A recent query at the 18th Battalion Facebook Group regarding two photographs asked if two men in two separate photographs could be identified. The common denominator in each photograph is the presence of Private Alexander McCalmont (reg. no. 880093) who died of wounds received in action at No. 3 Canadian Stationary Hospital. Photographs of soldiers... Continue Reading →
Private Oliver’s Passing
Marg Liessens is a prolific contributor to the Canadian Virtual War Memorial site and others with her photographs of headstones and other images related to the remembrance of our armed forces. While researching Private Oliver Chester Ellis, reg. no. 189469 a visit to the Canadian Virtual War Memorial contained the photograph of Private Ellis. Of... Continue Reading →
Going Overseas…
A letter[i] written by Private David Aikin reg. no. 880497, of the 186th Overseas Battalion[ii], gives wonderful insight into the process involved for soldiers of the reinforcing battalions of the C.E.F. being transported from Canada to England. The letter shares the travels of a soldier from Canada to England at the start of 1917. The... Continue Reading →
FOURTEEN HEROES CAME HOME TO-DAY: A Transcription of a London Free Press Article
The following transcription was sourced from the Twitter feed of London First World War ( @LdnOntWW1 ). Where possible links to the soldiers mentioned in the article have been referenced. The news article appears to be written in late 1916 given the context of the dates outlined in the article and the discharge dates of... Continue Reading →
He has been supplied with satisfactory peg and artificial leg.
Private Arthur Wilfred Hardcastle of Chatham, Ontario, lost part of his right leg on August 28, 1918 at an action at the Sensee River. The Battalion was located on the Sensee River Line and was involved in an attack on this date. This was a particularly hard day for the 18th Battalion as the War... Continue Reading →
The Cost of War
Since the beginning of July approximately 40 Soldiers Pages have been added to the blog. One trend of note is the number of 18th Battalion soldiers that served and were wounded. Canada suffered 138,000 battle casualties. This means 32% of the soldiers that served for Canada in the Canadian Army suffered a wound directly related... Continue Reading →
History of the 18th Battalion CEF, "The Fighting Eighteenth" 