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k2kid · 7 years

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“Sports Days” were an integral part of British and Canadian Military life. In every area of operation, be it Flanders, Salonika, or Mesopotamia. For the Canadian troops, Sports Days were times of recreation and competition – a break from soldiering. Yet, the popularity of the Sports Days had a decidedly military purpose. They helped foster and maintain a competitive inter-unit rivalry which increased the feelings of identity and bond between the soldiers of the battalion in which they belonged. This was to extend to the Brigade, Divisional, and Corps level.

It would be interesting to note the differences of attitudes of the soldiers of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces from before and after the Vimy Battle and campaign during April 1917. The 4th Canadian Infantry Brigade had a chance to experience this shortly after the battle. The Sports Days were extremely popular. Contemporary images (see later in post) show the events lined with troops packed tightly together cheering on the participants. The scheduling of the events with very short intervals or delays between each event would serve to maintain the momentum of the event.

The 4th Canadian Infantry Brigade, comprising of the 4th Canadian Trench Mortar Company, 4th Canadian Machine Gun Company, 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st Battalions had acquitted itself well from its arrival in the Ypres Sector of Belgium through its baptism of fire in the battle of St. Eloi Craters. From this sector, the 4th C.I.B. moved to the meatgrinder of the Somme and was engaged in some horrific fighting, resulting in many casualties. As each patrol, bombardment, raid, and attack occurred more of the “original” men of the initial draft were replaced due to death, wounding, illness, and re-assignment. By the time of the Brigade’s (and Canadian Corps) involvement at Vimy in the Arras Sector, the battalions were a mix of men from the original drafts from Spring 1915 and subsequent replacement drafts from battalions formed in Canada and broken up for reinforcement. The battalions of the 4th C.I.B. soldiered and slogged on in the Vimy Sector through the winter of 1917 until the attack in April 9, 1917 on Vimy where they, and the Canadian Corps, acquitted themselves in such a manner as to become part of the Canadian experience and historical iconography that is still argued about today. Whether one believes in the “nation building” outcome from the Vimy battle, or not, the soldiers on the ground had no such point of reference. They were living history, not examining it a century later.

They were assigned, followed orders, feared death, wished for their rum ration and for a myriad of other comforts and hardships to happen and not happen to them. The constant noise of combat, personal and military interactions, and other aspects of military life that we, now, would think as privations, were taken in a matter of course, to be borne until the end of the war, or their lives, whichever may come first.

We would wonder how they felt when the news went down the line that the battalions of the 4th C.I.B. were being pulled off the line for a months training. A chance to get dirty and dusty and be able to be clean soon after, instead of waiting their four to six-day rotation in the front line to go back to brigade reserve to have a bath and get clean clothes. The month of June was upon them and the 4th C.I.B. War Diary relates on several days that the weather was “fine and warm”.

With the Battalions and other support units billeted back from the line, most probably well within earshot of the artillery shelling, the units were disposed in “rest” at the following locations:

Brigade Headquarters and the 18th Battalion at Barlin,

19th Battalion at Vedrel,

20th, 21st Battalions, and the 4th Trench Mortar Company at Coupigny Huts,

And, lastly, the 4th Canadian Machine Gun Company at Gouy Servins.

The units of the 4th C.I.B. had Pay, Church, and Clothing Parades and each unit had a highly-organized training syllabus created outlining, in detail, the training programme through the next three weeks. The orders also understood that the men would need some free time and allowed the soldiers to visit estaminets from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. with the following admonition: “Any man found in Estaminets [bar/café] other than at above hours is to be severely dealt with.”

The battalions were also warned off damaging crops and in the procurement of private billets and to be on the look out for flagged cars, which indicated a General Officer was riding in it so that they would show proper honours to the occupants of that car. Further expectations were also outlined as to proper military dress, the wearing of helmets and the saluting of the Guard for flagged cars. The battalions may be in the rear resting and training, but there was no doubt that they must maintain military bearing and comportment while in the rear area.

Such nagging details of military life and discipline encroached on every aspect of a soldiers’ life and the maintenance of such order and obedience was a constant concern for the military authorities. On June 9th, 1917, the 19th Battalion orders had two items that illustrate this:

Order 2

It has come to my notice that many men use the satchel of the Small Box Respirator for carrying brushes, combs, knives, forks, note-books, tins of polish, and similar articles.

The practice of caring in these satchels any articles other than those issued as part of the Small Box Respirator Outfit is strictly forbidden, as it exposed the troops to grave danger during gas attacks, through injury to the mask or by interfering with its rapid adjustment to the face.

Attention will be given to this point at all inspections of anti-gas appliances, and instances of failure to comply with this order will be severely dealt with.”

Order 5

The Regimental Police report that the orders regarding dress are not being carried out, and that men are walking about the streets without belts and respirators, also some without putties. Unless the orders regarding Dress are strictly obeyed severe disciplinary action will be taken, which will affect present daily half holiday.

The training was intensive and full of activity. A soldier’s day started at 5:30 a.m. with reveille and ended at “Lights Out” at 9:54 p.m. Each day had an intensive morning session of training for four hours (with an additional hour of physical training) that ended with “dinner”. After an hour and half break, two more hours of training ended at 4:00 p.m. Supper was served at 4:30 p.m. which left almost four hours for other activities, such as visiting Estaminets and other establishments in search of recreation.

Outside of these activities the normal thread of human activity and enterprise occurred, reinforcing an odd normalcy to the month that was at odds with the usual routine of an active battalion engaged in combat rotations at the front. With successive days off the line and with time to spare after training the men would be writing letters, talking, and engaged in other recreational activities.

One area of focus for this effort would be the sports days being held in June. The first was a series of independent sports days for each Battalion which determined the individuals and teams to participate at the Brigade Sports Day. The second event involving the entire Brigade was held June 18, 1917 at the Y.M.C.A. Ground located at Ruitz, France. Once these contests where held the finalist would be able to participate in a Divisional Sports Day June 23, 1917 at the Chateau Grounds in Coupigny, France.

The “sports” events were varied, from organized baseball to horseback wrestling involving a total of twenty events. Each event took a full day from 10:00 a.m. in the morning until the presentation of prizes at 6:00 p.m.

It appears that each Battalion Sports Day was held for the Battalion and not against each other. The 18th Battalion relates that its Sports Day occurred on June 15, 1917: “Battalion sports held at RUITZ. Races, Tug of War, Football and Wrestling during the day and a concert in the evening by the Battalion Band.” The 19th Battalion War Diary states simply for June 13, 1917: “Battalion sports.” Finally, the 20th Battalion makes no mention of a Battalion Sports Day.

The Sports Day had a range of events, some were conventional sports like American baseball and running races to less conventional, but more entertaining boot races and horseback wrestling. These events gave the battalions and support units of the 4th C.I.B. an outlet of competition and fun fitting for the young men of the day and, most certainly, more enjoyable than the six hours of training they had been involved with. It was also a morale and team-building event helping to cement an esprit de corps within the battalion, brigade, and division. Given the nature of military life there was very likely a hyper-competitive sense of duty to represent the home unit by the men participating and it is interesting to note the number of privates listed as winners and place-takers in the events. Only one corporal (Corporal Osler, who won two separate events) and a Sergeant Cattanach represented soldiers above the rank of private in the sport where “other ranks” participated.

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The Brigade Sports Day June 18, 1917, garnered winners of the competitions who would move on to the Divisional Sports Day. The weather was described as “beautiful” by the 21st Battalion diarist who proudly shares that: “In these sports the Battalion did exceptionally well, carrying off six first prizes, one second, & one third.” The 18th Battalion relates: “Battalion parade to Brigade sports. Battalion Football team making a draw with 20th Battalion for Brigade Championship. Prizes were presented at the close by Brig-General R. Rennie, C.M.G., V.O., D.S.O.” The 20th Battalion appears to have more success than the 18th with: “This unit won 130 lbs boxing, tug of war, and horse back wrestling, besides several seconds. The Assn. Football game was tied with the 18th Battalion, score 1 all. Very successful day.” The 19th Battalion is effectively mute only relating that on the date the event was held.

Results of the 4th Canadian Infantry Brigade Sports Day held June 18, 1917. These competitors would then participate in the Divisional Sports Day held June 23, 1917.

