Alma Kerr

I'm going to side track from the First World War a bit to talk about my great-grandmother, Jack's wife, Alma Kerr.

Alma Kerr was born to Francis "Frank" Kerr and Icey Leake on December 22nd, 1895, in Simcoe, Ontario. The Kerr family originally hailed from Ireland, with Alma's grandfather, Sam Kerr, immigrating to Canada sometime in the 1840's. The family was quite prosperous (they owned a brick yard) and well known in Simcoe. Sam Kerr had married into an old Dutch family (the Vandervoorts) Sometime after 1901, the Kerr family had moved from Simcoe to the East End of Toronto (at 195 Greenwood Ave) where Frank Kerr worked in a tannery.


the brickyard

I am not clear on how Alma and Jack met but they were married on June 15th 1915 in Toronto. From what my Aunt (my source for all this information) had told me is that the Kerr family (especially Frank)did not like Jack at all. I have never heard the reason why this was. It was from these conversations with my Aunt, that she told me that Jack lied his whole life about being a Methodist (the Kerr's were Methodists.) Jack's family had been Catholic and Jack had been raised Catholic. The Kerr family though, didn't like Catholics. Alma certainly knew, as she was the one who told me Aunt many years later, but it all most certain that Frank Kerr and the rest did not know. If they did, Alma would never have been allowed to marry Jack.



Jack and Alma moved into 123 Greenwood St (which was bought by Frank Kerr)just after the wedding. Around this time Frank and Isey moved in with them. In February 1916, Jack enlisted in the CEF and shipped off a few months later to England. This time in my great-grandmother's life is a mystery, all I know is (from reviewing Jack's service record) that Alma received a separation allowance every month from Jack's pay.

In 1919, Jack returned to Canada and began work at the same tannery as Frank Kerr. This did not last long as Jack could not stand the smell of the place and soon found work with Ontario Hydro. In 1920, Jack and Alma had their first child, my grandad, Frank Dowe. He was followed in quick succession by Edward, (who died in WWII)Milton and Patricia.

Jack and Alma lived in Toronto till the late 60's, when they finally moved to Ottawa at he request of my grandad. Jack had been suffering from diabetes and was becoming difficult to care for at home. On December 22nd, 1969 (Alma's birthday) Jack died. For the next twenty years, Alma lived close to her remaining family. She died in 1990 at the age of 95.

May/June 1917

(As you can see I've amalgamated May and June 1917. After doing research I found that June was another quiet month for the battalion, with very few military actions.)

The 123rd Pioneer Battalion began May 1917 with 1264 men and 46 officers. The first day of May began with an explosion of an old French ammunition dump. The cause of the explosion was never found and there were four casualties.

"D" company was put to work repairing the road around La Targette. On May 5th another ammunition dump exploded, this time a gas alert was issued. Again, the cause was never found.

Compared with the excitement of the Vimy Ridge offensive, May 1917, was quiet. The four companies of the battalion were soon taken off road work and sent to the trenches at Vimy Ridge, for repair detail. The 123rd up until this time had been billeted in tents near the front lines and never had experienced trench warfare before. Now the men were billeted in chalk pits, which the OC assured, were "shell proof."

Deward Barnes of the 19th Battalion, which was part of the assault on Vimy Ridge and was still on the front lines, wrote about the conditions in the trenches.

"The shelling was terrible. It was really heavy now as we got the whiz bangs. And he certainly could send them fast."
(It Made You Think Of Home, page 78.)



The maintenance work the 123rd would have been involved in would have been laying new duckboards, repairing communications lines, digging new trench systems, repairing siding, pipe lines, etc.

"A" Company was tasked with grading and excavating the woods near Vimy. Since arriving in the woods, "A' Company was shelled daily and gassed. On May 12th "A" Company was pulled out from Farbus Woods. In ten days they had suffered thirty causalities. "D" Company relieved them.

On May 16th, news was received that the 3rd Pioneer Battalion was being disbanded and the men were going to be divided up between all the other Pioneer Battalions. The 123rd received 42 men.

As I mentioned before, May 1917 was a quiet month. Even the War Diary of the 123rd attests to this. The end of May saw the Battalion engage in a number of recreational activities. On May 24th the regimental baseball team played the 107th Pioneers, beating them 20 to 1. On May 25th "D" Company was relieved by "C" Company and sent to work with the 1st and 3rd Army Troops Company. May ended with the Battalion moving to a new camp.

