William Batten 96th Battalion Apr. 9, 1917

William Richard Batten   204510

William Richard Batten was born in the village of Warsaw, Ontario on November 9^th, 1893.  His parents, Albert W. Batten and mother Elizabeth Stevenson, were listed as farmers in the 1901 census, but it appears that Albert may have been a hired hand, as he lived in an apartment on Mill Street, and not a farm.  William was a noted member of the Warsaw Loyal Orange Lodge (LOL) and the Norwood Scarlet Chapter.

Like many young Dummer men, William Batten had moved west in the years preceding the outbreak of the war, approximately in 1912.  He enlisted in the 96^th Battalion (Saskatchewan Highlanders) in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on March 18, 1916.  He was 22 years old, stood just over 5 foot 8 inches tall and had a dark complexion, grey eyes and brown hair. He was single, Presbyterian and listed his occupation as a farmer.

After travelling east, he boarded the troopship S.S. Laconia and left Halifax on September 26, 1916. After 2 weeks on the North Atlantic, he arrived in England on October 6^th.  Almost immediately his battalion met the dismal fate of being disbanded to reinforce other existing battalions.  Two days after arriving in England with his battalion, William Batten was transferred to a reserve unit in the 92nd Battalion.  By November 13^th, he was again transferred to the 13th Royal Highland Battalion, a hard fighting unit referred to as the “Black Watch”, originally formed in Montreal.   He left England and joined the 13^th in the vicinity of Vimy Ridge on November 22^nd 1916.

Private Batten would have joined the Black Watch while they held a strip of front line below the ridge from Gordon Trench to Gabriel Trench until early December 1916.  There, behind the parapet he would have received incessant daily shelling from stokes guns, trench mortars and heavy artillery, as well as sniper activity and the rakings from enemy machine guns.  Batten would have begun the routine of 4-5 days holding the front lines, then usually 6 days in “rest” behind the lines.  Rest was largely a misnomer as the men often were kept busy in working parties, training exercises, and other drills during such time.  The men would then usually move into support trenches, secondary position behind the front lines.  These trenches were still very dangerous positions to hold.  They were as muddy and wet and just as likely to receive shelling and sniper fire as their frontline counterparts.  So went the 18 day rotation.

Unknown members of the Black Watch in captured German
trench July 1916 (LAC)

During the next four months Batten would have had considerable experience in the front lines of Vimy, at places such as the “Double Grassier” & “Treize Alley” front.  During the times out of the trench he would have gone through a series of training on the upcoming assault on the Ridge.

The evening before the attack, On April 8^th 1917, Batten might have joined many of his comrades to form a semi circle around the padre, Capt. E. E. Graham, and listened to the short service praying for the success of the undertaking. He would have listened as his Lieut.-Col. McCuaig addressed the men in a soldierly speech, and been those who cheered and marched off down the Arras Road to the tune of "Highland Laddie,".  Batten would have arrived at the assembly positions below the ridge shortly after midnight.

At 5:30 am, April 9^th 1917, William Batten would have waited anxiously with his platoon in the trenches.  He would have heard a devastating crash of artillery as never heard before, as it crashed down on the German positions in front of him.  Rain and wet snow would have begun to fall, and shortly after the 1st wave of the 14^th Battalion in front of them would have climbed over the parapet and started the attack.  The whole attack was a series of precisely timed advances in time with the attacking wave of the 14^th Battalion in front of them and the rolling artillery barrage.  The 13^th was 150 yards behind the advance troops, following closely, ready to leap frog and take over the frontline advance on their mark.

The Black Watch entered the shattered enemy trenches on schedule, though they reported no serious opposition they did take numerous casualties along the way.  By 7 am the 13^th had advanced over a mile and reached the positions dubbed the Red and Black Line that they would hold as they let other fresh troops by pass them and continue the attack.  They dumped their provision on positions on Lille-Arras Road and dug in.

It is not clear as the manner of the death of William Batten; he was simply listed as “killed in action” on the day of the first attack. Like many of the fallen he was buried close to where he fell.  It is noted in the Burial Registers that his original grave site was in a small cemetery ¾ mile South East of the town of Neuville Saint Vast, ( Map 51 b A 16 a 1.1)  He grave marker was  destroyed by the constant shelling later in the war.  Because the exact spot of the grave is not known, his name appears on the Vimy Ridge Memorial

Sources:

Archives of Ontario. Registrations of Births and Stillbirths – 1869-1913. MS 929, reels 1-245. Toronto, Ontario,
Canada: Archives of Ontario.
Canada. "Soldiers of the First World War (1914-1918)." Record Group 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 4930 - 35.
Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa.
Canada. "Service File for William Batten" Record Group 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 4930 - 35.
Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa.
Library and Archives Canada; War Graves Registry: Commonwealth War Graves. <www.collectionscanada.gc.ca>
Library and Archives Canada; War Graves Registers: Circumstances of Death. www.collectionscanada.gc.ca
The Evening Examiner; May 15, 1917. "Local Casualties in To-Day's List Are Again Heavy" Peterborough Ontario.
Page 5.
The Evening Examiner; May 19, 1917. "Photograph" Peterborough Ontario. Page5.