The 4th Brigade felt that disseminating the results of the Brigade important enough to issue a letter with the results on June 20, 1917:

Event Results Battalion 100 YARD DASH Cpl. Osler[i] 21st Pte. Devereaux[ii] 20th 100 YD DASH OFFICERS Lieut. Applegath 19th Lieut. Currie 20th 220 YARD DASH Cpl. Osler 21st 1 MILE RELAY Team 21st 19th 18th OFFICERS RELAY RACE Team 21st HIGH JUMP – FINALS Pte. Laird 18th Cpl. Herring 4th. M.G. Coy. RUNNING BROAD JUMP Sgt. Cattanach 21st Pte. Robson[iii] 18th TUG OF WAR Team 20th OBSTACLE RACE Pte. Hopkins 19th Pte. Dear 19th BAND RACE Pte. Porter 18th Pte. Grey 18th BOOT RACE Pte. Guyett 4th. M.G. Coy. Pte. Freeman 20th BLINDFOLD RACE Pte. Freeman 20th Pte. Guyett 4th. M.G. Coy. MULE RACE Pte. Flick 19th Pte. Davey 19th HORSEBACK WRESTLING Team 20th BASEBALL Team 18th INDOOR BASEBALL Team (Officers) 19th BOXING – 120 LBS Pte. Dormer 20th BOXING – 135 LBS Pte. Mallett 19th BOXING – 145 LBS Pte. Forman 18th BOXING – 160 LBS + Pte. Fisher 19th

Every unit of the Brigade, save the 4th Canadian Trench Mortar Company, was represented with no one unit dominating the events. The finalists of each sport would move on to the Divisional Sports Day and represent their Battalion and their Brigade.

On June 23, 1917, the Divisional Sports Day was held near the chateau at Coupigny and each Battalion had its finalist participate. The units’ war diaries reflect the results thusly:

18th Battalion: Company bath parades in morning. Voluntary parade to Divisional sports in the afternoon, Lieut. W.S. Caldwell[iv], J.G. Doherty, J.D. Parsons arrived as reinforcements.

19th Battalion: Drill and Training carried out as per schedule included in appendices.

20th Battalion: No training other than physical drill at 7:00 am. During balance of the day the Battalion attended the 2nd Divisional Sports. This Battalion won events as follows:- Wresting on horseback – First. Tug-of-War – Second. Boxing – Second. The sports were most successful. The 18th Battalion won the final Association Football. We have yet to play off our tie with them.

21st Battalion: The Battalion attend the Divisional Sports which were held on COUPIGNY SPORTS GROUND. A massed band concert was also given on the grounds during the afternoon.

The end of June brought an end to the training. Divisional orders released June 26, 1917 would start the process of the 2nd Canadian Division preparing to relieve the 3rd and 4th Canadian Infantry Divisions. The training was over. The memories of the glory of the Sports Days would have to be that – memories. It was time for the troops of the Division and those battalions comprising the 4th C.I.B. to take their preparations for war and put them into practice as the next stage of the campaign to defeat Germany on the Western Front would start.

Passenchendaele was four months away. Nothing would prepare them for Passenchendaele.

To an Athlete Dying Young

To-day, the road all runners come, Shoulder-high we bring you home, And set you at your threshold down, Townsman of a stiller town.

Smart lad, to slip betimes away From fields where glory does not stay And early though the laurel grows It withers quicker than the rose.

Eyes the shady night has shut Cannot see the record cut, And silence sounds no worse than cheers After earth has stopped the ears:

Now you will not swell the rout Of lads that wore their honours out, Runners whom renown outran And the name died before the man.

So set, before its echoes fade, The fleet foot on the sill of shade, And hold to the low lintel up The still-defended challenge-cup.

And round that early-laurelled head Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead, And find unwithered on its curls The garland briefer than a girl’s.

A.E. Houseman

[i] Possibly James George Hutchins who served under an assumed name as James G. Olser, reg. no. 637006.

[ii] Possibly John Joseph Devereaux, reg. no. 58326, killed in action October 11, 1918.

[iii] This soldier is not yet identified. He was not part of the initial 1915 draft.

[iv] Lt. Caldwell was one of the 18th Battalion “originals” and rose from the ranks. See his digitized service record for more information.

For more informaton on Private Laird please read this blog post.

Sports Days for the 18th Battalion “Sports Days” were an integral part of British and Canadian Military life. In every area of operation, be it Flanders, Salonika, or Mesopotamia.

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brookstonalmanac · 5 years

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Events 5.15

495 BC – A newly constructed temple in honour of the god Mercury was dedicated in ancient Rome on the Circus Maximus, between the Aventine and Palatine hills. To spite the senate and the consuls, the people awarded the dedication to a senior military officer, Marcus Laetorius. 221 – Liu Bei, Chinese warlord, proclaims himself emperor of Shu Han, the successor of the Han dynasty. 392 – Emperor Valentinian II is assassinated while advancing into Gaul against the Frankish usurper Arbogast. He is found hanging in his residence at Vienne. 589 – King Authari marries Theodelinda, daughter of the Bavarian duke Garibald I. A Catholic, she has great influence among the Lombard nobility. 908 – The three-year-old Constantine VII, the son of Emperor Leo VI the Wise, is crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire by Patriarch Euthymius I at Constantinople. 1252 – Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull ad extirpanda, which authorizes, but also limits, the torture of heretics in the Medieval Inquisition. 1525 – Insurgent peasants led by Anabaptist pastor Thomas Müntzer were defeated at the Battle of Frankenhausen, ending the German Peasants' War in the Holy Roman Empire. 1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, stands trial in London on charges of treason, adultery and incest; she is condemned to death by a specially-selected jury. 1567 – Mary, Queen of Scots marries James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, her third husband. 1618 – Johannes Kepler confirms his previously rejected discovery of the third law of planetary motion (he first discovered it on March 8 but soon rejected the idea after some initial calculations were made). 1648 – The Treaty of Westphalia is signed. 1718 – James Puckle, a London lawyer, patents the world's first machine gun. 1730 – Robert Walpole effectively became the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. 1776 – American Revolution: The Fifth Virginia Convention instructs its Continental Congress delegation to propose a resolution of independence from Great Britain, paving the way for the United States Declaration of Independence. 1791 – French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre proposes the Self-denying Ordinance. 1792 – War of the First Coalition: France declares war on Kingdom of Sardinia. 1793 – Diego Marín Aguilera flies a glider for "about 360 meters", at a height of 5–6 meters, during one of the first attempted manned flights. 1796 – War of the First Coalition: Napoleon enters Milan in triumph. 1800 – King George III of the United Kingdom survives an assassination attempt by James Hadfield, who is later acquitted by reason of insanity. 1817 – Opening of the first private mental health hospital in the United States, the Asylum for the Relief of Persons Deprived of the Use of Their Reason (now Friends Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). 1836 – Francis Baily observes "Baily's beads" during an annular eclipse. 1848 – Serfdom is abolished in the Habsburg Galicia, as a result of the 1848 revolutions. The rest of monarchy followed later in the year. 1849 – Troops of the Two Sicilies take Palermo and crush the republican government of Sicily. 1850 – The Bloody Island massacre takes place in Lake County, California, in which a large number of Pomo Indians are slaughtered by a regiment of the United States Cavalry. 1850 – The Arana–Southern Treaty is ratified, ending "the existing differences" between Great Britain and Argentina. 1851 – The first Australian gold rush is proclaimed, although the discovery had been made three months earlier. 1858 – Opening of the present Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London. 1862 – President Abraham Lincoln signs a bill into law creating the United States Bureau of Agriculture. It is later renamed the United States Department of Agriculture. 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of New Market, Virginia: Students from the Virginia Military Institute fight alongside the Confederate army to force Union General Franz Sigel out of the Shenandoah Valley. 1867 – Canadian Bank of Commerce opens for business in Toronto, Ontario. The bank would later merge with Imperial Bank of Canada to become what is CIBC in 1961. 1869 – Women's suffrage: In New York, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman Suffrage Association. 1891 – Pope Leo XIII defends workers' rights and property rights in the encyclical Rerum novarum, the beginning of modern Catholic social teaching. 1904 – Russo-Japanese War: The Russian minelayer Amur lays a minefield about 15 miles off Port Arthur and sinks Japan's battleships Hatsuse, 15,000 tons, with 496 crew and Yashima. 1905 – Las Vegas is founded when 110 acres (0.45 km2), in what later would become downtown, are auctioned off. 1911 – In Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States, the United States Supreme Court declares Standard Oil to be an "unreasonable" monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act and orders the company to be broken up. 1911 – More than 300 Chinese immigrants are killed in the Torreón massacre when the forces of the Mexican Revolution led by Emilio Madero take the city of Torreón from the Federales. 1919 – The Winnipeg general strike begins. By 11:00, almost the whole working population of Winnipeg had walked off the job. 1919 – Greek occupation of Smyrna. During the occupation, the Greek army kills or wounds 350 Turks; those responsible are punished by Greek commander Aristides Stergiades. 1925 – Al-Insaniyyah, the first Arabic communist newspaper, is founded. 1928 – Walt Disney character Mickey Mouse premieres in his first cartoon, "Plane Crazy". 1929 – A fire at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio kills 123. 1932 – In an attempted coup d'état, the Prime Minister of Japan Inukai Tsuyoshi is assassinated. 1933 – All military aviation organizations within or under the control of the RLM of Germany were officially merged in a covert manner to form its Wehrmacht military's air arm, the Luftwaffe. 1934 – Kārlis Ulmanis establishes an authoritarian government in Latvia. 1940 – USS Sailfish is recommissioned. It was originally the USS Squalus. 1940 – World War II: After fierce fighting, the poorly trained and equipped Dutch troops surrender to Germany, marking the beginning of five years of occupation. 1940 – McDonald's opens its first restaurant in San Bernardino, California. 1941 – First flight of the Gloster E.28/39 the first British and Allied jet aircraft. 1941 – Joe DiMaggio begins a 56-game hitting streak. 1942 – World War II: In the United States, a bill creating the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) is signed into law. 1943 – Joseph Stalin dissolves the Comintern (or Third International). 1945 – World War II: The Battle of Poljana, the final skirmish in Europe is fought near Prevalje, Slovenia. 1948 – Following the expiration of The British Mandate for Palestine, the Kingdom of Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia invade Israel thus starting the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. 1957 – At Malden Island in the Pacific Ocean, Britain tests its first hydrogen bomb in Operation Grapple. 1958 – The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 3. 1960 – The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 4. 1963 – Project Mercury: The launch of the final Mercury mission, Mercury-Atlas 9 with astronaut Gordon Cooper on board. He becomes the first American to spend more than a day in space, and the last American to go into space alone. 1966 – After a policy dispute, Prime Minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ of South Vietnam's ruling junta launches a military attack on the forces of General Tôn Thất Đính, forcing him to abandon his command. 1969 – People's Park: California Governor Ronald Reagan has an impromptu student park owned by the University of California at Berkeley fenced off from student anti-war protestors, sparking a riot. 1970 – President Richard Nixon appoints Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington the first female United States Army generals. 1970 – Philip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green are killed at Jackson State University by police during student protests. 1972 – The Ryukyu Islands, under U.S. military governance since its conquest in 1945, reverts to Japanese control. 1972 – In Laurel, Maryland, Arthur Bremer shoots and paralyzes Alabama Governor George Wallace while he is campaigning to become President. 1974 – Ma'alot massacre: Members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine attack and take hostages at an Israeli school; a total of 31 people are killed, including 22 schoolchildren. 1976 – Aeroflot Flight 1802 crashes in Viktorovka, Chernihiv Raion, killing all 52 people on board. 1987 – The Soviet Union launches the Polyus prototype orbital weapons platform. It fails to reach orbit. 1988 – Soviet–Afghan War: After more than eight years of fighting, the Soviet Army begins to withdraw 115,000 troops from Afghanistan. 1991 – Édith Cresson becomes France's first female premier. 1997 – The United States government acknowledges the existence of the "Secret War" in Laos and dedicates the Laos Memorial in honor of Hmong and other "Secret War" veterans. 2004 – Arsenal F.C. go an entire league campaign unbeaten in the English Premier League, joining Preston North End F.C with the right to claim the title The Invincibles 2008 – California becomes the second U.S. state after Massachusetts in 2004 to legalize same-sex marriage after the state's own Supreme Court rules a previous ban unconstitutional. 2010 – Jessica Watson becomes the youngest person to sail, non-stop and unassisted around the world solo. 2013 – An upsurge in violence in Iraq leaves more than 389 people dead over three days.

