Month: September 2017

The Search For Manitoba Cemetery

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September 30, 2017.  After the visit to Beaumont-Hamel, we had only one cemetery left to visit in the area around Arras.  Our previous attempt to find Manitoba Cemetery in Caix had been fruitless and frustrating.  We’d asked in the village and were willingly directed to the only ‘English’ cemetery known in the area – the British Cemetery!  There also was a German cemetery.  Manitoba Cemetery?  No one heard of it.  We’d tried the neighbouring village of Beaufort, and got directed to the same British Cemetery.

…Where is that cemetery?…

Pieter spent a long time online looking at Google maps to try and find out why we’d had so much trouble, and eventually realized that the Commonwealth War Graves Commission direction to the cemetery was incorrect!  The directions stated that the cemetery was “situated between the village of Caix and Beaufort.”  According to Google maps, there was a small road between the two villages where the cemetery appeared to be located.  However, there was NO Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery sign anywhere along the road between the villages, and no one we had asked had heard of it.

Back we went for a second try and arrived, again, in Caix.  Pieter was determined to find the grave of James CAIRNS, if he had to search every road in the area.

CIMG8363 Sep 5 2017 sign for Caix the location of the Manitoba Cemetery

We reach the village of Caix, location of Manitoba Cemetery. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

…A farm path led to the cemetery…

Following the information Pieter learned from studying Google maps, we actually found the cemetery, down a farm path.  We’d actually been on the path the day before, but hadn’t gone down far enough as we thought it was a private road, not a public one, and there were no signs indicating that a cemetery was down the road.

CIMG8555 Sep 6 2017 Pieter at entrance to Manitoba Cemetery

Pieter at the entrance to Manitoba Cemetery just outside Caix. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

According to the information panel at the cemetery, the village of Caix was captured from the Germans in February 1917, lost in March 1918, and recaptured by the Canadian Corps four months later.  Named after the Manitoba Regiment of the 8th Canadian Battalion (known as Winnipeg Rifles), the cemetery has the graves of 2 British and 117 Canadians who fell in the recapture.  Seven of the burials are unidentified.

…James was born in Prince Edward Island but moved to Manitoba…

This was the second James Cairns on the Cenotaph outside the Borden-Carleton Legion, one identified as James Ambrose Cairns, and the one buried in Manitoba Cemetery known as James Cairns.  Born on February 22, 1897 in Kinkora, he was the son of Thomas Cairns and Mary Jane MacDonald.

The family moved to Manitoba from the island, and Cairns enlisted with the 190th Battalion Manitoba Regiment on July 8, 1916.  He was killed in action during the Battle of Amiens on August 9, 1918.  The Battle of Amiens, also known as the Third Battle of Picardy, was the opening phase of the Allied offensive which began on 8 August 1918, later known as the Hundred Days Offensive, that ultimately led to the end of the First World War.

…James was killed by machine gun fire…

According to the Canadian War Graves Register circumstances of death, James “…was instantly killed on the afternoon of August 9th 1918, while advancing with his battalion, in the face of stout opposition from the enemy, who placed a heavy barrage at the ‘jumping off’ place, and from hidden nests poured machine gun fire in the ranks of the troops who pushed forward.  Location of the unit at the time of the casualty: West of the Meharicourt-Rouvroy road…”

CIMG8557 Sep 6 2017 Pieter places flags by grave of James Cairns at Manitoba Cemetery

Pieter placing flags by the grave of James Cairns at Manitoba Cemetery. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

While we don’t have a photo of James Cairns, we are lucky to have a glimpse into his personality, through a letter that the sister of James Cairns received on September 18, 1918 from the 83rd Canadian Battalion British Expeditionary Forces:

“My Dear Miss Cairns:

I regret that the conditions of war made it impossible for me to write you sooner regarding the death of your brother Pte. James Cairns. He died in the afternoon of Aug 9th during the second day of our advance in front of Amiens. Death was instantaneous, the result of a machine gun bullet. I buried the body in a cemetery on the battlefield where many of his comrades lie. The grave is marked and will be permanent.

I knew your brother. He was doing well and was liked by everybody. His life has been given for human freedom and it will not be in vain. God will be pleased to accept the sacrifice and to make through it a better world. I pray God will bless you abundantly and sustain you all in this trial.

Believe me to be yours in deepest sympathy.

J. W. Whillans – Capt. and Chaplain”

…James is not the only Islander buried in the cemetery!…

We thought this was it for our trip to the cemetery.  All that was left was to write in the Guest Register.  While doing so, we had a little surprise.  The previous visitors from July 13 had come to honour their great-uncle and great-great uncle Theodore (Ted) ARSENAULT from Abrams Village! Who would believe that the last visitors to Manitoba Cemetery visited a soldier from Prince Edward Island?

Entries from the Guest Register at Manitoba Cemetery in Caix.  (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

We couldn’t leave without placing flags by another soldier from PEI!

IMG_20170906_152615630 Sep 6 2017 grave of Ted Arsenault in Manitoba Cemetery in Caix

Grave of T. E. Arsenault of Abrams Village. (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)

With that, we left Manitoba Cemetery and drove a way down the farm road to see if there may be a sign we missed.  There wasn’t, but we came across a reminder that this part of France saw suffering in WWII, as well as WW1.

CIMG8569 Sep 6 2017 WWII memorial on a farm path outside Caix

Memorial down the road from the Manitoba Cemetery outside Caix which roughly reads “On June 7, 1940 31 French soldiers from the 41st Infantry Regiment and 10th Army of Rennes were massacred by the Nazis. Remember. Colonel Loichet, commander of the 41st Infantry Regiment” (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

We drove around in the area, looking for a Commonwealth War Graves sign and found a very battered sign on the farm road, not on the main road, that you would see, not from Caix, but from Beaufort en Santerre. If you are planning to visit Manitoba Cemetery, the only other sign you will see is in Quesnel, from the D41. This town, however, is not mentioned in the cemetery info provided by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission!  From Quesnel, you would head towards Beaufort en Santerre via D161 and take an unnumbered road, called Rue du Bois, to reach the cemetery.  Where is Caix in all this?  If you continue past the cemetery then you will reach Caix, which has several military cemeteries which are clearly marked, but not the one for Manitoba Cemetery.

