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 →
Commemoration of the Battle at Iwuy
A group of local residents in the Iwuy, France area are working to commemorate two events that took place during the closing stages of the First World War. At Iwuy there was the last cavalry charge for Canadian forces in the war and the German tactical use of their A7V tanks to combat elements of... Continue Reading →
The Best Rest in Many Moons: A Letter by Major Sale
Major Sale was an active and influential member of the Goderich, Ontario community as a dentist. He was active in the Canadian Militia with the 33rd Regiment and joined the 18th Battalion as a captain shortly after its inception in October 1914. He served his Battalion diligently and was earned a promotion to major in... Continue Reading →
Rifle Grenades Revisited
In a post entitled "The narrow escapes that some fellows have are nothing short of marvellous": A Letter from the Front the, then, Private Caldwell relates in some detail a battle between the 18th Battalion, C.E.F. and it opposite German numbers: "Our last term in the front line was rather exciting. Our bomb throwers had been... Continue Reading →
“The narrow escapes that some fellows have are nothing short of marvellous”: A Letter from the Front
Private (later Lieutenant) Wesley Strang Caldwell was yet to earn the Military Medal for his actions at Courcelette, the Somme, when this letter was published in the Huron Expositor on March 10, 1916. He was 20-years old, just shy of his 21st birthday by 40 days. He was a combat veteran claiming to have served... Continue Reading →
Training Mistake Wounds 18th Battalion Soldier
Private James Abercrombie, reg no. 123978 enlisted in Chatham, Ontario at the age of 19 years, 6 months, enlisting with the 70th Overseas Battalion on October 1, 1915. After initial training in Canada he transited the Atlantic via the S.S. Lapland, arriving in England May 5, 1916. Over a month transpired where his whereabouts were... Continue Reading →
Tank Tactics and Barbed Wire: February 1918
The tank and the creation of tank doctrine in the First World War was a process that hoped to take advantage of the use of a mechanical machine to overcome the obstacles that the Western Front with its static warfare footprint of obstacles in the form of trenches, barbed wire, and more telling, the destruction... Continue Reading →
SMLE Rifle Grenade Launcher
A recent post at the Canadian Expeditionary Forces bulletin board offered a link to a video about a Lee-Enfield SMLE configured for firing rifle-grenades. It has a grenade discharger cup and video gives an overview of this tool of battle. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT1DyyCxf9Q
Sergeant Austin’s Accident: The Tale of Two Emerging Modern Weapon Systems
Robert Wallace Austin reg. no. 113067 joined the Canadian Army at 8:45 a.m.[i] on July 23, 1915 in the city of Ottawa.[ii] He was just shy of one month past his twenty-first birthday when he joined the 8th Canadian Mounted Rifles (8th C.M.R.) and he was to be transported to England in October 1915 to... Continue Reading →
TVO Program: The Forgotten Gunners of WWI
Program Description: Air Date: Feb 15, 2016 Length: 47:04 Available Until: Jul 30, 2019 About this Video The 20th series begins with an examination of what life was like for the First World War Machine Gun Corps, revealing the lost secrets of Belton House, the stately home where they were trained. Follow this LINK to... Continue Reading →
Tactical Deployment of the Lewis Gun: Updated Information
In recent post entitled Letter Home: "...the poor Germans run like a lot of mice." the end note [ii] surmised 'This reference is obscure but taken in context with the rest of the sentence it appears that Sergeant Mowatt is referring to a Lewis Gun crew. Usually of 2 men.' in reference to "I went... Continue Reading →
History of the 18th Battalion CEF, "The Fighting Eighteenth" 