#Events

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thisdayinwwi · 7 years

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572 Canadians die #OnThisDay Oct 26 1917, the opening day of the Second Battle of Passchendaele. 9 Victoria Crosses awarded to Canadians during the battle:

Acting Captain Christopher O'Kelly of the 52nd (New Ontario) Battalion.

Sergeant Robert Shankland of the 43rd (Cameron Highlanders of Canada) Bn.

Private Thomas William Holmes of the 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles Battalion.

Private Cecil John Kinross of the 49th (Edmonton) Battalion

Sergeant George Mullin of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.

Acting Major George Pearkes of the 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles Battalion.

Lieutenant Hugh McKenzie of the 7th Canadian Machine Gun Company.

Corporal Colin Fraser Barron of the 3rd (Toronto) Battalion.

Private James Peter Robertson of the 27th (City of Winnipeg) Battalion.

#canadian history #WWI Canada

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atlanticcanada · 6 years

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'A story of incredibly bad timing': N.S. man last to die before armistice

HALIFAX -- Moments before the armistice ending the First World War took effect on Nov. 11, 1918, a sniper's bullet sliced the morning air.

It struck a Canadian soldier in the chest as he emerged from the doorway of a house in a small Belgian village. Pvt. George Lawrence Price died minutes later at 10:58 a.m. -- a mere two minutes before hostilities ceased.

He become the last British Empire soldier to die in a war that claimed millions of lives, including nearly 67,000 Canadians and Newfoundlanders.

It's unclear whether the 25-year-old was aware the war was so close to being over when he and five other members of 'A' Company, the 28th Battalion of the Saskatchewan North West Regiment, decided on their own to search a series of houses for Germans in Ville-Sur-Haine, east of Mons.

"They had heard rumours for months that maybe the war was going to come to an end, but if you are a soldier on the front lines you tend to take that stuff with a grain of salt," said Ken Hynes, curator of the Army Museum Halifax Citadel.

"So George was doing his job as he saw it."

Price was posthumously awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

He is interred in a cemetery in Belgium not far from the war's first British Empire casualty, Pvt. John Parr of the 4th Battalion Middlesex Regiment.

Price's story has remained ingrained in the lore of succeeding generations of his surviving family, according to his niece, Beverly McLean, of Kentville, N.S.

"My mom was his second youngest sister and from the time I was a little girl that's all I heard was about Uncle George," McLean said following the recent premiere in Halifax of a short documentary film about Price.

"My mom just worshipped him and she named her son George after Uncle George."

Price, a native of Falmouth, now Port Williams, N.S., was working as a labourer in Moose Jaw, Sask., when he was conscripted on Oct. 15, 1917.

He fought in the Battle of Amiens, the Battle of Cambrai and the Pursuit to Mons, and was gassed in the Canal-du-Nord area on Sept. 8, 1918.

Upon his discharge from hospital, he returned to his unit on Sept. 26 and was on the line in Canal-du-Centre when he took part in the final action that led to his death.

According to unit records, Price and his comrades crossed the canal to check on houses that appeared to be the site of a German machine gun post. They rushed one house and found only the owner and his family after the Germans ran out the back door.

A second house was checked, and as Price stepped back into the street he suddenly slumped into the arms of Pvt. Art Goodmurphy. He was dragged back into the house where attempts to save him proved futile.

According to an eyewitness account by Goodmurphy in an interview conducted after the war, he said that he went back to his company's position and told a major that Price had been killed.

"Oh Jees did he blow a fuse," Goodmurphy recalled. "The war is over, the war is over, he (the major) said. I said, well I can't help that."

Goodmurphy also reported the major as saying "What the hell did you go across there for? We had no orders to go across there."

But Goodmurphy's account noted the reconnaissance party "never even thought about the war being over then," adding that "we didn't always get orders to do everything that we did."

Canadian War Museum historian Tim Cook said the Canadian Corps had in fact received orders at 6 a.m. on Nov. 11 that the war would end at 11 a.m. that day.

Most battalions got word no later than 9:30 a.m. "and they went to ground" Cook said. "Still, there were patrols along the front including George Price's."

Hynes said whether Price received the specifics of those orders is unknown, and the same doubt about whether all soldiers knew how close war's end was can likely be extended to the German soldier who shot him.

"One can speculate about whether the German soldier knew this -- who knows?" said Hynes. "That information is lost to the mists of time."

Hynes said even in light of the horrific death toll suffered by all armies during the war, it is fitting for Price to be recognized as a figure of historic significance.

"It's very difficult for people to wrap their minds around the mass numbers of casualties that were taken in the Great War," he said. "But if you can focus on a single person then perhaps you can make a connection with the sorrow and the tragedy."

Price's grand niece, Rhonda McLean, said she was fascinated by his story from a young age.

"His photo hung on my grandmother's living room wall, and so he was always present in any of the conversations going on in the family in a funny way because his eyes would follow you no matter where you were sitting in the room," she said.

McLean said it was only as she grew older that she began to grasp the meaning of her great uncle's death in a more profound way.

"It's a story of incredibly bad timing," she said.

"And now of course, that's what tends to hook most people when they hear this story. He nearly made it home and he didn't, and so he's become a real representative in a way for all of those who didn't come home."

- With files from Lee Berthiuame in Ottawa

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/2DtBDa1

#new brunswick #prince edward island #nova scotia #news #politics #canada #CTVAtlantic

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esprit-de-corps-magazine · 4 years

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Approaching Victory 1945

By Vincent J. Curtis

April 1945, in the words of one regimental war diary, “which commenced with our push northward from our concentration area at the Rhine, was undoubtedly the most turbulent and widely travelled month the battalion had spent since leaving England.”