In the next blog entries we reflect on the cemeteries we’ve seen so far and visit the ruins of Mount St. Eloi church before going on to Rouen to St. Sever Cemetery Extension. Do you have photos or information about James Cairns?  Does anyone know the family members who visited the grave of Ted Arsenault of Abrams Village? Comments or stories?  You can share them by emailing us at memorialtrail@gmail.com, comment on the blog, or tweet to @researchmemori1.    

© Daria Valkenburg

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A Visit to Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Battlefield Memorial Park

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September 29, 2017.  After we left Grandcourt Road Cemetery, we decided to visit a memorial site where we were assured of easy access.  Kevin Peddle of Prince County Trophy in Summerside had made plaques for Pieter for two soldiers listed on Menin Gate in Ypres, Charles Benjamin Buxton and George Albert Campbell, and he had also made the plaques for Patrick Raymond Arsenault and John Lymon Wood that were left at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in April by the Kinkora Regional High School students.

So when Kevin mentioned that his great-uncle, Seaman Alec PEDDLE was killed during WW1, Pieter did some research for him and found out that he was the son of David and Mary Ann Peddle, husband of Julia Peddle, and was listed on the Newfoundland Memorial at Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Battlefield Memorial Park. Pieter promised to try and visit the memorial and pay his respects.

Beaumont-Hamel, the largest of the battlefield parks established in memory of Newfoundlanders who lost their lives in World War I, is located nine kilometres north of the town of Albert.  Like Vimy Ridge, this is a well visited site, with student guides and a visitors centre.  This was quite a contrast to the many cemeteries we’d been to, where we were the only visitors.

CIMG8537 Sep 6 2017 Sign to Beaumont Hamel

Sign directing us to Beaumont-Hamel. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

The Beaumont Hamel Memorial Park, opened in 1925, is the home of the monument of a bronze caribou, the emblem of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment.

CIMG8540 Sep 6 2017 Pieter at Beaumont Hamel Memorial

Pieter at the base of the Beaumont Hamel Newfoundland Memorial. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

At the base of the caribou statue are three bronze tablets with the names of 800 members of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve, and the Mercantile Marine.  All of these have no known grave.

Seaman Peddle, who was with the  Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve, had been on a ship, the H.M.S. ‘Dirk’, which was torpedoed off the east coast of England on May 28, 1918.  Although Admiralty records state that ‘Dirk’ was a trawler hired in 1917, she was a ferry owned by David MacBrayne, and was used for submarine patrol duties along with her sister ship, the ‘Lochiel’.  As Peddle has no known grave, he is mentioned on the memorial on a panel for the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve.

CIMG8541 Sep 6 2017 Nfld Royal Naval Reserve Memorial

Bronze plaque listing members of the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve who died in WW1 and have no known grave. (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)

CIMG8544 Sep 6 2017 Nfld Royal Naval Reserve Memorial Pieter points to where Alec Peddle is mentioned

Pieter points to Seaman A. Peddle’s name on the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve Plaque. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

While we were at Beaumont-Hamel, we dropped in to say hello to site manager Arlene King, who had kindly arranged for site manager Johanne Gagné to help us out at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial Park.

CIMG8552 Sep 6 2017 Pieter with Arlene King site mgr of Beaumont Hamel

Pieter with site manager Arlene King at the Beaumont Hamel Visitors Centre. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

Although the visit to Beaumont-Hamel was not part of the Borden-Carleton Cenotaph Research Project, we were honoured to pay our respects to Seaman Peddle and see this beautiful site.

In the next blog entry we continue our search for the Manitoba Cemetery. Comments or stories?  You can share them by emailing us at dariadv@yahoo.ca or by commenting on this blog.

© Daria Valkenburg

Grandcourt Road Cemetery in Farmers Fields

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September 28, 2017.  After a few successful cemetery finds, we decided to make a second attempt at finding Grandcourt Road Cemetery, the burial place of Arthur COLLETT.  We finally found it in the afternoon on a very narrow path between farm fields, one km south of the village of Grandcourt in the spectacularly beautiful Somme Valley.

CIMG8361 Sep 5 2017 we reach the Somme Valley in France

We reach the Somme Valley in France. (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)

The Commonwealth Graves Commission write up on the cemetery warned that access was difficult, saying “Please note that parking is difficult.  There is no permanent pathway to the cemetery.  Visitors must cross two fields to reach the cemetery.”  They weren’t kidding!

By “no permanent pathway” they meant you had to drive down a very narrow path which had inches to spare on either side on our small rental car.  We were dwarfed by a cornfield on one side and a potato field on the other.

CIMG8535 Sep 6 2017 corn is higher than car by Grandcourt Road Cemeter

You can see how close we were to the cornfield! (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

Needless to say, there was no parking and no way to turn around except to drive backwards!  We simply stopped the car beside the sign pointing to the cemetery and crossed our fingers in the hope that no one would come along down the road or we would be in trouble before anyone saw the car.

The next challenge, now that we found the location, was getting to the cemetery.  It involved crawling up a set of steps to the first field.  One look at the steps, with no railing, and it was clear that only Pieter was attempting this journey.

CIMG8520 Sep 6 Sep 6 2017 steps going up to Grandcourt Road Cemetery

The steps leading up to the fields that one had to cross in order to reach Grandcourt Road Cemetery. The bottom step is inches away from our car! (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)

From the top of the steps it was another 500 metres, across two fields, before Pieter reached the cemetery.  Poor Arthur Collett!  From Rhodes Scholar to lie buried in a field in the middle of nowhere!

In one field, the farmer had made a grass path to walk along, in order to reach the cemetery, a thoughtful gesture that was much appreciated.

CIMG8522 Sep 6 2017 grass path leading to Grandcourt Road Cemetery

Grass path across a farmer’s field towards Grandcourt Road Cemetery. The trees in the distance indicate the cemetery location. (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)

The second field wasn’t as easy to cross.  That farmer found his potatoes more important than providing access to the cemetery, and did not have a grass path.  Luckily for Pieter, it was not raining or he would have been stuck in the mud.

CIMG8523 Sep 6 2017 second field potatoes more important than access to Grandcourt Rd Cemetery

Second farmer’s field did not have a grass path towards Grandcourt Road Cemetery. The trees in the distance indicate the cemetery location. (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)

Eventually, however, Pieter reached the gates of the cemetery, and learned it was made in the spring of 1917 when the Ancre battlefield was cleared.  There are 391 WW1 burials, 108 of them unidentified.  390 are British soldiers, and one, our Lt Arthur Collett, the lone Canadian burial.

