Pte. Gordon H.D. Carveth 5th C.M.R. Apr 24, 1916

Gordon Hilliard Carveth 111545 

Gordon Hilliard Douglas Carveth was born on September 18, 1894 in Hall’s Glen, a small community, in Douro-Dummer Township, Peterborough County, Ontario. He was the youngest of 10 surviving children of William Carveth (1848-1923) and Annie Little (1856-1932). Gordon lived in Hall's Glen with his parents up to 1911as was shown in the census of that year. 

Enlisting



Gordon enlisted in the 8^th Canadian Mounted Rifles (B Squadron) in Peterborough, Ontario in April of 1915.  The 8^th C.M.R. was a regiment recruited from Ottawa, Peterborough, and Toronto, and was under the command of Lieutenant- Colonel J.R. Munro. The Peterborough contingent was the second (and largest up to that point in time) that the city would send overseas.  The 8th C.M.R. (Peterborough contingent) departed Peterborough for Ottawa on March 6th amidst a "Magnificent send-off".  The Evening Examiner reported a rousing ovation from many citizens who followed the marching soldier to the train station and saw them depart.



In Ottawa, Gordon underwent a more rigorous medical examination, one which he passed, but 17 of his comrades did not.  He re-signed attestation papers on March 29, 1915. He indicated upon his enlistment papers that he had served previously in the 26^th C.F.A (Canadian Field Artillery). The 20 year-old was 5 foot 6 inches tall with brown eyes, brown hair and a fair complexion. He listed his religion as Methodist and occupation as a brakeman for the Canadian Pacific Railroad. He was declared medically fit for service on March 25^{th ,} 1915.                             

In England

B Company 8th Mounted Rifles, Confederation Park,
Peterborough Ontario. 1916.

Gordon spent the month at the Exhibition Grounds in Ottawa with 1,600 other troops until the end of May, when he was moved to Barriefield Camp, Kingston for training.  Camp life was comfortable, mixing drill and marching with visits to the numerous canteens, YMCA shows and even the opportunity to see a picture show during down time. Gordon’s time at Barriefield was cut shorter than many of his comrades, as he was chosen in a draft of 153 men of  “B” squadron  to embark for training camps in England.

In a letter home to his mother, Gordon describes the voyage overseas:

Shornecliffe Eng.

                                                             July 30, 1915

Dear Mother,-I suppose that you will be anxious to know how everything is around here.

          We got to camp [Shorncliffe] here about 3 a.m. this morning, and were all tired and ready for sleep.  We had to walk about two miles and a half after we got to the station.

          We left Barriefield on Friday, the 16^th, and got to Montreal the same night, and got on the boat that night it was the Hesperian we sailed on. The boat left Montreal about 3’o’clock on Saturday morning. We got to Quebec about 5 on Saturday night, and left there on Sunday morning. That is the last place we stopped until we got to England.  It was good weather all the way across except for a little mist. We were stopped for about two days on the ocean on account for the fog, just off the coast of Newfoundland. We had an escort for part for the way across where there was any danger. The 4^th and 5^th Mounted rifles were on the boat with us- about 1500 soldiers and 500 munitions workers.  There was another boat with us.  It had the 6^th M.R.’[6^th Canadian Mounted Rifles] on it and a bunch of horses; I don’t know the name of the other boat.  We got to Devensport at 5 p.m. Wednesday, the 28^th; we stayed on the boat all night and landed on Thursday morning, and got on the train which left about noon, and got to Shornecliffe this morning about 2 a.m. There is a big camp here. I don’t know how many men there all altogether, but there are an awful bunch of tents.  I don’t know what we are going to do here; we were brought over here to reinforce the 4^th, 5^th and the 6th Mounted Rifles, but Shornecliffe is an infantry camp, there isn’t a horse here at all, excepting the ambulance, so it looks as if we are going to be turned into infantry; some of us or perhaps all of us will be with the 6^th…    

The 1^st, 2^nd, and the 3^rd Mounted Rifles are about three miles from here, a couple of us went over to see their lines last night. They have had horses for about two months, but have not got any saddles, and it was rumoured yesterday that we are going to get some too, but we won’t believe it until we get them.  The 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd will form the first brigade, the 4^th, 5^th and 6^th the second brigade, and we are reinforcements for the 6^th.  They are not full strength so we will nearly all be in the 6^th.

