18th Battalion Association[i] Windsor and Detroit Branch *MEMORIES[ii]* Several years after the War, I was coming back from Chicago on the “Twilight” which was then one of the better trains operated by the New York Central Railway as it was solid chair car and excess fare. As soon as the train left the station in... Continue Reading →
War Diary of the 18th Battalion: May 1918
Confidential War Diary of 18th CANADIAN BATTALION – 2nd CANADIAN DIVISION From 1st May to 31st May, 1918 Volume 33 With appendices 1 – 9 Place Date Hour Summary of Events and Information Bretencourt 1 MAPS for Reference 51b sheet 2 51c [illegible] 2 Battalion in reserve billets at Bretencourt r.26.d. Company Parades... Continue Reading →
May 1918 Casualties
TEXT Rank Surname Forename Date of Death Reg. No. Private COLLINS THOMAS 30/05/1918 189517 Private DIXON CHARLES EDWARD 28/05/1918 675497 Private ELLIOTT DANIEL 31/05/1918 651389 Private HOBEN LEVI D. 24/05/1918 488881 Private KILLORAN J 01/05/1918 409370 Private McMULLIN LEONARD CALVIN 25/05/1918 844831 Corporal TICHBOURNE A W 26/05/1918 802004 Private WILSON HUGH ROBERTSON 26/05/1918 213122 Private... Continue Reading →
Tattoos on the Grampian
18th Battalion Association[i] Windsor and Detroit Branch *MEMORIES* In the mid-thirties, Bobby Watson and I were strolling along Ouellete Avenue when we noticed a small crowd gathered in front of the vacant lot just south of the Tunnel[ii] entrance. Bobby was in the First Battalion. When we arrived, we found they were watching some workmen... Continue Reading →
Private Aikenhead and the “Younger Set”
18th Battalion Association[i] Windsor and Detroit Branch *MEMORIES* Every time we meet Harold Aikenhead[ii], the general and competent Secretary of our London Branch, it always brings back memories of our first or second trip into the Front Line. I don’t recall where it was but Harold claims it was B & C trenches and he... Continue Reading →
One of the Best Looking Men: Lieut. Clarke at St. Eloi
18th Battalion Association[i] Windsor and Detroit Branch *MEMORIES* At one of our Reunion Dinners some years ago, one of he speakers mentioned Lieut. John Clarke[ii], but placed him in the wrong Company. Lieut. Clarke was the Officer in charge of Thirteen Platoon. The other “D” Company Officers were Lieut’s Ambery, McIntosh, and Dillon. Lieut. Clarke,... Continue Reading →
The Drummer-Sergeant
18th Battalion Association[i] Windsor and Detroit Branch *MEMORIES*[ii] One of the best-known, best liked, and friendliest men in the ranks of the Eighteenth was a late George Thomas[iii] who started out as a member of our Platoon but ended up as the Bandmaster of the Battalion Band. I still remember the wet day late in... Continue Reading →
“Do Your Remember the Night We Left London?”: First in the Series of “MEMORIES”
Introduction The blog has come into the possession of an exciting and valuable series of documents care of Dan Moat, a member of the 18th Battalion Facebook Group. His Great Grand-Father, Lance-Corporal Charles Henry Rogers, reg. no. 123682 was an active member in the 18th Battalion Association and the Royal Canadian Legion. With is interest... Continue Reading →
War Diary of the 18th Battalion: April 1918
Confidential War Diary of 18th CANADIAN BATTALION - 2nd CANADIAN DIVISION From 1st April to 30th April, 1918 Volume 32 With appendices 1 – 16 Place Date Hour Summary of Events and Information 51c SE 1 Maps for Reference 51c NE and SE and 51b SW 18th Canadian Battalion in support to 21st Canadian... Continue Reading →
April 1918 Casualties
Thirty-two men of the 18th Battalion perished this month. The Battalion was... Surname Forename Date of Death Reg. No. BROWN A E 05/04/1918 455391 ADIE ARCHIBALD WILLIAM 10/04/1918 851119 AVEY H 04/04/1918 540036 BEVEL THOMAS J. 22/04/1918 454031 BONE F S 04/04/1918 880120 BUCKMAN W 04/04/1918 769631 CLIMO F C 06/04/1918 675537 COMBOYE J W... Continue Reading →
August 1918 Casualties
August 1918 will be the worst month for men killed in action or died or wounds during the entire war. 131 soldiers would perish in this month, the vast majority were killed in action. On August 8, 1918 the War Diary records an action in which "...approximately 30 killed and 120 wounded were sustained in... Continue Reading →
HE GAVE HIS LIFE FOR HIS COUNTRY
So states the epitaph on a gravestone at plot IV. F. 14. at the Wancourt British Cemetery south-east of Arras. The death of Private Heny "Harry" Jack was unusual as he became a prisoner and from that moment his fate would be unknown until later and his family, especially his parents, Alex and Gertrude of Paisely,... Continue Reading →
War Diary of the 18th Battalion: March 1918
Confidential War Diary of 18th CANADIAN BATTALION - 2nd CANADIAN DIVISION From 1st March to 31st March , 1918 Volume 31 With appendices 1 – 3 Place Date Hour Summary of Events and Information Map Sheet 36c. S.E. 1 Battalion in front line. Right subsection of LENS sector. H.Q. being located at M.30.a.40.85. Enemy... Continue Reading →
March 1918 Casualties
March 1918 found the Battalion with four casualties. Of the four, two where due to action. One was due to illness. And one 18th Battalion soldier was shot for desertion. On March 2, 1918, Private Edward Fairburn, from his records a reluctant foot soldier, was executed for desertion. He is buried at the Villers Station... Continue Reading →
“He would bear himself like a soldier…” : The Service for Sergeant Swainsbury of Chatham, Ontario
Christ Church, Chatham, Ontario. Source: http://christchurchchatham.ca/ An article written in a local Chatham newspaper relates the service at Christ Church in honour of two local men who were killed in action gives us insight into the attitudes of the citizens through the address of Canon Howard. The date that this event transpired was after the... Continue Reading →
Baseball at Folkestone: “The play throughout was very spirited, and many fine catches were witnessed.”
The ties between Canadians and the sea-side town of Folkestone, England go back to the First World War. A popular image was of a soldier holding a rifle with a bayonet, advancing in front of the Union Jack with the assurance: “Don’t be Alarmed, the Canadians are on guard at Folkestone”. The impression made upon... Continue Reading →
February 1918 Casualties
As with the previous month, the 18th Battalion War Diary relates the Battalion in a sector of low activity. No combat mortal casualties occurred with the 18th Battalion. One former member of the Battalion did perish. Lieutenant Douglas Christie Wright, formerly of the 18th Battalion, was a member of the Royal Flying Corp and was... Continue Reading →
“…if what I have written seems rather callous and brutal…”: A Letter from the Front
“I cannot go into details but of late it has become easy to shoot down in cold blood a Hun with his arms above his head.”[i] It is not clear, without context, where Lt. Samuel Gladstone Stokes’ anger at the enemy has come from. His latter, dated April 18, 1918 has some very strong words.... Continue Reading →
War Diary of the 18th Battalion: February 1918
Confidential War Diary of 18th CANADIAN BATTALION - 2nd CANADIAN DIVISION From 1st February to 28th of February, 1918 Volume 30 With appendices 1 – 6 Place Date Hour Summary of Events and Information HILLS CAMP (Neuville St. Vaast) 1 Battalion in Reserve at Hill Camp near Neuville St. Vaast. Company parades and training. Specialist... Continue Reading →
History of the 18th Battalion CEF, "The Fighting Eighteenth" 