After the closure of the Falaise Gap on 21 Aug, 1944, the 2nd Canadian Corps advanced to the River Seine and crossed it at Elbeuf and Rouen. September saw the liberation of Dieppe, the investment of Dunkirk, and the liberation of Belgium’s Ostend and Bruges.

Stiffening German resistance required the 2nd Canadian Corps to mount formal operations: Wellhit to capture Boulogne and Undergo to capture Calais and Cap Gris Nez.

October, 1944, saw the mounting of Operation Switchback to clear Belgium north of the Albert Canal and Operations Vitality and Infatuate to clear the South Beveland peninsula and Walcheren Island.

A phase of static operations commenced in November and compassed the period of the German counterattack known as the Battle of the Bulge.

The advance resumed in February, 1945, with Operation Veritable, the attack on the Reichwald Forest, and then Blockbuster, which comprehended the battle of the Hochwald Gap and the capture of Xanthan on the Rhine River, the traditional western border of Germany.

The 2nd Canadian Corps pushed eastward into Germany near the border with the Netherlands, in the area known as Lower Saxony. With the coming of April, the end of the war was in sight. The Soviets were pushing westward from the Vistula River in Poland into pre-1939 German territory. The Americans, spearheaded by General George Patton’s Third Army, was knifing eastward through the belly of the beast towards Prague, Czechoslovakia.

German resistance became sporadic: dangerous, unpredictable, and frustrating. Some infantry units were experiencing four or five KIA/DW’s every day, along with half a dozen to a dozen wounded. Most of these casualties were caused by sniper fire, artillery and mortars, and rockets known a “Moanin’ Minies”. The occasional machine gun caught the unwary out in the open. Although these daily losses seem small, after ten days to two weeks they add up. A fully manned infantry battalion mustered only five hundred in those days, and infantry companies often fielded only fifty men.

Men began experiencing the “getting short” syndrome, first acknowledged in the Vietnam War. (As a tour was coming to an end, men got very cautious and took no risks hoping not to get killed just before they came home.) Patience with German resistance was wearing thin. The war was clearly lost, PW’s were coming in every day, yet pockets of needlessly fierce resistance were encountered.

At Friesoythe, this impatience exploded. The 4th Canadian Armored Division, under the command Maj-Gen Chris Vokes, had to take this German town which was believed defended by about 200 paratroops. The civilians had evacuated. The Lake Superior Regiment assaulted the town on 13 April and were repulsed with two dead and nineteen wounded. Next up were the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, under the command of Lt-Col Fred Wigle. Since the LSRs had attacked from the west, Wigle decided to march at night around the town and attack at dawn from the east.

The plan worked beautifully, except that advancing companies missed a group of about fifty paratroops. These Germans attacked the battalion tactical HQ, which was behind the advancing companies. Wigle was killed, shot in the back by a sniper. Lt Alan Earp (later OC, CD and HCol) was shot through the head, but survived. The town was secured by mid-morning, but when the troops heard of the death of their CO, all hell broke loose. An enraged Vokes, who commanded 1st Div at Ortona against the German 1st Parachute Division, ordered Friesoythe razed in reprisal of Wigel’s death. The Argylls needed no encouragement. Crocodiles (flame-throwing tanks) were brought in and burned down the town, the stone buildings were demolished, and the rubble used to rebuild roads that had been heavily cratered.

The end of April still didn’t herald the end of resistance.

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ww1revisited · 6 years

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Dernancourt is a village 3 kilometres south of Albert. The Communal Cemetery is a little west of the village, and the Extension is on the north-west side of the Communal Cemetery.

Dernancourt Communal Cemetery Extension

Field ambulances used Dernancourt Communal Cemetery for Commonwealth burials from September 1915 to August 1916, and again during the German advance of March 1918. It contains 127 Commonwealth burials of the First World War. The XV Corps Main Dressing Station was formed at Dernancourt in August 1916, when the adjoining Dernancourt Communal Cemetery Extension was opened. The 45th and 1st/1st South Midland Casualty Clearing Stations (CCS) came in September 1916 and remained until March 1917. The 3rd Australian CCS was here in March and April 1917, and the 56th from April 1917 to February 1918. The 3rd Casualty Clearing Station came in March 1918 but on 26 March, Dernancourt was evacuated ahead of the German advance, and the extension remained in their hands until the village was recaptured on 9 August by the 12th Division and the 33rd American division. In September it was again used by the 47th, 48th and 55th Casualty Clearing Stations under the name of “Edgehill”, due to the rising ground on the north-west. At the Armistice, the extension contained more than 1,700 burials; it was then enlarged when graves were brought in from small cemeteries and isolated positions in the immediate neighbourhood.

Dernancourt: Pte E.G.R.Lempriere

Dernancourt: Chinese Labour Corps

Dernancourt: Sgt T.J. Harris VC

Dernancourt: Sub-Lt J.F. Bunce MC

Dernancourt: Capt Morton Peto MC

Dernancourt: Capt M. Peto MC

Dernancourt: Lt Stuart Boyd

Dernancourt: 2/Lt Stuart Boyd

The extension now contains 2,162 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War. 177 of the burials are unidentified, but there are special memorials to 29 casualties known or believed to be buried among them, and to two buried at Albert Road Cemetery Buire-sur-Ancre whose grave could not be found on concentration. The extension was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

Number of burials by Unit

Australian burials

376

Royal Field Artillery

Durham Light Infantry

Northumberland Fusiliers

New Zealand burials

Royal Engineers

King’s Royal Rifle Corps

Royal Fusiliers – City of London Regt.

Machine Gun Corps – Infantry

Royal Berkshire Regt.

Royal Garrison Artillery

Green Howards – Yorkshire Regt.

Royal Naval Division

Cameron Highlanders

South African Regt.

Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders

Highland Light Infantry

Northamptonshire Regt.

Royal Scots – Lothian Regt.

Essex Regt.

Rifle Brigade

Seaforth Highlanders

Gloucestershire Regt.

Gordon Highlanders

Royal Sussex Regt.

19th Bn. London Regt – St. Pancras

Black Watch – Royal Highlanders

Middlesex Regt.

Royal Welsh Fusiliers

Royal West Kent Regt. (Queen’s Own)

South Staffordshire Regt.

Buffs – East Kent Regt.

King’s Own Scottish Borderers

King’s Liverpool Regt.

Queen’s – Royal West Surrey Regt.

Welsh Regt.

Worcestershire Regt.

15th Bn. London Regt-PWO Civil Service Rifles

Border Regt.

East Surrey Regt.

Royal Army Service Corps

Sherwood Foresters – Notts. & Derbys. Regt.

23rd Bn. London Regt

Royal Scots Fusiliers

22nd Bn. London Regt – The Queen’s

Suffolk Regt.

West Yorkshire Regt.

York & Lancaster Regt.

7th Bn. London Regt.

Cameronians – Scottish Rifles

Duke of Wellington’s – West Riding Regt.

Lancashire Fusiliers

Manchester Regt.

Royal Army Medical Corps

17th Bn. London Regt – Poplar & Stepney Rifles

20th Bn. London Regt – Blackheath & Woolwich

8th Bn. London Regt. – Post Office Rifles

East Yorkshire Regt.

Loyal North Lancashire Regt.

21st Bn. London Regt – First Surrey Rifles

6th Bn. London Regt. – London Rifles

King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry

Norfolk Regt.

18th Bn. London Regt – London Irish Rifles

3rd Bn. London Regt. – Royal Fusiliers

Bedfordshire Regt.

Canadian burials

Ox. & Bucks. Light Infantry

Royal Munster Fusiliers

North Staffordshire Regt.

Cheshire Regt.

Lincolnshire Regt.

Somerset Light Infantry

South Wales Borderers

12th Bn. London Regt. – The Rangers

Devonshire Regt.

Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry

Indian Labour Corps

Leicestershire Regt.

Royal Warwickshire Regt.

1st Bn. London Regt. – Royal Fusiliers

King’s Shropshire Light Infantry

10th Bn. London Regt. – Hackney

24th Bn. London Regt – The Queen’s

3rd Hussars

Chinese Labour Force

Military Police Corps

Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers

South Lancashire Regt.

16th Bn. London Regt-Queen’s Westminster Rifles

19th Royal Hussars

2/10th Bn. London Regt – Hackney

Cambridgeshire Regt.

Dorsetshire Regt.

East Lancashire Regt.

Royal Army Ordnance Corps

Wiltshire Regt.

11th Hussars, Prince Albert’s Own

2/20th Bn. London Regt – Blackheath & Woolwich

2/4th Bn. London Regt – Royal Fusiliers

25th Bn. London Regt – Cyclist Bn.

2nd Bn. London Regt. – Royal Fusiliers

36th Jacob’s Horse

4th Dragoon Guards

5th Bn. London Regt. – London Rifle Brigade

9th Bn. London Regt. – Queen Victoria’s Rifles

9th Lancers

Army Cycle Corps

British West Indies

General List

Guards – Machine Gun Regt.