Gordon’s predictions were partly correct: his regiment, the 8^th Mounted Rifles, was broken up and used to reinforce the 6^th Canadian Mounted Rifles.  In September, he signed the official attestation papers that transferred him into “B” squadron 6^th C.M.R. and continued to train in Dibgate with his new regiment.  During this time he wrote a letter home describing an uninspiring meeting with the King of England and touring London’s historic sites:

                               Shornecliffe, Eng.

                               Sept 3, 1915.

Dear Mother,

I received your letter home and was pleased to hear from home once more.  It is the first time I have heard from home since I came here, and this is the fourth time I have written to you.  It is raining here this afternoon so we are not drilling.  They use us pretty good here. They don’t keep us out in much rain. Our colonel has been taken away from us and sent back to Canada. We all are sorry to see him go, for everyone liked him very well.

We had an inspection by the King yesterday, the first time I had to see him. I was near enough to him to reach him with my rifle. I thought he was a very old man. He looked to me about sixty.  There was a lot of big people with him. I am not sure but I think Lord Kitchener was there too.  They were all on horseback.

When we left Peterborough we were the Third Contingent, but we are in the Second now, so I guess we will get to the front sooner, but it will be some time I expect.

I was up to London last Sunday. It was about eighty miles from here. The fare is about 5s6d ($1.32) return and I saw some great sights.  Was all through the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, the Parliament Buildings, saw Buckingham Palace and a lot of other buildings you have heard about.  I saw where the kings have been beheaded years ago; the block and axe.  Saw the chair the King was crowned in in and so many other things it would take too long to tell you them all.  A man showed us through and explained everything as we went along.  I also saw the Crown the King wore at his Coronation, and the largest diamond in the world.  It was about the size of a fist.  This would all have been very interesting to Archie if he had seen it.

I suppose you will be in Edmonton before this letter gets there.  I am glad you have decided to go west this fall.  It will be a change for you.  You can tell them all there that I am still living and well.

I am sorry I didn’t see Stanley before I left Barriefield. I went over to the hospital one night to see him but I couldn’t get in.  Well I must close.

From your loving son, Gordon.

Baptism of Fire

 On the 24^th of October, 1915 the 6^th Canadian Mounted Rifles left the sandy plains of Shorncliffe and headed across the channel to the mud of Flanders.   Gordon would encounter his first experiences under fire in the relatively quiet area of Ploegstreete and Messines. He continued service in this area throughout the fall and early winter months of 1915, when at the end of December, the 6^th C.M.R. was withdrawn from the trenches and reorganized into other Mounted Rifle Battalions in the 8^th Canadian Infantry Brigade. During this time of re-organization Gordon Carveth, joined the 5^th Canadian Mounted Rifles.





Ruins of Meteren

 Gordon continued his training in the 5^th CMR both in the line, in the Ploegsreete and Messines sector, and in rest camps in the town of  Meteren, and Kotepyp, France.   It was during this time that he had his first experiences in the front-line trenches.  Though “Plugstreet” as it was called by Commonwealth troops, this was a relatively “quiet” sector, The War Diaries (official daily reports written by commanding officers) for the 5^th C.M.R. show that a majority of time was spent repairing and strengthening the trench system. This monotonous, but important work was accompanied with infrequent scouting and patrol parties into No Man’s Land.   During this time in the trenches the battalion took daily causalities from to enemy artillery and snipers.

To Ypres

Pte. Carveth would have left the relatively quiet sector of Ploegsreete-Messienes on March 19^th , 1916 and began the march to one of the deadliest sectors on the Western Front: the Ypres Salient. Gordon’s “B” company entered the front line on March 24^th and was charged with holding trenches B.6 and C.1 in the vicinity of Hill 60. The very next day, the records indicate sniping activity, as well as a substantial bombardment by enemy artillery along the lines that result in the wounding of 6 men. The War Diaries frequently mentioned that the enemy seemed nervous, and on the 27^th a scouting party was sent across to the enemy trenches. The scouting party bombed the enemy trenches with Mills bombs, which resulted in heavy retaliation shelling along their lines. Frequent enemy aircraft were observed over the area.

