45 years old and listed his wife Margaret as his next of kin. His religion was Methodist.  Peter stood 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighed 154 pounds and sported a fresh complexion, blue eyes and dark brown hair.  He declared having previous military experience, having served 3 years with the 14^th Field Battery, an artillery unit, in the Canadian militia.  Despite being on the extreme end of the age limit for recruits, he was examined by medical officers and found fit for overseas service.
 
Private Munro remained in Peterborough to train with the 93^rd throughout the winter of 1916 while the battalion recruited up to full strength. By the mid-March, having secured nearly the full 100 man compliment, the battalion entrained for the Canadian forces training camp at Barriefield, near Kingston.  Here the battalion went through an additional four months training before continuing the journey overseas

It was at Barriefield that Peter Munro ran into trouble, as explained in an account taken from the Peterborough Examiner:

“Shortly after the arrival of the 93^rd Battalion at Barriefield, two north country members of the battalion, Pte. Peter Munroe and Stephen Emmorey, either tiring of mud or growing suddenly homesick, elected to pay a visit to haunts to which they were accustomed. Unfortunately   they overlooked the formality of securing a pass and as a result when they failed to answer the next roll call they were reported to Peterborough as absent without leave.
 
According to their own story the pair walked all the way form Barriefield with a little assistance in the shape of a ride on a farmer’s wagon now and then. They cut across country and finally got into familiar territory when they stuck the head of Stoney Lake, the country around which they know like a book. Building a raft of logs, according to the story they told the military police, they crossed Stoney Lake and took up residence with the relatives at the depot farm about five minutes north of Mount Julian.
 

link to Peter Munroe's Service File

Unfortunately for the two coy soldiers, information as to their whereabouts reached the authorities. Pte. Munroe had come from Warsaw to enlist and accordingly Constable Clements of Warsaw was notified that the doughty warrior was wanted.  He had little difficulty in deciding where to look for Munroe and on Monday arrested him and brought him into Peterborough and he was taken down to Barriefield under escort on Thursday morning. Emmorey was in the woods nearby, but Constable Clements did not know that he was wanted.”
-Evening Examiner, ”Military News cont.” June 16 1916, P10
 
For his troubles, Munroe was given 11 days detention.  This didn’t seem
to have the desired effect for long as his military service file notes another instance a month later in early July, that Munroe was charged with being absent without leave and fined two day’s pay and 5 days detention.
 
The timing of this last detention would nearly coincide with the preparations of the battalion to embark via train for Halifax, Munroe was one of a handful of men found medially unfit in one last inspection before heading overseas.  He was discharged on July10th 1916 and returned home to Warsaw shortly after. 
 
Sources

Canada. "Military Service File of Peter Munroe." Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa: Record Group 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 6494-40. Item Number 207312.
Evening Examiner. “Military News continued”  June 16 1916, P10.