Hampshire Regt.

Hertfordshire Regt.

Honourable Artillery Company

Irish Guards

King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regt.

Leinster Regt.

Queen’s Bays

Royal Dublin Fusiliers

Royal Flying Corps/Royal Air Force

Royal Horse Artillery

Royal Irish Regt.

Identified British & Commonwealth burials

1978

Indian Labour Corps

Chinese Labour Force

German Burials

Total Identified

1989

Unidentified burials: United Kingdom

125

Australia

South Africa

New Zealand

Total Unidentified burials

177

Total burials

2166

WW1 Revisited: Silent Cities- Dernancourt Communal Cemetery Extension #Somme #WW1 Dernancourt is a village 3 kilometres south of Albert. The Communal Cemetery is a little west of the village, and the Extension is on the north-west side of the Communal Cemetery.

#1916 #CWGC #Great War #Lutyens #Silent Cities #Somme #War Cemetery #WW1 Battlefields

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otcsocialnetwork · 7 years

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ONCI UPDATED 1/23/18

$ONCI UPDATED 1/23/18 ONCI–HEXAGON HOLDINGS We’re looking at a start-up about 20 months old, run by a seasoned and experienced CEO who is using all his knowledge, talents, and connections to build a revenue-generating monster. He’s brought on great names such as Peter Einstein, Bill Jenkins, and Eric Ritter who have aided in bringing huge revenues to one piece of one arm of our company. Here’s Einstein’s linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-einstein-a032075/ I challenge anyone to find me a pinky CEO that has accomplished as much as Steve Berman has in the last 20 months. Oh yeah, broken promises, yada yada. Well, YOU try running a new public company and tell me there are no potholes along the way slowing down its intended progress. The only thing, THE ONLY THING one can accuse SB of is being a bit too over-enthusiastic about what the future holds here and jumping the gun with some of the company’s developments. But at the end of the day, these developments will come to fruition. The revenues that are coming will prove this. ONCI–Now, let’s look at what we have here: a fast-growing company with 6 arms or holdings. Steve has shared with us how back in March of 2016, he had goals of turning a dormant company into something very alluring and worthy of investment. So far, he brought the stock price from .0001 to .0192 since then. Yes, it has settled into a channel here at .005. Still not a bad increase from its humble beginnings. I can tell you that our CEO is far from satisfied with this. He is working hard to see this rise to new highs. Look at all those reported sales. HE WOULD NOT REPORT THEM IF THEY DID NOT HAPPEN. The revs are coming in from these monthly. And this is just from one piece of one of six arms. Let’s look into SB’s explanation of all 6 divisions: App & App Design Manufacturing Dental Care Digital Media Some form of Cannabis Related Company TBA in 2018 and will be HUGE! . App & App Design . BSafe Mobile leads the way with their roster of apps. The safe driving app is available for both iPhone and Android users. Distraction Driving is a hot topic as more deaths are being attributed to distracted drivers than people who died from cancer. Its the “Perfect Storm of Apps” claims CEO Steve Berman. The app will notify the admin of the vehicle and in which the admin can then turn off the phone. When the car’s wheels starting rolling and the driver is using the mobile device, the admin will be notified and can chose to power off the device. This app and its technology is huge on a global level. Orders keep flowing (see recent press) and much more contracts and revenues are set to be announced over the coming weeks. . Other apps include: . FleetSafer… like the BSafe app, the FleetSafer app will allow an admin who can monitor up to 10,000 vehicles, the ability to see the location of their vehicle, the drivers patterns and more. BFoundMobile… A great example is a rent a car agency. If someone picks up a car in lets say St. Louis, Missouri, and rents it for a week, the renter has no idea where that vehicle is at any given time, nor how many miles have been put on it or anything. The only thing they know per the renter’s agreement is that the car will be delivered back by such and such time. The app will allow them to know where the car is at any given time. This is perfect for agencies like Hertz, Budget, Avis, Enterprise etc. Certain apps may have the ability to do this but they works by GPS, and will not work when underground. This app works by apple beacon so even when underground the admin will still know the location of the vehicle. OK Golfer… an app used by golfers to ultimately speed up the round of golf by providing distance to the flag and selecting what club the golfer should use. This will help elevate a lot of unnecessary thinking, guessing and judgement time. Golf Gamble… is in the beta testing phase. The app will allow the golfer to wager money in attempt to double or triple their money based on how close they can get their ball to the pin or hole. Preliminary numbers were 90% of the time golfers will lose, making it a potentially profitable app not only for the company but for the golf courses whom they partner with. Drive Sober…also in beta testing, will work by having a device on the visor. The device will pick up the alcohol levels on their breath and monitor the admin. The admin, usually the car’s owner or parent, will then have the ability to stop the driver from driving while potentially under the influence. Another app with the intention of saving lives and wrongful deaths. Child Car Seat App… will work based on a sensor attached to the child’s car seat. The sensor will notify the admin when the temperature inside the vehicle reaches an unsafe level, if and when the parent leaves the child unattended. This app is an attempt to stop wrongful deaths of children due to heat exertion. Urgent Dentist…will allow you to find an urgent care dentist location near you, rather than having to wait until the next day to see a dentist. This app ties along with the DENTAL CARE arm of the company mentioned below. . Manufacturing . While the company plans on using its factories to make its devices between the hours of 9am and 9pm, it will seek additional revenues by renting the factories from 9pm to 8am. This could generate $6000 a day and have the lines running 24/7. The company would like to open factory locations across the globe at locations such as Canada, China, Budapest, Brazil, Prague, and the United States. The goal is to optimize the lines so that if they are not making product to fulfill orders, then they are being leased by someone else to generate maximum revenues. . Dental Care . The company wants to start off by using an office space at around 30 Urgent Care facilities over the next 24 months. The opportunity to get immediate dental care is huge. An example was given where if you have bad tooth pain or a broken tooth at 9pm at night, there is nothing you can do at the moment other than hope someone will see you when offices open at 9am. Being located in an Urgent Care facility, it will allow a person in need the option of getting immediate help by visiting of the locations. (also ties in with the app) The company will then give the Urgent Care facility a royalty and allow them to also do the medical billing. This will save the company $5000. It will be rolled out i the NY tri-state area. He also talked about plans to make the Dental Care “mobile”, where they will bring dentistry to locations such as homes for the elderly. All the equipment including tools, chairs, machines etc. will be brought in. A dental hygienist could be rented/paid $300 for the day, and they could see on average 15 patients. If they were to bill the insurance companies $50 for the appointment, that would be $750, making it very profitable based on only having to pay $300 for the hygienist. An actual dentist may run $800 a day, but the revenues from his services would be much more than $800, thus making it a profitable venture also. This business model, multiplied by many locations in eventually many states will add up nicely. Steve wants to build many revenue streams and have the company earning money every day. HE ALSO PURCHASED A PROFITABLE DENTAL PRACTICE IN NY CURRENTLY DOING 2 MILLION A YEAR: October 11, 2017: ON4 COMMUNICATIONS ANNOUNCES IT HAS AGREED TO ACQUIRE A NEW YORK DENTAL GROUP AND PLANS TO OPEN 30 URGENT CARE DENTAL OFFICES WITHIN THE NEXT 36 MONTHS . Digital Media . The 4th division wants to focus on “retinal scan” technology that will allow ad agencies the ability to target which ads are displayed based on recognizing its viewer. In example, if the digital ad display notices a middle aged man it will show “work boots”, while if it recognizes 3 teen girls, it may show a T-Mobile ad for cell phone service and a young woman possibly perfume. Having the ability to target your audience brings tremendous value to advertisers allowing them to get the best bang for their buck. Ads that can be quantified at stadiums, malls, theaters and gas stations are just a few immediate opportunities for the company. . Cannabis Related . Very little info was mentioned on the 5th arm of the company. It sounds as if it will be Canadian related and that due diligence has been going on with certain companies. They are going through the books of a few companies and looking for profitable ventures that they can exploit and make even more profitable. Tweets hint at the purchase of 100 acres of grow space in PEI Canada. . TBA (To Be Announced) in 2018 . This was an eye opener. When the CEO stated the new venture will be so big and will make so much money that everyone will be able to buy new houses… I was WOWed! I understand this is a forward looking statements, but he was definitely optimistic about what he has planned for next year. . After going through the 6 legs/arms or divisions of Hexagon Holdings, Mr. Berman re-emphasized the significance of a “holdings” company and its flexibility. The beauty of having multiple holdings is that if one of the entities fails, the company doesn’t go under because there will be 5 other revenue producing holdings that keep it strong and running. The remainder of the call touched on: . Whats going on with Dubai? Recent New Hires Updates with Car Companies Upcoming News Closing Shareholder Questions . 