CIMG8524 Sep 6 2017 gates of Grandcourt Rd Cemetery

After crossing two farmers’ fields, Pieter reached Grandcourt Road Cemetery. (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)

Arthur Leigh Collett was born December 8, 1888 in Victoria, Prince Edward Island, the son of Ella May Simmons, and was the adopted son of William Henry Collett and Alice M.  Moore.  After receiving a Bachelor of Arts from King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, he went to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, but shortly afterwards enlisted in the 12th Regiment in September 1914, later transferring to the 8th Battalion of The Gloucestershire Regiment.  According to the King’s College history, he “at once forsook his work at Oxford and enlisted in the Imperial Army.  He served in France with the 8th Gloucesters.”

Arthur Collett 1

Arthur Collett. (Photo courtesy of Heather and Paul Moore Family Collection)

In a Pioneer newspaper article from July 15, 1916, came word of an injury, which he survived. “Mr. W. H. Collett, Victoria, has received a cablegram from London, England, notifying him that his son Lieut. A. L. Collett, was wounded on July 3rd. Lieut. Collett, who is a Rhodes scholar and also an Oxford M.A., went over to England with the First Contingent and was later transferred to the 8th Gloucester Regiment.“

Unfortunately, he died in action on November 18, 1916 during the last day of the Battle of the Ancre.  The Battle of the Ancre, fought against the German 1st Army between November 13 and 18, 1916, was the final large British attack of the Battle of the Somme.

The war diary for November 18, 1916 of the 8th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment made the following record:  “Formed up in artillery formation preparatory to attack on Western outskirts of. Grandcourt. 6:10 a.m. attack launched, first objective reached and carried. The 10th regiment was right on our right being partially held up our flank was in the air. Casualties: 12 Officers, 283 Other Ranks.”

And so that’s how Arthur Collett ended up in Grandcourt Road Cemetery, sharing a grave with an unknown soldier.

CIMG8528 Sep 6 2017 grave of Arthur Collett at Grandcourt Rd Cemetery

Grave of Arthur Collett in Grandcourt Road Cemetery. (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)

After placing the flags by Collett’s grave, Pieter had to retrace his steps back across two fields and down the narrow steps, then squeeze himself into the small space between the steps and the car.  Then we had to gingerly inch our way back out onto an actual road.  We were lucky.  No one came onto the path while we were there!

Grandcourt Road Cemetery is difficult to access, and requires a lot of time, determination, and a good level of physical fitness.  Consequently, it’s not well visited.  Pieter wrote in the Guest Register and noted the previous entry was dated four months earlier.

In the next blog entry we visit the Newfoundland Memorial at Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Battlefield Memorial Park before we continue our search for the Manitoba Cemetery. Do you have information or photos for Arthur Collett? Comments or stories?  You can share them by emailing us at dariadv@yahoo.ca or by commenting on this blog.

© Daria Valkenburg

A Trip To Bellacourt Military Cemetery

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September 27, 2017.  After successfully finding our way to a number of cemeteries in France, we were growing more confident.  Next on our list was to find the Bellacourt Military Cemetery in Riviere, 10 km southwest of Arras, the burial place of two soldiers listed on the Cenotaph outside the Borden-Carleton Legion – Patrick Phillip DEEGAN (aka DEIGHAN) and Percy FARRAR (aka FARROW).  Both men died in the same area, about 5 km south of Arras.

All of the Commonwealth War Graves Cemeteries have a stone fence around them, and inside the cemeteries there is green grass, and the graves all have a white headstone of the same shape and size.  In each cemetery there is a Cross of Remembrance and a memorial stone.  Most of the time there is also a sign on the road directing you to the cemetery.

CIMG8501 Sep 6 2017 Sign for Bellacourt Military Cemetery

Sign giving directions to the turnoff to Bellacourt Military Cemetery. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

In each of the cemeteries we’d been to so far, we’ve been the only visitors, and Bellacourt was no different.  Most of the cemeteries we’d seen had been surrounded by farm fields.  Bellacourt, however, is near a waste collection centre!  Luckily, it’s not visible from the cemetery.

CIMG8502 Sep 6 2017 Bellacourt Military Cemetery

Bellacourt Military Cemetery. The graves marked with crosses only are French burials. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

According to the information provided by the Commonwealth Graves Commission, the cemetery began by French troops in October 1914, and carried on by various British divisions and later by the Canadian Corps.  There are 432 Commonwealth burials in the cemetery, 1 of which is unidentified, and 117 French burials.

At the time of their deaths, both Percy Farrar and Patrick Deegan were with the 26th New Brunswick Battalion.  Private Patrick Phillip Deegan was born November 25, 1894 in Cape Traverse, the son of Alexander Deegan and Margaret Anne Tierney.

Deegan, Patrick Phillip

Patrick Phillip Deegan. (Photo from Lest We Forget Project in Credit Union Place in Summerside. )

A clerk employed by Messrs. R. T. Holman, & Co. before the war, Deegan had twice been turned down for enlistment before being accepted as part of a reinforcement draft with the 105th Draft Regiment in 1916.  In his obituary in the May 4, 1918 Agriculturalist publication, “In the 105th he quickly was raised to Corporal and instructor in musketry but in order to get to the front he sacrificed his stripes, and went over about two months ago.”

On April 21, 1918, Deegan was instantly killed in action by an explosion of an enemy shell in the trenches in the vicinity of Mercatel, 11 km east of the cemetery.

CIMG8507 Sep 6 2017 Pieter by grave of Patrick Deegan at Bellacourt Military Cemetery

Pieter by the grave of Patrick Deegan at Bellacourt Military Cemetery. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

Percy Farrar (sometimes spelled Farrow) was born July 30, 1895 in North Tryon, the son of William Farrar and Margaret Jane McKinnon, and enlisted in October 1915.

Percy Farrar

Percy Farrar. (Photo courtesy of South Shore United Church in Tryon.)

Like Deegan, he died in the vicinity of Mercatel, two months after Deegan, on June 23, 1918, during German Spring offensives on the Western Front.

