Tuesday 22 April 2008
Letters, Photos, Etc....
I suppose some of you have been wondering why I don't have letters, postcards and pictures of my great-grandfather. There isn't any, except for six photographs of my great-grandfather from the First World War (which as soon as I get a scanner they will be up here.) There are no letters, postcards, notes, any written record besides his service record. My great-grandfather, Jack, having dropped out of school in the second grade was barley literate. Any written information from this time, if there was any, has fallen into that black hole of history. For research into this blog I have been using what information my Aunt was able to tell me, along with the 123rd Battalion's War Diary and Jack's service record. Like I stated that is the reason I started this blog to learn as much as I could.
Wednesday 16 April 2008
July 1917
I'm back everyone with a new post. Catching a cold has finally given me time to sit down and do some research.
July 1917 began with a fight. Funny enough, it had nothing to do with the war. This was a fight between battalions, the 123rd and 124th. On July 1st, the 123rd was given orders to take over equipment from the 124th Pioneer Battalion. The 123rd was to take over the 124th's tasks and camp and no one, especially the CO was happy about it. According to the War Diary for that day:
http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/e/e059/e001465828.jpg
Thankfully for the 123rd, the Division decided not to move them.
The first fews days of July, like those of previous months were quiet. There was some shelling and enemy planes sighted but other than that, the 123rd was not engaged in any combat operations. That all changed on July 10th, when the 123rd's camp was heavily shelled from a period of 1130pm to 3am. Miraculously no one was killed, but one officer from the headquarters company was buried beneath his dugout. He was dug out sometime later and survived.
On July 11, King George V visited the 3rd Division's front lines and Hill 145. Many men from the 123rd lines the road where his motor car passed.
A recurring phrase runs through the War Diary for this month, "No incident of importance to report." Trench life was dull. I did a post a while back on this if you want to read more in depth. Life on the front was routine. Wake up, eat, work, rest, work, sleep. The routine would be "shaken up" by shelling, enemy planes or any combat operations. After all of this, the routine would start again.
At the end of July, the battalion received orders to be taken off the line and rest. They were billeted in the town of Marles les Mines. Two awards were given out to men in the 123rd. L/Cpl J. Goff was awarded the Military Medal for bravery and Pte. L. Wilby was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
July 1917, ended with the men comfortably settled down to rest. It was on the last day of July that the Third Battle of Ypres began. Allied forces on this day suffered 32,000 casualties to take 2000 yards.
July 1917 began with a fight. Funny enough, it had nothing to do with the war. This was a fight between battalions, the 123rd and 124th. On July 1st, the 123rd was given orders to take over equipment from the 124th Pioneer Battalion. The 123rd was to take over the 124th's tasks and camp and no one, especially the CO was happy about it. According to the War Diary for that day:
"It is the intention that we take over the work of the 124th Pioneer Battalion, while they go into rest, but our present camp location is much superior to theirs, and is closer to the work they are doing than their own camp site. Furthermore, the situation struck me as being most unsanitary, and the whole layout is nothing like as clean as our own camp, it being all most impossible to keep things in good shape owing to the thick formation of the soil"
http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/e/e059/e001465828.jpg
Thankfully for the 123rd, the Division decided not to move them.
The first fews days of July, like those of previous months were quiet. There was some shelling and enemy planes sighted but other than that, the 123rd was not engaged in any combat operations. That all changed on July 10th, when the 123rd's camp was heavily shelled from a period of 1130pm to 3am. Miraculously no one was killed, but one officer from the headquarters company was buried beneath his dugout. He was dug out sometime later and survived.
On July 11, King George V visited the 3rd Division's front lines and Hill 145. Many men from the 123rd lines the road where his motor car passed.
A recurring phrase runs through the War Diary for this month, "No incident of importance to report." Trench life was dull. I did a post a while back on this if you want to read more in depth. Life on the front was routine. Wake up, eat, work, rest, work, sleep. The routine would be "shaken up" by shelling, enemy planes or any combat operations. After all of this, the routine would start again.
At the end of July, the battalion received orders to be taken off the line and rest. They were billeted in the town of Marles les Mines. Two awards were given out to men in the 123rd. L/Cpl J. Goff was awarded the Military Medal for bravery and Pte. L. Wilby was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
July 1917, ended with the men comfortably settled down to rest. It was on the last day of July that the Third Battle of Ypres began. Allied forces on this day suffered 32,000 casualties to take 2000 yards.
Wednesday 9 April 2008
91 Years Ago....
Historians like to tell us that Canada was born on a nice summer's day in July 1867. Well that may be true. I think our nation was really born one early April morning in 1917.
The Vimy Foundation
The Vimy Foundation
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