Canadian Positions around Observatory Ridge where Gordon Carveth was positioned a the time of his death

The 5^th C.M.R was relieved out of the trenches on March 28^th and the battalion rested at Chateau Belge area. Though this area was off the front line, but was not exempt from enemy shelling. Time off the line was comparatively short and dispersed with training focussing on preparing for gas attacks.  Gordon, in a letter written a several days later, would recall the first experience on the Ypres front as sixteen days in the trenches, probably due to the short duration of rest and the fact that the shelling did not seem to differ from front line to rest area in this sector.  By April 2^nd Pte. Carveth was back in the front line near Hill 60.

The Sniper Problem

During this time the Battalion Commander again reported that the enemy seemed nervous, as well as noted active artillery and enemy snipers.  The 5^th C.M.R. were also active during this time, the War Diaries reported devastating a few enemy strong points with well placed artillery and rifle grenades. Of special note was the elimination of a notorious sniper dubbed “The New York Nailer” by a well placed rifle grenade by a 5^th CMR Private Hood, through a small opening in the enemy parapet. It appears a sniper battle began heating up with the Canadians claiming to have taken out 5 enemy snipers on the 4^th of April. Even so, the very next day, the Battalion Commander reported an increase in enemy sniping, remarking that they were probably relief snipers, but that they were quickly “taken in hand and subdued”.  In a letter home, Gordon tells of the relatively few casualties that his regiment suffered in the preceding weeks, he goes as far as to write “I think we are in a lucky regiment”.  He continued with a description of life in the trenches:

“We weren’t shelled at all last time we were in. The trenches were quite close together and they used rifle grenades and trench mortars more than anything else.  Some places the trenches were so close together we used to throw bombs over, and sometimes for to make Fritz mad, we would throw over stones, bricks, etc.  When we came back to the reserve trench they shelled us a little one afternoon.”

Camp A

By April 5^th the Battalion went off the front line to rest at “Camp A” where they received drilling, work details and a well-deserved bath.   It was during this rest that Gordon wrote his last letter home to his mother.  He indicated that he had received quite a bit of mail as of recent, including a package of sweets from his sister Ida, and a parcel of news from his brother Walter.  He wished his mother a safe trip as she was soon to be heading west to Saskatchewan for a couple of weeks.  He acknowledged that he was getting lots to eat but was getting sick of bully beef and hard tack and urged her to send cakes instead.  He wrote that he was well supplied with socks having received some in a parcel from a woman in Norwood, a town not far from his where he grew up.

According to Battalion Diaries, this rest was not as peaceful as the men of the 5^th C.M.R. would have liked: during this time they were shelled and raked with machine gun fire, which resulted in 3 men wounded while on working parties.  In his letters at the time, Gordon mentioned the enemy artillery as “pounding away day and night”.  He wrote of a fellow soldier who had a close brush with death:

“One fellow was walking along the road.  He had his pay-book in his upper left pocket of his coat, a shell hit near him and a piece of shrapnel hit the book straight for his heart; it went through his coat and pay-book and stopped at his shirt.  It was a piece about an inch square.”

 

Gordon ended his letter in a spirited outlook on his time at the front:” It is about six months since we landed here, although it doesn’t seem like more than two months; time goes fast over here, at least it does for me.”

Maple Copse

The 5^th C.M.R. was marched back to the Ypres front on April 13th. The Battalion was dispersed around the Sanctuary Wood area, with Gordon Carveth and “B” Company holding support trenches in the vicinity of Maple Copse, located behind the front line. Here the battalion went back into the old routine of improving and fortifying their trenches, often marching to R.E. Dump in Zillebeke, to carry trench building supplies back to their positions. Trenches such as ROMERS LINE, CRAB CRAWL, ST. PETERS STREET, DAVIDSON’S STREET are mentioned. Because of they were occupying supporting positions in the trenches, not much enemy activity is noted during this time, other than sporadic shelling, occasional machine gun fire and the appearance of enemy observation planes.

Mount Sorrel

On April 21^st 1916, Good Friday, the 5^th C.M.R. relieved the 4^th C.M.R. from their positions in the front lines. Pte. Carveth and “B” Company occupied trenches 52-54 on the front line between Observatory Ridge and Mount Sorrel.   The situation was remarked in the War Diaries to be generally quiet along the line, other than a brief bombardment that collapsed two shooting bays held by Company “C”.  One casualty was reported on the 23^rd , when a soldier was severely wounded by a gunshot wound to the head.