CIMG8512 Sep 6 2017 Grave of Percy Farrar at Bellacourt Military Cemetery

Grave of Percy Farrar at Bellacourt Military Cemetery. (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)

After Farrar’s death, his family moved to California.  The San Diego Union newspaper of March 13, 1921 noted that Farrar had died “while manning a machine gun”.   The newspaper noted that Farrar’s father received “two memorial scrolls from Buckingham Palace, London, in commemoration of the death of his son, Percy Earle Farrar, who was killed in action in the World War on the western front in France, June 23, 1918.”  One of the scrolls was signed by King George of England and stated that “I join with my grateful people in sending you this memorial of a brave life given for others in the great war.”

CIMG8517 Sep 6 2017 Daria writes in the guest register at Bellacourt Military Cemetery

We always write the names of the soldiers we’ve come to pay our respects to in the Guest Register. Daria enters the information at Bellacourt Military Cemetery (Photo credit Pieter Valkenburg)

In the next blog entry we continue our search for the Manitoba and Grandcourt cemeteries. Do you have information or photos for Patrick Phillip Deegan (Deighan) and Percy Farrar (Farrow)? Comments or stories?  You can share them by emailing us at dariadv@yahoo.ca or by commenting on this blog.

© Daria Valkenburg

We Visit Bac-Du-Sud British Cemetery To Honour James Ambrose Cairns

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September 25, 2017.  Arras, France was our home base for our trips in and around the Vimy area.  Our hotel was across from the train station.  In front of the station was a plaza with restaurants surrounding it.  Of course, we took a stroll to see what was there.

CIMG8262 Sep 4 2017 Pieter on the street in Arras

Pieter in Arras. On the left is the plaza. We took a stroll to see which of the many cafes took our fancy. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

If we still had the idea that war memorials were only in cemeteries and in the countryside, we had a reality check as soon as we ventured outside the hotel.  In the plaza, across from the train station, is a large memorial to the people of Arras who lost their lives in the war.

CIMG8263 Sep 4 2017 Pieter at monument opposite the train station in Arras

Pieter by the memorial to the fallen citizens in Arras. On the left is the plaza. We took a stroll to see which of the many cafes took our fancy. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

CIMG8264 Sep 4 2017 monument opposite the train station in Arras

The memorial in the plaza in Arras to the fallen citizens also honours the soldiers of France. The inscription says: The French Soldier. Yesterday a soldier of God, today a soldier of humanity, will always be a soldier of law. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

The memorials and cemeteries made us more determined than ever to honour the memories of as many of the soldiers on the Borden-Carleton Cenotaph that we could while we were in Europe.  After we left the Ligny Saint-Flochel British Cemetery, we made our way to Bac-Du-Sud British Cemetery where James Ambrose CAIRNS is buried.

It was our first clue that visiting cemeteries can be a challenge. Bac-Du-Sud British Cemetery in Bailleulval, 13 km southwest of Arras, is just on the side of very busy highway, the N25.  If you think of a highway shoulder and widen the space slightly, you have an idea how we were parked. There are no actual parking spots, just the gate to the cemetery off the side of the highway.  Around the cemetery is a farmer’s field.

CIMG8491 Sep 6 2017 Bac Du Sud British cemetery where James A Cairns is buried

Pieter at Bac-Du-Sud British Cemetery, where James Ambrose Cairns is buried. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

CIMG8492 Sep 6 2017 Bac Du Sud British cemetery where James A Cairns is buried

Pieter places flags at the grave of James Ambrose Cairns in Bac-Du-Sud British Cemetery. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

The cemetery has 688 WW1 Commonwealth graves, of which 4 are unidentified, and 55 German graves.  According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the cemetery began in March 1918 by the 7th, 20th, and 43rd Casualty Clearing Stations, but when Germans advanced at the end of March 1918, their place was taken by field ambulances of the units fighting on the Arras front, notably the 31st Division and the Canadian Corps.  In August and September 1918, once the Germans had been pushed back, the 45th and 46th Casualty Clearing Stations were posted here.

James Ambrose Cairns, son of Terrence Cairns and Elisabeth Hughes, was born March 16, 1895 in Emerald, PEI.  He was killed in action near Neuville – Vitasse (raid on ‘The Maze’) on June 13, 1918.  Neuville-Vitasse, 16.6 km from Bailleulval, was a village under the control of the Germans.  To protect their position, the Germans had a series of trenches, referred to as ‘The Maze’, on the outskirts of the village.  It was during a raid on these trenches that Cairns lost his life.

Although we have not been able to find a photo of James Ambrose Cairns, we were lucky to have an account of what happened from the Canada War Graves Register Circumstances of death:  Cairns “was one of a carrying party in the frontline trench, when an enemy shell burst nearby, fragments of the shell striking him in the head and body, inflicting fatal wounds. He was immediately taken to a Dressing station and later to the Canadian 4th Field ambulance where he died of his wounds the next morning.”

An obituary in the Summerside Journal of September 11, 1918 gave a bit more information on what happened, as well as a few highlights of Cairns’ life and career in banking: “On the evening of June 12th, Pte. James A. Cairns was borne from the field of battle in France to a dressing station severely wounded. He was doing duty in a front line trench, being at the time one of a party, who were carrying out a dead comrade, when an enemy shell burst nearby inflicting fatal wounds, fragments of the shell striking him in the head and body. He was immediately taken out to a dressing station and died the next morning at No 4 Canadian Field Ambulance.

Pte. Cairns was 23 years of age at the time of his death. He enlisted when he was 21 years of age in Liverpool where he was one of the staff of the Royal Bank of Canada. He went to Lieutenant’s training school where he obtained his diploma but did not get a commission. He crossed to England in October 1916, and was held in reserve for some time, but growing eager to get to France he went as a private and was in action three months before his death. He worked in the Royal Bank of Canada in Summerside for three years, also in Tyne Valley, before being transferred to Liverpool, N.S.”

CIMG8494 Sep 6 2017 Pieter by the grave of James A Cairns in Bac Du Sud British cemetery

Pieter by the grave of James Ambrose Cairns in Bac-Du-Sud British Cemetery after placing the flags of Canada, PEI, and Canada 150. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

In the next blog entry we visit Bellacourt Military Cemetery before continuing our search for the Manitoba and Grandcourt cemeteries. Do you have information or photos for James Ambrose Cairns?  Comments or stories?  You can share them by emailing us at dariadv@yahoo.ca or by commenting on this blog.