June

After the relatively quiet month of May, June 1917 started off with the 4th Canadian Division carrying out a heavy artillery bombardment around the area of La Targette. Aerial bombardment by German planes continued during the nights, but no causalities were recorded. D Company, which numbered 100, was sent to work on road repair while the other three companies rested, built trenches or worked on railways.

On June 10th, the Battalion received word that two men Pte. James Hillis and Cpl. John Morrison were to be awarded the Military Medal for bravery. They are the first (but not the last) to receive a medal for bravery. Two days later, the Canadian Corps was informed that Sir Julian Byng was to be leaving as commander. General Byng had commanded the Canadian Corps since 1916. With Arthur Currie, he commanded the Canadian Corps when they took Vimy. Soldiers called themselves, "Byng's Boys" and he remained a popular figure in Canada (Byng was made Governor General in 1921.)



By mid month, the Battalion had moved up again to the trenches at Vimy to do more repair work. On June 23rd, the CO, Major Brown and Lt. Galbraith spent the early morning going over plans for an upcoming operation the battalion was to be involved in. On the night of the 27th, 200 men from the battalion were sent to work on the communications trench, while the Infantry engaged in operations. Working through the night, under shell and machine gun fire, they were able to finish the trench. In the morning, the Infantry ordered them to cease work, afraid that they would draw fire.

On June 27th, the Battalion was ordered to rest for 10 days. This didn't last. That afternoon, the CO was told that the 9th Infantry Brigade had been ordered to capture Avion trench. The 123rd was ordered to field 200 men to construct a communications and fire trench on the right flank of the objective. They were also ordered to consolidate Avion Trench when it was taken. The CO was to have none of this. After storming up to division headquarters, it was decided that if the 9th Infantry Brigade wanted Avion Trench consolidated, they were going to have to do it themselves.



This reprieve didn't last long. At the end of the month the battalion was ordered, again, to field 200 men to build 400 yards of communications trench. The work wasn't successful due to muddy and wet conditions. There were three casualties due to accidents.



(the pictures were taken by photographer Frank Hurley)

Posts Coming

Yes I know it has been a while. I have recently started a contact with the government and have not had much time the last few weeks to do any research. Looking back through my account, I realized I forget to publish May 1917. I have just done that now, so scroll down.

A Souviner Photo

Sometime when he was in England, Jack took this photo and sent it back to his wife, Alma. Today it is mounted in with his campaign medals.

Shell Shock

I was going to wait until I came to the end of my great-grandfather's story to write about this, but after talking to my Aunt I decided to do it now. To understand why I am doing this blog I have to talk about the unpleasant subject of shell shock or Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (as we call it today.)

When I had started researching Jack, I asked my father what he could tell me about him. He couldn't tell me anything, but a few anecdotes. So, I asked my Aunt, who was twenty when he died if she could tell me anything. According to her, the Jack she knew was morose, withdrawn, unapproachable and prone to bouts of sudden rage. No one had dared ask him about the First World War and he did not give any details. My great-grandmother, who lived until 1990, told my Aunt that he had been more outgoing and happier when they first married. Jack had come back from the war a changed man.

Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele, Jack was there. In the next coming weeks I'll be talking about Passchendaele, but I can tell you now that Jack was a stretch bearer during that battle. I guess it came down to unless you were there and experienced all the horrors of war, then you could never understand. How could have Jack talked about the war?


Stretcher Bearers

In 1914, doctors began to see the first cases of shell shock. Early symptoms included tiredness, irritability, giddiness, lack of concentration and headaches. Eventually the men suffered mental breakdowns making it impossible for them to remain in the front-line. Originally doctors thought shell bursts "shook up" soldiers brains, causing the above mentioned symptoms. As the war went on doctors began to see it as more of a psychiatric illness, that resulted in nerve damage during combat. If a soldier was an officer (like Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen) they were most likely to be sent away to a hospital to recuperate. Many enlisted men did not get the same treatment.

Philip Gibbs, writing about the war for The Daily Chronicle, mentions his experiences with shell shock in his autobiography, Adventures in Journalism.

I saw a sergeant-major convulsed like someone suffering from epilepsy. He was moaning horribly with blind terror in his eyes. He had to be strapped to a stretcher before he could be carried away. Soon afterwards I saw another soldier shaking in every limb, his mouth slobbered, and two comrades could not hold him still. These badly shell-shocked boys clawed their mouths ceaselessly. Others sat in the field hospitals in a state of coma, dazed, as though deaf and dumb.