The 18th Battalion experienced Christmas as a unit from 1914 to 1918. Each Christmas was a different experience for each year. The first Christmas was a gala event in London, Ontario and hosted by The Women’s Canadian Club replete with boiled ham, mashed potatoes, and green peas. The following Christmases would not be the same... Continue Reading →
“As Christmas time approaches…”: Memories of Christmas 1915
18th Battalion Association[i] Windsor and Detroit Branch *MEMORIES[ii]* As Christmas time approaches, do you ever think of the first Christmas Day we spend in Flanders? Two of our Companies were in the front line, the M & N trenches, while the other two companies were in reserve at Ridgewood and Veerstraat[iii] [sic] which were about... Continue Reading →
“…a consecrated and prophetic religious leader.”: The Reverend (Hon. Captain) Carlisle
18th Battalion Association[i] Windsor and Detroit Branch *MEMORIES[ii]* When our Conventions are held at Windsor and we all parade to All Saints Anglican Church for our annual Memorial Service, it always brings back memories of our fist Chaplain, Captain Arthur Carlisle, who was the Minister at All Saints before and after the First War. Many... Continue Reading →
The Attentions of Miss Mary
18th Battalion Association[i] Windsor and Detroit Branch *MEMORIES[ii]* Do you remember that just before Christmas (1915) every member of the Battalion received a nice gift package from the people of Windsor. Inside each package was a card showing the name of the donor. You were supposed to sign the card and hand it back in.... Continue Reading →
Enemy seems to have much water in his trenches: Christmas 1916 for the 18th Battalion
It was the second Christmas for the 18th Battalion in the front lines. The first Christmas in 1915 found the Battalion blooded in its first actions in Belgium and suffered 26 deaths from the Battalion’s arrival on the Continent in mid-September 1915 until the end of December. The feelings on isolation from family and friends... Continue Reading →
Mitigating the Ennui of Trench Life
Romance from the trenches. Below is a story relating to one unknown member of the 18th Battalion who, with his first Christmas in the trenches in 1915, used a unique method to assuage and address his boredom and loneliness. This is related by Lieutenant Harry Anderson Secord during an interview for the CBC Radio broadcast... Continue Reading →
No Liberties Were Taken: Christmas 1915 for the 18th Battalion
The Christmas of the 1915 was the second Christmas that the Battalion had experienced since it formation in the Fall of 1914. Since that Christmas in London, Ontario the Battalion had moved from Canada to England in April, 1915 where it trained and the embarked to France and thence, to Belgium for its baptism... Continue Reading →
Christmas Cards of The Canadian Expeditionary Forces
Thanks to Wartime Canada for collecting these:
The Christmases of the 18th Battalion
The 18th Battalion's formation began in the latter part if 1914 after the 1st Canadian Contingent set sail. 3 days after the 1st Canadian Contingent set sail the then Governor General of Canada, H.R.H. The Duke of Connaught, sent a telegram to the Secretary of State for the Colonies and offer by the Dominion of... Continue Reading →
Christmas Truces: “…our German friends were quite friendly.”
A recent viewing of the movie Joyeux Noël made me curious as to the involvement of Canadian troops in the Christmas truces that sprung up after the well documented truces that occurred in 1914. Since the First Canadian Contingent did not arrive in the theater of operations until February 1915 they were not involved in... Continue Reading →
History of the 18th Battalion CEF, "The Fighting Eighteenth" 