© Daria Valkenburg

Paying Our Respects To Private Joseph Arthur Desroches

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September 23, 2017.  We’re not inexperienced travellers, but even we can sometimes get into situations we simply can’t understand.  Quite often it happens with food and France gave us a real doozie.  Our hotel in Arras offered ‘le petit dejeuner’ (breakfast), served buffet style, so you picked what you wanted.

In the hotel you had a choice of hard-boiled or ‘fresh’ eggs.  I had no idea what ‘fresh eggs’ were so passed by them and chose a hard-boiled egg.  Pieter didn’t notice the hard-boiled eggs, just the ‘fresh’ eggs, and so he chose one, thinking how nice it was of the hotel to guarantee an egg that wasn’t old.

CIMG8466 Sep 6 2017 fresh eggs at Holiday Inn in Arras

‘Fresh’ eggs on offer at the hotel breakfast in Arras. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

I wish I’d taken a photo of his face when he cracked open his egg and saw……a raw egg.  It was fresh all right, straight from the chicken!

IMG_20170905_075317693 Sep 5 2017 Pieter tries to eat a raw egg

The ‘fresh’ egg was really a raw egg. (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)

It took us two days to realize that the silver box beside the eggs, which we thought was some kind of fancy toaster, contained boiling water so you could cook your egg to your own specification.  Who would have guessed?

Over breakfast, Pieter determined that while he was going back to Caix to find the Manitoba Cemetery, if he had to search for it street by street, we first were getting gas and going to a few cemeteries that might be easier to find.  We got gas in the town of Vimy.  For those interested in the price of gas, it was 1.399 euros per litre (about $2.06 Canadian).

From Vimy we went to Ligny Saint-Flochel British Cemetery, where Joseph Arthur DESROCHES is buried.

CIMG8474 Sep 6 2017 Pieter at base of cross of remembrance at Ligny St Flochel British cemetery where Desroches is buried

Pieter at the base of the Cross of Remembrance in Ligny Saint-Flochel British Cemetery. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

Joseph Arthur DESROCHES was born August 8, 1891 in Miscouche, the son of Zephirim Desroches and Priscilla Gaudet.  Unlike most of the soldiers on the Borden- Carleton Cenotaph, Desroches was married, to Mary Ann Wedge of Fernwood, and had four children: Elizabeth Eileen, Joseph Alfred, Lucy Priscilla, and Charles Arthur.  A farmer before the war who worked for Howard MacFarlane of Bedeque, he was wounded by a shot to his head at Cagnicourt on September 2, 1918, and died on September 4 at Number 7 Casualty Clearing Station, located in Ligny Saint-Flochel, 7.6 km of Cagnicourt.

We learned that a Casualty Clearing Station was located further back from the front line than Aid Posts and Field Ambulances, and manned by the Royal Army Medical Corps, with attached Royal Engineers and men of the Army Service Corps. Its job was to treat the wounded enough to allow him to return to duty or to keep him stable long enough to be evacuated to a Base Hospital.

According to the war diary of the Headquarters of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade, 1st Canadian Division, in preparation for an attack on the Drocourt-Queant Line, several battalions assembled their positions in the early hours of September 2.  The 13th Battalion was on the left, and the 14th Battalion, which Desroches was part of, was immediately behind.  The 16th Battalion was on the right, with the 15th Battalion immediately behind.

The war diary went on to explain what happened on September 2:  “…The 13th and 16th Battalions were to capture the 1st objective, including the Drocourt-Queant and support lines.  The 14th and 15th Battalions were then to leap-frog and capture Cagnicourt, Bois de Bouche, and Bois de Loison and advance up the Buissy Switch where the 13th Battalion were to go through and mop up the switch on the Brigade Frontage. 

Promptly at 5:00 am our barrage opened and the 13th and 16th Battalions advanced.  The German barrage came down very quickly within a minute of ours but was light and caused few casualties. 

The first phase of the attack went according to schedule and the 1st objective was reached on time. The 14th and 15th Battalions went through but after passing Cagnicourt were held up badly by machine gun fire from the flanks which were exposed, as our flanking brigades could not get up…”

As with all of the graves of Islanders, Pieter put down the flags of Canada, Prince Edward Island, and Canada 150.  We were grateful to PEI Senator Mike Duffy, PEI MLA Jamie Fox, and MP Wayne Easter for providing us with flags and pins for this venture on the war memorial trail.

CIMG8482Sep 6 2017 grave of Arthur Desroches in Ligny St Flochel British cemetery

Grave of Joseph Arthur Desroches in Ligny Saint-Flochel British Cemetery. Note that the spelling of his surname is without an ‘s’. (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)

CIMG8483 Sep 6 2017 Ligny St Flochel British cemetery where Desroches is buried farmers field in background

Ligny Saint-Flochel British Cemetery with the Cross of Remembrance and a farmer’s field in the background. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

The cemetery has 629 burials, of which 347 are Canadian and 46 German.  The German graves are similar to the Commonwealth graves, which was surprising as most German graves have only an iron cross on them. The German graves are set apart from the Commonwealth graves by an indentation in the ground, making an artificial step, like in a sunken living room.

Unfortunately, as with so many of the WW1 soldiers, we have not been able to find a photo or additional information on Joseph Arthur Desroches.

In the next blog entry we visit Bac-Du-Sud and Bellacourt cemeteries before continuing our search for the Manitoba and Grandcourt cemeteries. Do you have information or photos for Arthur Desroches?  Comments or stories?  You can share them by emailing us at dariadv@yahoo.ca or by commenting on this blog.

© Daria Valkenburg

Honouring The Memories of Kenneth John Bell And Charles Lowther

/ On The War Memorial Trail With Pieter & Daria / 1 Comment

September 21, 2017.  After we left the Monument to the 1st Canadian Division, we began the hard work of trying to find the cemeteries where individual soldiers from the Cenotaph outside the Borden-Carleton Legion were buried.

Although Pieter had printed out detailed instructions from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on the exact location of each cemetery and the burial locations, we soon found out that actually finding the cemeteries was easier said than done.