15 Million Dubai Women To Get Their Driver’s Licenses . Exciting times are upon the women in Dubai, as January 1st, new laws will allow women the ability to drive causing a massive influx of new drivers. The company has been in discussion with 2 major firms who have reviewed the product and now wish to discuss pricing and contracts. Steve and staff will be going to Dubai for a week and already have 14 meetings set up and numerous dinners. He discussed the significant opportunity their Drive Safe App offered the companies and people of the area, especially the United Emirates. In that country, if you are caught texting on your phone, it is a $1000 fine. Your second offense, you lose both your license to drive and your car! . The company has over 100 Employees , Most are commission based reps through our distribution channels. This is a win win scenario for the company in controlling payroll expenses. The more they payout will result in more sales. . Peter Einstein, he complimented and said he really is an Einstein, has experience working with MTV Europe and has played a key role in setting up sales and meetings with Dubai, the middle east, Ireland, England and Serbia. Eric Ritter, who is in Florida, has been working with Lawyers down there Bill Jenkins, ex NASCAR owner, who was highly complimented, being called, smart, bright, scientific, comprehensive and a great marketer, will generate significant future revenues for the company. Anyone familiar with a NASCAR vehicle understands the car itself is an advertisement with logo’s of sponsors all over. I have a feeling his expertise will not only help on the be safe car app, but also the digital media side . Dealing with the Auto Industry . Along with 4 auto companies, Mr. Berman discussed some of their marketing efforts. . Facebook… advertising is generating sales, clients and followers, SKY COMMUNICATIONS will unveil the ad campaign any day now. Enterprise Rent A Car… can not comment as he is still under an NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) BMW… they have had good meetings. BMW has requested the app be in 7 languages. To date, 4 are done so far. As soon as the last 3 languages are complete there will be testing done. Steve was unsure just how long these tests will take. BMW has asked for minor adjustments and have been addressed. FORD… likes the product and has increased their demands for what the app can do. They wish for the app to also act as a diagnostic tool, such as indicate why and when your engine light is on. Anti tampering was an issue they are addressing. CHRYSLER… has a similar response as Ford. Middle East contracts are on the way! The Dubai car show resulted in nearly 12 companies testing BsafeMobile and BfoundMobile. One potential contract is from Careem, the Uber of the ME with over 100k drivers. . Major News Is Coming! . Its going to be an exciting next couple of months, as the CEO divulged they have 10 deals in place that will bring in between $200k to $1m each over the next 2 weeks. If that wasn’t good enough, ONCI will have a signed LOI with a large insurance company that has 2 million drivers and insure 1,000 dealerships. They are expecting an order of 500+ units a month. . Additional Shareholder Questions . How many factories do you have? At the moment they have 2 factories producing 2-3000 units a month. One is located in NY and one in Canada. . Was there a share reduction? There will be a reduction, that will be revealed with the FINRA filing, that it was reduced by 1.4 billion shares from both the Authorized shares (A/S) and the Outstanding Shares (O/S). Steve mentioned it may end up going up a tad because they will be seeking the ability to raise money for future projects. . Who is your biggest competitor? Apple is, but with their safe driving app, it is “voluntary” versus admin based. To hear the call for yourself, go to: https://soundcloud.com/ant-chance/confenence-call-onci-111017 . Existing App Sales: January 19, 2018 – ON4 COMMUNICATIONS ANNOUNCES EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTION DEAL WITH CATACLEAN FOR BSAFEMOBILE IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND January 17, 2018 – ON4 COMMUNICATIONS ANNOUNCES $1.65m IN NEW CONTRACTS, SIGNS GARDEN CITY NISSAN,LARGEST NISSAN DEALER IN THE WORLD December 5 2017 – ON4 COMMUNICATIONS ANNOUNCES DISTRIBUTION DEAL WITH CAPOLI SALES November 29, 2017 – ON4 COMMUNICATIONS ANNOUNCES $1.44M CONTRACT WITH A TEXAS DEALER GROUP AND A DISTRIBUTION DEAL WITH SCULLY LEMOINE MARKETING.. November 7, 2017 – Contract with a major European Taxi Service with locations in Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania. They will be taking 500 units per month for 4 months beginning February 2018. $400,000 October 24, 2017 – Executed a 3000 unit contract with a large middle eastern multinational company with a fleet of vehicles which tops 7500 cars, Suv’s and trucks. $600,000 to $1,500,000 October 24, 2017 – Contract with a large after-market group with access to 450 dealerships throughout Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. This group will be selling Bsafe Mobile and Bfound mobile into its dealer network. This adds approximately 450 prospective clients to the Bsafe Family. $1,000,00 annual conservatively October 18, 2017 – Pilot program with a large Middle Eastern Taxi Fleet with over 10,000 taxis throughout 4 different countries including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and Egypt. $100,000 Pilot Test October 18, 2017 – Contract with Gunther Motors with brands including VW,2 dealerships, Mazda and Kia. $216,000 annual October 16, 2017 – Contract with a 7 dealer West Texas auto group with brands including Jeep, Dodge Trucks, Ford, Toyota, Nissan, Chevy and Hyundai. $588,000 annual October 16, 2017 – Contract with a 6 Dealer South Florida Auto group with brands including Toyota, Nissan, Acura, Kia, Jeep and Hyundai. $432,000 annual October 11, 2017 – Contract with a 7 dealer Massachusetts based auto group, with brands including Chevy, Nissan, Toyota, Hyundai, BMW, Ford and Jeep. $420,000 annual September 29, 2017 – Contract with a northern Florida auto group with 6 dealerships including Chevy, Kia, Hyundai, Ford, Nissan and Toyota. $288,000 annual September 29, 2017 – Contract with a large southwestern extended warranty company; we will be selling their products which include extended warranties, tire and wheel and other after-market products in our dealer network and they will be selling our apps in their dealer network. $120,000 annual September 29, 2017 – A central Florida dealer group with 5 dealerships in Tampa and Orlando and brands including Chevy, GMC, KIA, Hyundai and Audi. $240,000 annual September 27, 2017 – A 4 dealer Toyota Group in the NY tri-state area: one dealer in NY, one in NJ and 2 in CT. $480,000 annual September 22, 2017 – A 250 Dealer Extended Warranty Company in New York. $480,000 annual September 20, 2017 – A 5 dealer group in NY with Brands including Nissan, Jeep and Volvo. $240,000 annual September 13, 2017 – JV with Title King a division of New America Energy Corp. $600,000 annual September 13, 2017 — Contract with Pennsylvania/New Jersey dealer Group with brands including Jeep, Kia, Chevy, Ford, Alpha Romeo, GM, Hyundai and Nissan. $1,000,000 annual September 8, 2017 — Contract with 25 dealerships in Los Angeles and Orange county California each dealership will take 20 units per month. $1,200,000 September 8, 2017 – Acquisition includes FLEET SAFER which generated over 1 million in sales last year. $1,000,000 September 1, 2017 — Signed a contract with a 10 dealer group in Arizona at 150 units per month at $250 per unit. $450,000 August 29, 2017 — Executed a contract with a 5 dealer auto group in Long Island New York with brands including Toyota, Nissan Chevy, Kia and Ford. $360,000 annual August 24, 2017 — Ford Fleet services has asked us to put 1000 units on reserve as they have a Large Mid Western Utility Company who has expressed interest in not only our FMS Safe Driving App but also our Global Tracking Device. $200,000 trial run with HUGE potential August 21, 2017 — Executed a contract with a large Mid Atlantic dealer group with locations in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and Washington DC. $432,000 annual August 17, 2017 — Signed a deal with a large luxury dealer group in Texas including such brands as Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, Audi, Lincoln, Cadillac, Porsche and Infiniti. $480,000 annual August 11 2017 — Executed a contract with Google Brazil yesterday. $2,000,000 annual August 3, 2017 – Partnered deal with Assurant – purchased 500 units to start and asked us to put another 500 on hold. $200,000 and growing! August 1, 2017 — Entered into a marketing agreement with one of the largest worldwide online shopping sites with access to over 50 million customers. Berman reported via phone call – selling 20-40 units per day. $2,000,000 annual June 26 2017 – Signed a deal with a leading Auto Dealer group in South America representing Nissan, Toyota, GM, Ford, Land Rover, Kia and Hyundai. $300,000 annual April 19, 2017 — Received a $100K order for Drive Safe App from 1 of the leading Asian auto manufacturers with HQ’s based in Korea and Japan. $100,000 January 24, 2017 — Secured 8 new Auto Dealer Vendors in Florida State for Drive Safe App. $672,000 annual December 23, 2016 — Drive Safe App installed on a large Taxi fleet in the North-East USA, first 250 vehicles during the 2nd week of January 2017 increasing until full installation has been completed in the company’s 1500 vehicle Taxi fleet. $300,000 December 19, 2016 — Launch of their proprietary Drive Safe App with a large Food & Beverage distributor. $50,000 Anyone who thinks the CEO would risk jail by lying about the above needs to invest elsewhere. At the end of the day, you either believe or not. But think long and hard about WHO you believe. Our CEO and his past and present accomplishments, or the nameless posters who laugh in all-caps with no DD to back up their outrageous claims? The single-most issue here, what has hurt our PPS, is the delay in the name change. We were promised this months ago and it has not happened. Why? Well, I’ve been through this before. FINRA requires a lot i-dotting and t-crossing, each and every event needing lawyerly eyes. Much more than our CEO ever expected. He wants this as much as we do. IT WILL COME! Every day we are closer to this happening. And when it does…look out. Add in the audited fins (also a major crunch involving countless lawyer meetings), and ONCI will leave sub-penny land forever. I love watching small companies grow into big companies. It’s happening here, right before our eyes. About CEO Steve Berman Steve is a New York native with over 30 years of sales success and executive leadership experience. Steve is a successful entrepreneur, having founded several companies and serving in the CEO role. In his various roles managing and building various businesses, Steve has been instrumental in securing capital financings for several public and private companies, including start-ups and pre-revenue businesses. Most recently, Steve co-founded 3DMC, a premier digital multimedia company; and also served as CEO of Stealth Sports and Marketing, a consulting firm specializing in marketing and multimedia solutions to professional sports teams. Prior to working with 3DMC and Stealth, Steve held the positions of Senior Vice President at YES Network (www.YesNetwork.com), the number one regional sports network in the country. Throughout his career, Steve developed key relationships in the top 10 markets and was responsible for developing the advertising platform for YES, which was directly linked with significant sales increases for YES Network. Before his tenure at YES Network, Steve served as Senior Vice President of Time Warner Cable NY, where he successfully grew the company’s advertising sales from $11m to well over $100m and increased national sales by 200%. During his time at Time Warner NY, the company became the number one billing cable market in the US. http://dlvr.it/QD0gtc

