One of our active members who not only supports the memory of the men of the 18th Battalion but other Canadian units that fought in the First World War has published a book. Quentin de Givenchy has painstakingly researched, photographed and recorded a moment in a soldier's life. Imagine coming off the line and marching... Continue Reading →
A Bricklayer’s Experience with the 18th Battalion
Each soldier in the Canadian Expeditionary Force had their own unique experience serving. When one watches a battalion marching during a parade there is a perception of a one-mindedness of the personnel of that unit and the military ethos requires the sublimation of the individual will and their unique personality and experiences. No matter how... Continue Reading →
Three Men on the Grass: Exploring a Photograph
This photograph was contributed to the 18th Battalion Facebook Group and is the basis of this post. Three men lie causally on the grass. The photo is pixelated but one can derive a certain youthfulness from the photograph. Two of the men hold knobbed ended batons or swagger sticks and the man on the left... Continue Reading →
The Fate of a Cornish Miner
It is like a mist, history is. The comings and goings of the myriad of individuals who populate our world is significant to them and their kin. But, as time goes by, as family members die, and when a family’s future is not guaranteed by the issue of progeny, that person’s history dies out very... Continue Reading →
“The Zepps Call…”: Eyewitness to the First Airship Shootdown
Bookkeeper Walter James Buchanan of Goderich, Ontario enlisted with the 71st Battalion on 21 September 1915. At the age of 21 he had 4 years of militia experience and lived in a small Ontario town routed in its connection to Lake Huron and the surrounding farms. At the time of his enlistment he never would... Continue Reading →
The Artist and the Pacifist — Two brothers’ WW1 stories
I love such in-depth biographical work. Each story is unique and important.
Last year I wrote about the WW1 experiences of my great grandfather Harry Underwood, a POW, and his older brother Harold, a recipient of the Military Medal who was killed in action in 1918.
In honour of Remembrance Day 2022, I’d like to tell the WW1 stories of two of my husband’s great uncles, brothers Algernon and Sidney Saword. Their experiences couldn’t be more different from each other: Born in England, they were recent immigrants to Canada when war broke out; Algernon (‘Algy’) was quick to sign up with the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) and soon found himself back in Britain and on the battlefields of Europe, while Sidney, whose religious beliefs made him a non-combatant, served with the CEF in Canada on the railways.
Growing up in Southend
Sidney James Saword (b. 1894) and Algernon Leslie Saword (b. 1895) were the two oldest surviving sons of James Saword…
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The Bricklayer from London Ontario
Each soldier in the Canadian Expeditionary Force had their own unique experience. When one watches a battalion marching during a parade there is a perception of one-mindedness and that the military ethos involves the sublimation of the individual and their unique personality and experiences. But, no matter how hard an army tries to forge individuals... Continue Reading →
The “Rawleigh Man”
Witley Camp. January 1918. It had just snowed 4 inches and Private Charles Arthur Reed (reg. no. 651593), formerly of Eden Grove, Ontario was responding to a letter from his mother. Letter dates 14 January 1918 from Private Reed to his mother, Isabella Ann (McNaugthon) Reed (1871-1953) His primary concern at the beginning of the... Continue Reading →
Too Old to Soldier? The Service of Private Luff
The third in a series of posts exploring men of the 18th Battalion who were buried in the Canadian Maritimes. The author visited the grave of this soldier to acknowledge his service to our nation and to let him know he is not forgotten. This is only part of his story. Private Thomas Luff’s story... Continue Reading →
Not Enough: After fighting the Germans he wanted to fight the Bolsheviks
This is the second in a series of posts exploring the service and life of 18th Battalion men buried in the Maritimes. The author visited the grave of a soldier in Nova Scotia during a visit to a family member and from that grew a desire to visit and honour these men, some of who... Continue Reading →
Private Sherwood’s Loss
This is the first of a series of blog posts investigating the service and experiences of 18th Battalion soldiers from the Maritmes. As the 18th Battalion was a Western Ontario battalion it generally received replacements from battalions raised in the same geographic region. The author is presently visiting such graves of the men he has... Continue Reading →
A Stop in the Chaudière-Appalaches Region of Quebec
September9, 2022 Motel MagistralSaint-Raphaël, QCChaudière-Appalaches Administrative/Tourist Region Today was a long day. I wish I had access to the train service in 1915 as I may have made better progress. The Canada of today is so different from that of my grandfather’s time when he enlisted in the 18th Battalion in October of 1914. There... Continue Reading →
The Beginning of Remembrance: A Trip to the Maritimes
September 8, 2022 East of Trenton, Ontario It was a night about 2-weeks before Remembrance Day about 15-years ago (the exact year is a bit foggy) when my daughter announced that she was going to volunteer to speak at her school’s Remembrance Day ceremony. Who would of thought this innocent statement would lead me to... Continue Reading →
Inflation is a Bitch: Post-War Perspective in a Poem
“History has a way of repeating itself.” Oft said and often a collective groan emanates from those that have to hear this statement. The realization of this is frequently ignore as our collective psyches note new events in the social, economic, and political world that we may have seen before in our lifetimes, or some... Continue Reading →
The Execution of Private Edward Fairburn of the 18th
This article is part of the author’s research into the circumstances of the death by execution by a soldier of the 18th Battalion. Up until his desertion after 5-months of active service with the Battalion there is no indication of behaviour that would reflect cowardice. Private Edward Fairburn, reg. no. 227098. 11 Maples Street, St.... Continue Reading →
Lieutenant G.G. Brackin: “He was the most popular and nicest Junior Officer he had the pleasure of serving with.”
In November of 1915 a 32-year-old single man enlisted with the 91st Battalion. With the help of a biography written in 1971 we can fill in the blanks of this long dead officer of the 18th Battalion. Lieutenant G.G. Brackin. Circa 1916. Garnet Garfield Brackin came from an established middle class Canadian family. His brother,... Continue Reading →
A Poem for His Sons: A Briton through and through.
Lance-Corporal Henry James Smith. Circa 1916. A father at war. At 39-years of age he was almost too old to enlist at St. Thomas, Ontario in the winter of 1916. Married with children we can not directly derive at the reasons for his enlistment, but being British born, he perhaps had a strong patriotic streak... Continue Reading →
Playing Games with the Hun
A soldier’s letter published in the London Advertiser in November of 1915 gives a glimpse of the perspective of a new soldier to his introduction to combat conditions. It was written at the end of October or early November by a Welshman serving with the 18th Battalion to a friend residing in the Iroquois Hotel... Continue Reading →
Is this Corporal Kelley of the 18th?
Tracking down information relating to the 18th Battalion can be challenging. There are some consistent sources of information, but when you are dealing with the service of up to 5,000 men who served in the Battalion during its existence from October 1914 to May 1919 that has no official war history and has all the... Continue Reading →
RQMS Herbert: Rumours After His Wife’s Death
The weather a West Sandling Camp on May 7, 1915, was in the full throws of spring. The famous Kent countryside resplendent with verdant greens and the soft waving grass as the winds from the English Channel played over the lush meadows near Tolsford Hill. The land was being transformed into a camp for the... Continue Reading →
War Diary of the 18th Battalion CEF 