Pieter determined that the first cemetery we should go to was Moeuvres Communal Cemetery Extension where Private Charles Lowther is buried.  On the way to Moeuvres on a nerve racking ride, sharing the road with drivers who think they’re kamikaze pilots, we passed through the village of Vis-en-Artois and I demanded we stop for coffee and a badly needed toilet break.

Pieter gallantly tried to stop to accommodate me, to the annoyance of a Belgian truck driver who kept blowing his horn – the only one to do so on the trip.  But, luckily we found a parking spot and made it safely across the road to the café.

After using the facilities, I was able to order us coffee in my best schoolgirl French.  Everyone immediately picked us out as foreigners, and the owner asked if we were here to visit the British cemetery.  Why else would Les Anglaises be in town? And were we interested in the postcards?

“Bien sur”, I said.  I had no idea which cemetery he was asking about, but shopping is always fun.  Pieter was a bit annoyed until he realized that he wanted to go to this cemetery as that was where Corporal Kenneth John Bell, another name on the Cenotaph outside the Borden-Carleton Legion, was buried.  It turned out the British cemetery was just down the road from the café in Harcourt.  Now Pieter thought it was very smart of us to have stopped in the right café!

After our break, and postcards in hand, we made our way to the Vis en Artois British Cemetery. According to the information given by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the villages of Vis en Artois and Haucourt were taken by the Canadian Corps on August 27, 1918.  The cemetery began right after that date and was used by fighting units and ambulances until mid-October 1918.

CIMG8325 Sep 5 2017 Vis en Artois British Cemetery Cross of Remembrance

Cross of Remembrance at Vis en Artois British Cemetery, with the Memorial behind the graves. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

CIMG8337 Sep 5 2017 Vis en Artois British Cemetery

Memorial at Vis en Artois British Cemetery. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

Originally, the cemetery had 430 graves, of which 297 were Canadian.  After WWI the cemetery grew by adding graves from battlefields and smaller cemeteries in the area, until today it has 2,369 burials from WWI, 1,458 of them unidentified.

We found the grave of Kenneth Bell, but to our surprise he was not in a single grave.  He was buried with Private P. B. CLARK, who had died four days earlier than Bell.

CIMG8328 Sep 5 2017 grave of Cpl Kenneth Bel in Vis en Artois British Cemetery

Grave of Cpl Kenneth Bell, shared with Private P.B. Clark, at Vis en Artois British Cemetery. (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)

Kenneth John BELL was born March 28, 1896 in Cape Traverse, the son of William Bell and Lucy Rogerson, and nephew of PEI Premier John Howatt Bell.  On September 16, 1918 he was hit by enemy shell fire, and was attended to by the medical officer of the brigade, but he died on the way to the dressing station. The location of the unit at the time of the casualty was Rumaucourt, 10.2 km from Harcourt.

It’s a shame as Bell, per his obituary, “had fought in the battles of the Somme, Vimy Ridge, Lens, Ypres, Passchendaele and many later battles and came out without a scratch”, only to die two months before the war’s end.  Unfortunately, we have not been able to find a photo or additional information on Corporal Bell.

CIMG8335 Sep 5 2017 Pieter by grave of Cpl Kenneth Bell in Vis en Artois British Cemetery

Pieter by the grave of Cpl Kenneth Bell, shared with Private P.B. Clark, at Vis en Artois British Cemetery. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

From Harcourt, we travelled 14 km further to Moeuvres Communal Cemetery Extension where Private Charles Lowther is buried.

CIMG8342 Sep 5 2017 Moeuvres Communal Cemetery Extension where Lowther is buried

Moeuvres Communal Cemetery Extension plaque. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

We soon learned that when we saw the word “Extension” by the name of a cemetery, it meant that the war graves were in a separate area, usually at the back, of a public cemetery.  In Moeuvres, the Extension has 565 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of WWI, with 263 unidentified graves.

CIMG8360 Sep 5 2017 Pieter at entrance to Moeuvres Communal Extension Cemetery

Pieter at the entrance to Moeuvres Communal Cemetery Extension. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

CIMG8343 Sep 5 2017 Pieter placing flags at Lowther grave at Moeuvres Communal Cemetery Extension

Pieter placing flags at the grave of Charles Lowther at Moeuvres Communal Cemetery Extension. You can see the cemetery extension is next to a farmer’s field. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

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Grave of Charles Lowther at Moeuvres Communal Cemetery Extension. (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)

Charles LOWTHER was born in North Carleton on September 27, 1896, the son of Henry and Bessie Lowther.  He died September 25, 1918 after being wounded by enemy shrapnel in a trench at Inchy-en-Artois, 2.1 km from Moeuvres.  He was evacuated by a unit of the 52nd division, who later reported him dead.

According to the war diary of the 25th Battalion, which Lowther was part of, for the 25th of September in Inchy-en-Artois:  “…At about 6:00 am the enemy put down a heavy barrage on our lines and started to attack in force. Our S.O.S. was sent up and the field guns opened up immediately. We prevented the enemy from entering our trenches and in many places our men started over the top to meet the enemy, who was completely repulsed after some heavy fighting. The enemy continued to bombard our trenches the whole day, lifting fire towards the evening. At 11:00 pm the battalion was relieved by the 44th Canadian battalion. Casualties 6 O.R killed and 16 O.R. wounded…”

O.R. refers to “Other Ranks”, ie not officers.  We looked to see if there were any other graves of men from the 25th Battalion but saw only one, that of an O. Daigle, who also died on September 25, 1918.

Unfortunately, as with Kenneth Bell, we have not been able to find a photo or additional information on Charles Lowther.

By this time it was 3:30 pm.  With the success we’d had so far today, Pieter wanted to find two more cemeteries, the Manitoba Cemetery in Caix and Grandcourt Cemetery in Grandcourt.  We should have quit while we were ahead, as by 7 pm we hadn’t found either cemetery and were getting very testy with each other. It was time to admit defeat for the day and go back to Arras for a well-deserved dinner and rest.

In the next blog entry we continue our search for the Manitoba and Grandcourt cemeteries. We need help to put a face to the name on these two graves.  Do you have information or photos for Kenneth Bell or Charles Lowther?  Comments or stories?  You can share them by emailing us at dariadv@yahoo.ca or by commenting on this blog.