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brendanstancliff-blog · 7 years

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Unturned Cheat Codes

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k2kid · 7 years

Text

CONFIDENTIAL WAR DIARY -OF-

18th CANADIAN BATTALION – 2nd CANADIAN DIVISION

From 1st June to 31th June 1917 Volume 22

With appendicies 1-3

Place Date Hour Summary of Events and Information 1 Map reference WILLERVAL 1/20,000

Battalion in Brigade Support with H.Qrs at T.27.d.3.5.

During the night Battalion was relieved by 15th Canadian Battalion and the whole of the 4th Brigade moved back to RIDGE Line with H.Qrs at ZIVY CAVE.

2 12 noon. Battalion relieved by the 7th Canadian Battalion and moved back into Reserve camp near NEUVILLE-ST-VAST. Lieut. H.N. Bawden admitted to hospital (sick). 3 10. a.m. 4th Canadian Infantry Brigade relieved the 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade. 18th Battalion marched back to billets in BARLIN[i]. 6 o.rs rejoined from hospital. 2 instructors from Canadian Corps Gymnastic Staff attached to Battalion for instructional purposes. BARLIN 4 Battalion resting and settling down in billets. “ 5 Battalion Pay and Bath parades. 9 o.rs returned from hospital. “ 6 Clothing parades and completion of Bath parades. Lieut. C.H. Biscoe and 42 o.rs arrived as reinforcements, many of them old men rejoining.[ii] “ 7 Inspection of Companies by Company Commanders. Syllabus of training to be carried out (attached). 7 o.rs arrived as reinforcements. “ 8[iii] Morning

Afternoon

Company parades and training. Specialists training under qualified instructors.

Recreational training and sports. 2 o.rs admitted to hospital.

“ 9 Morning

Afternoon

Physical training under special instructors.

Recreational training.

“ 10 9. a.m. Church parade. Remainder to day spent in recreation. 3 o.rs admitted to hospital. “ 11 Morning Training according to syllabus. Afternoon, recreational training. Lieut. L.A. Bissell and 18 o.rs arrived as reinforcements. “ 12 Morning “C” Company on specialist training under specialists Officers. “A. B. & D” coys training according to syllabus. Lieut. H.N. Bawden and 15 o.rs returned from hospital.

A Horse show was held by Brigade at which we gained 1 second and 2 third prizes.

“ 13 Morning “B” Company at ranges on Musketry instruction. Special training by R.S.M. Price[iv] of N.C.Os. 52 o.rs arrived as reinforcements. 3 o.rs returned from hospital. “ 14 Battalion training to according to syllabus. 3 o.rs accidentally wounded. “ 15[v] Battalion sports held at RUITZ. Races, Tug of War, Football and Wrestling during the day and a concert in the evening by the Battalion Band. “ 16 Morning Training according to syllabus. 48 o.rs arrived as reinforcements. 5 o.rs returned from hospital. “ 17 9.a.m. Church parade. “C” Company on Musketry at ranges. Afternoon being spent in recreational exercise. Battalion Football team played and beat the 4th M.G. coy in competion [sic] for the Divisional Championship. “ 18 9.15.a.m. Battalion parade to Brigade sports. Battalion Football team making a draw with 20th Battalion for Brigade Championship. Prizes were presented at the close by Brig-General R. Rennie, C.M.G., V.O., D.S.O. “ 19 Morning “A” and “D” companies on special training under Physical instructors. “B” and “C” on usual syllabus training. “ 20 “ Syllabus training. 11.15.a.m. Battalion parade. 21 “ “D” Company on Musketry at Ranges. “C” Company on Specialist training, remainder of Battalion carrying on with usual syllabus of training. 5 o.rs admitted to hospital. 22 Training according to syllabus. Lt.-Col. L.E. Jones proceeded on leave. Major J.A. McIntosh assumed command of the Battalion. 23 Company bath parades in morning. Voluntary parade to Divisional sports in the afternoon, Lieut. W.S. Caldwell[vi], J.G. Doherty, J.D. Parsons arrived as reinforcements. 24 9.a.m. Church parade. 3 o.rs returned from hospital. Lieut. J. M. Fisher returned from leave. 25 Parade of all casuals for Musketry training at ranges. Company training as per syllabus. 1 o.r. admitted to hospital (injured). 26 Company inspections. Platoon training in attack. Physical training and Bayonet fighting. Major W.J. Gander and 4 o.rs admitted to hospital (sick). 27 Commanding Officer’s inspection of Companies and Units. 3 o.rs returned from hospital. Capt. J.S. Bell rejoined the Battalion from Divisional school. 28 11.a.m. Battalion inspected by G.O.C. 2nd Canadian Division. Battalion paraded in full marching order at 10 a.m. and was highly complimented on their smart appearance. 29 Platoon training in attack and Bayonet fighting. Lieuts. H.L. Mitchell and H.B. Johnson arrived as reinforcements. 30 Company inspections. Close order and Arm drill. Battalion parade at 11.00 a.m. 2 o.rs admitted to hospital.

53730 L/Sgt. Sifton E.W. (Killed in Action 9.4.17) Awarded VICTORIA CROSS. “For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty. During the attack in enemy trenches Sjt. Sifton’s company was held up by machine gun fire which inflicted many casualties. Having located the gun he charged it single-handed, killing all the crew. A small enemy party advanced down the trench, but he succeeded in keeping these off till our men had gained the position. He was killed just as he returned with the second man.In carrying out this gallant act he was killed, but his conspicuous valour undoubtedly saved many lives and contributed largely to the success of the operation.”

Appendix 1

18TH (WESTERON ONTARIO) CANADIAN BATTALION. SYLLABUS OF TRAINING. MUSKETRY COURSE

Instruction on Aiming and Trigger Pressing 2 hours.

Instruction in indication and recognition of Targets 2 hours

On the Range 8 hours.

(Practice in 1 and 2 to be carried on my units not actually firing.)

Lieutenant Actg/Adjt. 18th (Western Ontario) Canadian Battalion

5.6.17.

18TH (WESTERON ONTARIO) CANADIAN BATTALION. SYLLABUS OF TRAINING – 3 WEEKS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Tuesday 5.6.17

1ST WEEK

Organization – Drill and Discipline 4 days

Musketry – 1 day

Brigade Route March 1 day

Each Day – Mornings

Gas helmet drill, saluting etc. 1 hour

Physical Training and Bayonet Fighting 1 hour

Squad and Platoon Drill 1 hour

Arm drill ½ hour

At disposal of Platoon Commanders ½ hour

Afternoons

Training of Specialists – 2 hours per day.

2ND WEEK

Platoon Training 4 days.

Musketry – 1 day

Brigade Route March 1 day

For the week – Mornings

Close order drill 2 hours

Physical Training and Games 2 hours

Extended order Drill 4 hour

The value of the different weapons and their independence. 1 hour

Formation of Platoon for Attack 1 hour

The Platoon in the Attack – open warfare 4 hours

The Platoon in Trench Attack 2 Hours

Afternoons

Training of Specialists – 2 hours per day.

3RD WEEK

Company Training 4 days.

