Armstrong, James: Service no. 159663

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Digitized Service Record

Source: Court martial database at LAC.

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Summary of Service for Private James Armstrong, reg. no. 159663

Date	Event	Remarks
October 10, 1887	Born	Born at Paisley, Scotland.
December 28, 1915	Enlists	Enlists with the 81st Battalion at St. Catharines, Ontario. He is 28-year-old labourer standing 5’5” tall. He has prior militia experience and lists Mrs. Robert Whyte, his sister, as his next-of-kin. She resides in Thorold, Ontario.
January 1, 1916	Confined to Barracks	CB for 2-days per DO #16.
March 15, 1916	CB	CB for 3-days per DO #57.
April 28, 1916	Unit Leaves for England	Unit to sail for England aboard the SS Olympic from Halifax, Nova Scotia.
May 1, 1916	Unit Sails	Unit leaves Halifax.
May 6, 1916	Unit Arrives	Unit arrives Liverpool and unit goes to West Sandling Camp.
June 18, 1916	Completes Will	He assigns all his personal possessions to his sister.
June 20, 1916	Transferred	Transferred to 18th Battalion.
June 29, 1916	Arrives	Arrives Etaples, France at the Canadian Base Depot.
July 12, 1916	Proceeds to Join Unit
July 14, 1916	Arrives	Arrives at the 18th Battalion in the field. The Battalion is a Quebec Camp in Ypres, and the War Diary relates on that day:   “Battalion parade for Pay. LIEUTs. E.R.V. LLYOD and H.D. DUNNETT proceeded on leave. CAPT. C.H. EMERY takes over duties of paymaster. 2 o.r.s. admitted to hospital.”
September 18, 1916	Appointed	Appointed Lance-Corporal as C. Allan, reg. no. 54273 promoted to Corporal.
April 9, 1917	Promoted	Promoted Corporal as Lance-Sergeant E.W. Sifton killed in action.
May 3, 1917	Special Remittance	Special remittance of $100.00 to his sister. He has not assigned any pay to a recipient.
October 12, 1917	Granted Leave	Granted 10-day’s leave to England.
November 10, 19117	Killed in Action	Killed in action at Passchendaele.   The War Diary relates for the dates spanning from the 9th to 12th the following:   “During the whole of this tour the Officers and men held this part of the line under the most severe conditions possible. Great difficulty was experienced in the evacuating of casualties from the front line to R.A.P.s and dressing stations. Front line trenches were subjected to frequent barrages and the rear country [area] was also heavily shelled and bombed. The supports on this front were reached by a series of tracks, being trench mat walks, and rations had to be carried by mules up these tracks. Each track being subjected to continual shellfire, the transport and ration parties were fortunate in escaping with the loss of 3 men killed and 1 mule which fell off the duckboard track and owing to the depth of the mud had to be shot. Splendid work was done by the Battalion Stretcher bearers in tending and evacuating the wounded.”   He is commemorated at the Menin Gate on Panel 10-26-28 along with 51 other members of the 18th Battalion.
1920/1921	Medals and Decorations	Medals and Decorations sent to his sister, Mrs. Robert Whyte of Box 647, Thorold, Ontario. Victory Medal, plaque and scroll despatched.

Acronyms

AWL	Absent Without Leave: Generally, a soldier would be deducted 1-days pay for every day absent. In some cases, the soldier would be confined to barracks. Sometimes it was a combination of both.
A Classification	Medical Board Classification that determined your fitness for duty. A1, A2, A3 and A4 were assigned to different units with the expectation that these men would be able to serve with active combat units. See this link for more information.
B Classification	Medical Board Classification that determined your fitness for duty. B1, B2, and B3 were assigned to different service units such as railway and forestry corps. See this link for more information.
D Classification	See this link for more information.
CAMC	Canadian Army Medical Corp
CB	Confined to Barracks: a punishment for minor infractions.
CCD	Casualty Convalescent Depot: a depot at a base where men, in their final stages of convalescing, would be prepared for duty depending on their rating.
CCH	Casualty Clearing Hospital
CCRC	Canadian Corps Reserve Camp
CCS	Casualty Clearing Station: this facility was attached to rail transportation from the front to hospitals on the coast of France
CDC	Canadian Dispatch Camp
CFA	Canadian Field Ambulance/Canadian Field Artillery. Most common usage would be Canadian Field Ambulance.
DAH	Disorderly Action of the Heart
DRS	Divisional Rest Station
GSW	Gun Shot Wound – this was a generic term for all projectile penetrating wounds.
In the Field	This term relates to a soldier arriving at an active-duty unit after transporting from England, to France, and then to his duty assignment. The routing varied from soldier to soldier and could take 2-3 days to several months.
MD	Military District
PUO	Pyrexia of Unknown Origin: This was a term used for any illness that could not clearly be identified and typically was related to influenza symptoms.
SOS	Struck Off Strength
TOS	Taken On Strength
CAMC	Canadian Army Medical Corp
CCH	Casualty Clearing Hospital
CFA	Canadian Field Ambulance
DRS	Divisional Rest Station
GSW	Gun Shot Wound – this was a generic term for all projectile penetrating wounds.
MD	Military District
PUO	Pyrexia of Unknown Origin
SOS	Struck Off Strength
TOS	Taken On Strength
WORD	Western Ontario Regimental Depot