© Daria Valkenburg

Monuments In and Around Thélus

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September 20, 2017.  When we first entered the town of Thélus on our way to Vimy Ridge, we passed by the Canadian Artillery Memorial, built to remember the sacrifice of Canadians from Artillery battalions who died in the battle for Vimy Ridge and the surrounding area.

When we were at the Vimy Ridge Visitors Centre, we saw a large photograph of this monument, taken when it was actually dedicated during the war.  The monument was built on top of a dugout.  The steps leading up to the monument marks the original entrance to the dugout.  The monument was unveiled by General Currie on April 9, 1918, a year after the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

IMG_20170905_112407215 Sep 5 2017 Photo of Cdn Artillery Memorial in Thelus at Vimy Visitors Centre

Photo of the Canadian Artillery Memorial as it was unveiled in Thélus on April 9, 1918. (Photo taken by Pieter Valkenburg of a panel at Vimy Ridge Visitors Centre)

After learning about the monument at the Visitors Centre, we made a stop to see the real one.

CIMG8308 Sep 5 2017 Pieter at Cdn Artillery Memorial in Thelus

Pieter at the Canadian Artillery Memorial in Thélus. The shell shaped columns surrounding the monument have actual fuses from shells attached to their tops! (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

IMG_20170905_121853669 Sep 5 2017 Inscription on Cdn Artillery Memorial in Thelus

The inscription reads “Erected in memory of officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the Canadian Corps Artillery who fell during the Vimy operations April 1917.” This is followed by the units: Canadian Field Artillery, Canadian Garrison Artillery, Royal Field Artillery, Royal Garrison Artillery and the South African Heavy Artillery. (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)

CIMG8303 Sep 5 2017 Rue des Artilleurs Canadiens in Thelus

The road leading out of Thélus towards Bailleul Sir Berhoult is called Rue des Artilleurs Canadiens (Street of the Canadian Artillery). (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

CIMG8304 Sep 5 2017 Sign directions across from Cdn Artillery Memorial in Thelus

Across from the Canadian Artillery Monument is a sign leading to Bailleul Sir Berthoult. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

We then followed the road between Thélus and Bailleul Sir Berthoult.  Only 4 km separate these two towns, but it was the scene of much fighting on April 9, 1917 during the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

Not far down the road was a monument to the people of Thélus who perished during two world wars, a vivid reminder that not only soldiers are war casualties.

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Thélus memorial to its war dead in two world wars. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

Halfway between the two towns, in a farmer’s field, is a memorial to the First Canadian Division, on the spot where they were opposite the First Bavarian Reserve Division.  By April 9, 1917 there wasn’t much left of the villages!

CIMG8314 Sep 5 2017 Pieter by sign directing you to Memorial to 1st Cdn Division

Pieter by the sign leading across a farmer’s field to the 1st Canadian Division Monument, about halfway between Thélus and Bailleul Sir Berthoult. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

We stopped at this monument to honour John Lymon Wood and Patrick Raymond Arsenault, both of whom were in the 1st Canadian Division during the Battle of Vimy Ridge, and whose names are inscribed on the Vimy Memorial.

After an article about these two men was published in the County Line Courier in April 2017, we heard from a Ernesto Brucker of Buenos Aires, Argentina, who noted that his father, Georg Brucker, had been part of the First Bavarian Reserve Division and had been captured as a prisoner of war on April 9, 1917, likely at or very near this exact spot.

CIMG8318 Sep 5 2017 Memorial to 1st Cdn Division halfway betwen Thelus & Bailleul

Pieter at the 1st Canadian Division Monument, about halfway between Thélus and Bailleul Sir Berthoult. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

IMG_20170905_123258340 Sep 5 2017 inscription on memorial to 1st Cdn Division

Inscription on the 1st Canadian Division Monument, about halfway between Thélus and Bailleul Sir Berthoult. (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)

CIMG8316 Sep 5 2017 lone poppy along path leading to memorial to 1st Cdn Division outside Thelus

A lone poppy was growing on the path towards the 1st Canadian Division Monument, about halfway between Thélus and Bailleul Sir Berthoult. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

In the next blog entry we continue to visit the cemeteries in France where soldiers on the Borden-Carleton Cenotaph are buried.  Comments or stories?  You can share them by emailing us at dariadv@yahoo.ca or by commenting on this blog.

© Daria Valkenburg

Visiting The Canadian National Vimy Memorial

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September 18, 2017.  After the tour of the Vimy Memorial Visitors’ Centre and the tunnels, we went to visit the Canadian National Vimy Memorial. Although familiar to us from seeing it on TV, the memorial is much larger and majestic in person.

CIMG8468 Sep 6 2017 Mother Canada memorial at Vimy Ridge

Canadian National Vimy Memorial from a distance. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

CIMG8295 Sep 5 2017 Canadian National Vimy Memorial closer up with twin white pylons

Canadian National Vimy Memorial showing the twin white pylons, one bearing the maple leaves of Canada, the other the fleurs-de-lys of France, to symbolize the sacrifices of both countries. Beside one of the pylons is the statue Canada Bereft. Below the pylons is The Tomb. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

Site manager Johanne Gagné noted that “this monument is special because it focuses on values the soldiers shared and ultimately gave their lives for.”  11,285 names are inscribed on the memorial, two of them who also are on the Cenotaph outside the Borden-Carleton Legion:  John Lymon Wood and Patrick Raymond Arsenault.  Pieter immediately went to search out these two names.

IMG_20170905_114855242 Sep 5 2017 Vimy Memorial Inscription Arsenault

Patrick Raymond Arsenault inscribed on Vimy Memorial. (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)

IMG_20170905_115420984 Sep 5 2017 Vimy Memorial Inscription Wood

John Lymon Wood inscribed on Vimy Memorial. (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)

After finding the inscriptions, Pieter next looked for two plaques brought to the memorial in April by the students of Kinkora Regional High School and teacher Kevin Bustard.  Kevin had the plaques made after reading about Wood and Arsenault in an April 2017 article in the County Line Courier. (See CLC Apr 5 2017 p9 Two Unsung Heroes of Vimy Ridge)

To everyone’s surprise, the plaques were still at the Memorial. Arsenault’s was on The Tomb, and Wood’s was by his inscription.

CIMG8294 Sep 5 2017 tributes on The Tomb

Tributes left on The Tomb at the Vimy Canadian National Memorial. You can see the plaque for Patrick Raymond Arsenault on the far left. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

Pieter reunited both plaques with photos of the two soldiers.