His Last Day Last Day

The 24^th of April, 1916 was a bright clear day, much welcomed by the men of the 5^th C.M.R.  The Battalion Diaries record 7 casualties that day.  One of these casualties was 111545 Pte. Carveth, ‘B’ Co.  In a letter sent by Pte. J. Sykes, 7^th Platoon B Company, 5^th C.M.R. Annie Carveth was given the particulars of her son’s death in the trenches:

                                           May 2, Billets

Mrs. And Mr. Carveth,- Just a few lines expressing the deep sympathy of all the boys of the Eighth and Fifth Canadian Mounted rifles, in your bereavement.

I have been a close chum of Gordon’s ever since he enlisted in Peterborough and I was right there when he met his death and I thought that you would like to know the full particulars about his death.

It was on the morning of the 24^th April at half-past-three in the morning. Gordon was going to get up on the firing step as a bullet came through the sand bags hitting him in the head. The bullet went in the left temple , and out over the right eye. His death was instantaneous. He was buried the same day in a military cemetery about a mile behind our front line, by four of the Eighth, one of the Fifth Mounted rifles, and myself. We are all in his platoon. Gordon was well liked, both by the N.C.O.’s and men of the three regiments he has been in. His grave has all been fixed up.  I am sure that it is the best around there. It has a beautiful white cross on top. And a row of white daisies and violets at intervals down the centre of it, and I’ll see that it is kept in good condition, and anything you would like putting on forward it to me and I will do my best. I remain,

                                                                        Yours truly,

                                                                        Pte. J. Sykes, No. 111592

                                                                       7^th Platoon B. Company,

                                                                      5^th C.M.R. France.

Maple Copse Cemetery, Belgium.





Private Carveth was buried in Maple Copse Cemetery, not far from the trenches where he was shot.  Grave registry records show that the original grave marker so lovingly put up by his comrades was destroyed from later shelling that area making the exact location of his body unknown in the cemetery.  After the Armistice a new stone grave marker (using the incorrect spelling “Gorden”) was put in the cemetery and a special collective memorial was erected with the message “known to be buried in this cemetery”.  Gordon Carveth is the first name inscribed on the Cenotaph located in the village of Warsaw, Ontario.



Peterborough Evening Examiner, May 03 1916

Carveth's grave, Maple Copse Cemetery, Zillibeke



Sources

Canadian Expeditionary Force Study Group: The Matrix Project.  5^th CMR. R. Laughton & Chris Wight (Contributors).  <www.cefresearch.ca> 2013.



Library and Archives Canada.  Canada, CEF Commonwealth War Graves Registers, 1914-1919 <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca  Ottawa, ON, Canada.  2013. Mikan Number 46246, Microform 31830_B016590, Page 794.

Library and Archives Canada. Census of Canada, 1901. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Library and Archives Canada, 2004. <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1901/index-e.html>. Series RG31-C-1. Statistics Canada Fonds. Microfilm reels: T-6428 to T-6556.  Year: 1901; Census  Place: Dummer, Peterborough (east/est), Ontario; Page: 7; Family No: 69.

Library and Archives Canada. Census of Canada, 1911. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Library and Archives Canada, 2007. <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1911/index-e.html>. Series RG31-C-1. Statistics Canada Fonds. Microfilm reels T-20326 to T-20460.  Year: 1911; Census Place: Dummer, Peterborough East, Ontario; Page: 1; Family No: 13.



 Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; War Diaries: 5^th Battalion, Canadian Mounted Rifles 1915/07/29-1917/02/28” ; <http://data4.collectionscanada.ca>  2013

Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; War Graves Registers: Circumstances of Death; <www.collectionscanada.gc.ca> Ottawa, ON, Canada 2013,  Mikan Number: 46246, Microform 31829_B016727, Page. 846.



The Evening Examiner.  “Some of B Squadron with the 6^th C.M.R. An Interesting Letter”  Saturday, August 21, 1915.  Page 5.

The Evening Examiner.  “Thirty-One Local Soldiers Chosen in Overseas Draft” July, 17, 1915.

The Evening Examiner.  “Private Carveth is Now With the 8^th C.M.R.”  Friday, October 12 1915.  Page 5.

The Evening Examiner.  “More Local Names on the Canadian Casualty Lists”  Wednesday, May 03, 1916.  Page 5.

The Evening Examiner.  “Northern Platoons of 93^rd Battalion Arrived Yesterday”  Friday, May 05 1916.  Page 5.



The Evening Examiner.  “Four More Local Lads Have reached Home”   May 25 1916.  Page 5.