CIMG8299 Sep 5 2017 Wood & Arsenault Plaques

Plaques and photos of John Lymon Wood and Patrick Raymond Arsenault. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

While the plaques were left at the Memorial, the photos and information about Wood and Arsenault were given to Johanne Gagné, who told us that “the French are still welcoming and grateful for the sacrifices made by Canadians and say thank you.  They are grateful to Canada for keeping the memory alive after 100 years.  It’s humbling.”

CIMG8301 Sep 5 2017 Sep 5 2017 Johanne Gagne with Wood and Pieter with Arsenault

Johanne Gagné with plaque and photo of John Lymon Wood while Pieter holds plaque and photo of Patrick Raymond Arsenault. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

This was the end of our tour of Vimy Ridge and the Memorial.  It had been a special day and we salute Johanne Gagné for the time she spent giving us a wonderful tour and patiently answering our many questions.  Merci beaucoup Johanne!

In the next blog entry we explore two of the memorials in the Thélus area.  Comments or stories?  You can share them by emailing us at dariadv@yahoo.ca or by commenting on this blog.

© Daria Valkenburg

 

Visiting the Tunnels at Vimy Ridge

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September 14, 2017.  After the tour of the Vimy Memorial Visitors’ Centre, Pieter and site manager Johanne Gagné went to explore the tunnels.  Pieter was in second heaven!  They saw two of the many tunnel systems, one used by the Black Watch, and one used by the Princess Patricia Light Infantry.

IMG_20170905_103810241 Entrance to a Vimy Tunnel used by Princess Pats

Photo: Entrance to a tunnel used by the Princess Patricia Light Infantry. (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)

Some of the main tunnels at Vimy Ridge have been restored to make them safer and reinforced with concrete floors, as well as some of the walls.  All of the tunnels were named by the WWI soldiers so that they would know where they were.

Tunnels were used for two main purposes: to safeguard troops from enemy fire, and for transportation of materials such as bombs and mines that could be used to blow up German tunnels.  A narrow gauge railway system was installed as whatever materials were dug out to make the tunnels had to be transported out and then covered so that enemy observation planes couldn’t spot mounds of earth and be aware of where digging was going on.

Using the material transported into the tunnels, Allied forces tried to undermine the trenches of the Germans by blowing them up from inside the tunnels.  This had the advantage of allowing Allied forces to safely advance without being exposed to enemy fire.

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Pieter by the as yet unrestored tunnel used by the Black Watch. Note the wagon in the background. (Photo credit: Johanne Gagné)

IMG_20170905_104523941 Tunnel used by Black Watch

An as yet unrestored portion of the Grange tunnel. (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)

IMG_20170905_104540988 Pieter in a reinforced part of the tunnel

Pieter in a reinforced part of the Grange tunnel. (Photo credit: Johanne Gagné)

Some tunnels were designed for living quarters and as command centres.  Messages were passed along from the command centre by runners to the troops.  There were ways out of the tunnels into the trenches.

An interesting and surprising fact Pieter learned was that electricity was in the tunnels.  They had electric lights in the Vimy tunnels! As Johanne Gagné noted, “…So modern!..”

Near Vimy was a tunnel called the Maison Blanche (“The White House”), so named because the outside building was white in colour.  That tunnel used candles for lighting.

In Pieter’s opinion, the unrestored tunnels gave a better picture of what had gone on at the time.  The restored tunnels give you a safer impression of what happened, but doesn’t have the impact of the dire conditions the men worked in. “…I was amazed by how many tunnels there were, going in all directions…” Pieter explained.  “…It was a real maze…”

From the observation post, you can still see a big crater where Allied troops blew up a trench.

CIMG8287 Sep 5 2017 Pieter & Johanne by observation post at Vimy Ridge

Pieter and Johanne Gagné by the observation post overlooking ‘no man’s land’ – territory that was not held by either the Germans or the Allies. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

We were very interested in the observation post as Gunner Harold Keith HOWATT of the 8th Siege Battery spent a lot of World War I in an observation post, and we had wondered what one looked like.  So Pieter went into one and took a look.

CIMG8289 Sep 5 2017 Pieter in observation post at Vimy Ridge

Pieter in an observation post at Vimy Ridge. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

Howatt participated in the Battle of Vimy Ridge in April 2017, and survived.  In fact, he survived the war and came back home to Augustine Cove and had a career as a teacher.

But back in February 1918, his unit was back at Vimy Ridge.   In his diary entry of Saturday, February 16, 1918, he recorded the following observations:

“….In the afternoon I took a walk up to the top of Vimy Ridge.  It is some place, never yet have I seen a place so battle scarred.  There are shell holes everywhere, hardly two square yards of level ground on the ridge.  And the mine craters, they are tremendous.  Some must be from 40 to 50 feet deep and from 40 to 50 yards across. 

There is a large monument on the top to the 44th Battalion, with the names of all the officers and men, who were killed during the attack on the ridge on April 9, inscribed on it.  There is also a monument to the 78th Battalion, and one to a sergeant of the Winnipeg Grenadiers who set off an enemy mine and lost his life in the act.  The crater is called the ‘Winnipeg Grenadier’.  There is also a monument to a major and to Lieutenant Gass of the 5th Canadian Siege Battery, who was killed in an O. P. (note:  Observation Post) the day before Vimy was taken.

There was a party of English labour tourists on the top of the ridge while I was up there.  Was talking to one fellow for a few minutes, pointing out Lens, Avion, and place within our own lines, to him….”

We weren’t sure if the crater referred to by Howatt is the same one to be seen from the observation post outside the Visitors Centre.  We did not see the monuments described by Howatt and guess they are no longer there.  And Vimy Ridge is now filled with trees, a barren landscape no more.

CIMG8286 Sep 5 2017 Vimy Ridge today is tree lined again

Vimy Ridge is now filled with trees. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

Johanne Gagné had given us a fantastic tour so far, but there was more.  In the next blog entry we visit the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, and bring along the photos of John Lymon Wood and Patrick Raymond Arsenault, whose names are inscribed on the memorial.

Comments or stories?  You can share them by emailing us at dariadv@yahoo.ca or by commenting on this blog.

© Daria Valkenburg