Musketry – 1 day

Brigade Route March 1 day

For the week – Mornings

Close order drill 2 hours

Physical Training and Games 2 hours

The Attack by stages as a Drill 6 hours

1st Stage – Artillery Formation.

2nd Stage – Extension into lines.

3rd Stage – Building up a Firing Line.

4th Stage – The Assualt.

5th Stage Consolidation and Protection.

Tactical exercise on new ground involving the above 3 hours

The Trench Attack 3 hours

Afternoons

Training of Specialists – 2 hours per day.

Appendix 2

18TH (WESTERON ONTARIO) CANADIAN BATTALION.

The Battalion Sports will be held on Friday June 15th at the Y.M.C.A. Grounds RUITZ, at 3.00 p.m.

The following events will be staged:

100 yards race 220 yards race 440 yards race (obstacle) 1 Mile Race. Boat Race. 100 Yards Band Race. 3 Legged Race. Sack Race. Long Jump (Standing) High Jump Horse-back Wrestling. Mule Race. Tug-of-War (8 men per team) Blind-fold Respirator Race.

Entries for the 100 yards, 220 yards and Long Jump are limited to 4 per Company.

Entries for various events to be handed in to Battalion Orderly Room by 12.00 noon June 14th.

Battalion Football Championship will be decided, followed by a Concert.

Officers are earnestly request to make inquiries among their Companies for singers and entertainers for this Concert.

Special Feature

Tug-of-War between “Q.M. Details” (Captained by Bandmaster G.W. Thomas[vii]) and “Transport Section” (Captained by Sgt. H. Green) will be decided as the result of challenge by the letter.

PROGRAMME OF 4TH CANADIAN INFANTRY BRIGADE SPORTS CHATEAU GROUNDS COUPIGNY

TIME EVENT REMARKS 1 10.00 a.m. OUTDOOR BASEBALL FINAL 2 11:30 a.m. FOOTBALL FINAL 3 11:30 a.m. OFFICERS INDOOR BASEBALL FINAL AFTERNOON 4 02:00:00 100 YARD DASH (OFFICERS) 5 02:15:00 100 YARD DASH (OTHER RANKS) 6 02:30:00 220 YARD DASH (OTHER RANKS) 7 02:40:00 1 MILE RELAY (OTHER RANKS) 8 02:50:00 OFFICERS RELAY RACE (440 YARDS) 9 03:00:00 HIGH JUMP – FINALS (OPEN) 10 03:00:00 RUNNING ROAD JUMP (OPEN) 11 03:15:00 TUG OF WAR 12 03:30:00 OBSTACLE RACE (OPEN) 13 03:30:00 SACK RACE 14 03:30:00 THREE LEGGED RACE 15 03:45:00 BAND RACE 16 04:00:00 BOAT RACE 17 04:00:00 BLINDFOLD RACE 18 04:15:00 MULE RACE 19 04:30:00 HORSEBACK WRESTLING 20 04:45:00 BOXING – WEIGHT 12O Pounds BOXING – WEIGHT 135 Pounds BOXING – WEIGHT 145 Pounds BOXING – WEIGHT 160 Pounds and over 05:45:00 OFFICERS MOUNTS JUMPING 06:00:00 PRESENTATION of PRIZES by BRIG-GENERAL R. RENNIE C.M.G., M.V.O., D.S.O.

OFFICIALS HON. MARSHALL OF THE FIELD BRIG-GENERAL R. RENNIE C.M.G., M.V.O., D.S.O. HON. JUDGES Lieut.-Col. L.H. MILLEN HON JUDGES Lieut.-Col. H.V. RORKE D.S.O. HON JUDGES Lieut.-Col. L.E. JONES HON JUDGES Lieut.-Col. T.F. ELMITT JUDGES Major D.E. MACINTYRE, D.S.O., M.C. JUDGES Major H.E. HATCH JUDGES Major G.H. MUSGROVE JUDGES Major W. FORBES-MITCHELL, D.S.O. CLERK OF COURSE Major H.D. FEARMAN, D.S.O. STARTER Captain H.C. PATTERSON, Y.M.C.A. ASST. STARTER Captain MOORE, Y.M.C.A.[viii] TIMER (TRACK EVENTS) Captain R.N. JAGO SCORERS (FIELD EVENTS) Captain E.V. BENJAMIN, M.C. Lieut. A.P. CHRISTMAS SCORER (BOXING) Major C.E. SINCLAIR, M.C. ANNOUNCERS R.S.M. T.F. JORDAN, M.C., 21st Bn. R.S.M. J. COLLETT, 20th Bn.

[i] Barlin is a commune west of Lens approximately 15 kilometers.

[ii] The reference to “old men rejoining” is unclear but is probably alluding to men of the original draft of the Battalion who joined between October 1914 and March 1915 are returning to the Battalion after being wounded or ill and upon completion of their rest and refitting in England and in France.

[iii] On June 8, 1917 a SPECIAL ORDER was forwarded to all units. This order was a letter to the members of the Canadian Corps by Lieutenant-General Julian Byng saying “Goodbye” to the Corps.

[iv] The identity of this soldier has not been confirmed. Possibly Price, George: Service no. 928158.

[v] See Appendix 2.

[vi] Lt. Caldwell was one of the 18th Battalion “originals” and rose from the ranks. See his digitized service record for more information.

[vii] Soldier not identified at this time.

[viii] Soldier unknown at time of post.

War Diary of the 18th Battalion: June 1917 CONFIDENTIAL WAR DIARY -OF- 18th CANADIAN BATTALION – 2nd CANADIAN DIVISION From 1st June to 31th June 1917…

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brookstonalmanac · 4 years

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Events 5.15

495 BC – A newly constructed temple in honour of the god Mercury was dedicated in ancient Rome on the Circus Maximus, between the Aventine and Palatine hills. To spite the senate and the consuls, the people awarded the dedication to a senior military officer, Marcus Laetorius. 221 – Liu Bei, Chinese warlord, proclaims himself emperor of Shu Han, the successor of the Han dynasty. 392 – Emperor Valentinian II is assassinated while advancing into Gaul against the Frankish usurper Arbogast. He is found hanging in his residence at Vienne. 589 – King Authari marries Theodelinda, daughter of the Bavarian duke Garibald I. A Catholic, she has great influence among the Lombard nobility. 908 – The three-year-old Constantine VII, the son of Emperor Leo VI the Wise, is crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire by Patriarch Euthymius I at Constantinople. 1252 – Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull ad extirpanda, which authorizes, but also limits, the torture of heretics in the Medieval Inquisition. 1525 – Insurgent peasants led by Anabaptist pastor Thomas Müntzer were defeated at the Battle of Frankenhausen, ending the German Peasants' War in the Holy Roman Empire. 1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, stands trial in London on charges of treason, adultery and incest; she is condemned to death by a specially-selected jury. 1567 – Mary, Queen of Scots marries James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, her third husband. 1618 – Johannes Kepler confirms his previously rejected discovery of the third law of planetary motion (he first discovered it on March 8 but soon rejected the idea after some initial calculations were made). 1648 – The Peace of Münster is ratified, by which Spain acknowledges Dutch sovereignty. 1718 – James Puckle, a London lawyer, patents the world's first machine gun. 1776 – American Revolution: The Fifth Virginia Convention instructs its Continental Congress delegation to propose a resolution of independence from Great Britain, paving the way for the United States Declaration of Independence. 1791 – French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre proposes the Self-denying Ordinance. 1792 – War of the First Coalition: France declares war on Kingdom of Sardinia. 1793 – Diego Marín Aguilera flies a glider for "about 360 meters", at a height of 5–6 meters, during one of the first attempted manned flights. 1796 – War of the First Coalition: Napoleon enters Milan in triumph. 1800 – King George III of the United Kingdom survives an assassination attempt by James Hadfield, who is later acquitted by reason of insanity. 1817 – Opening of the first private mental health hospital in the United States, the Asylum for the Relief of Persons Deprived of the Use of Their Reason (now Friends Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). 1836 – Francis Baily observes "Baily's beads" during an annular eclipse. 1849 – The Sicilian revolution of 1848 is finally extinguished. 1850 – The Bloody Island massacre takes place in Lake County, California, in which a large number of Pomo Indians are slaughtered by a regiment of the United States Cavalry. 1850 – The Arana–Southern Treaty is ratified, ending "the existing differences" between Great Britain and Argentina. 1851 – The first Australian gold rush is proclaimed, although the discovery had been made three months earlier. 1858 – Opening of the present Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London. 1862 – President Abraham Lincoln signs a bill into law creating the United States Bureau of Agriculture. It is later renamed the United States Department of Agriculture. 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of New Market, Virginia: Students from the Virginia Military Institute fight alongside the Confederate army to force Union General Franz Sigel out of the Shenandoah Valley. 1867 – Canadian Bank of Commerce opens for business in Toronto, Ontario. The bank would later merge with Imperial Bank of Canada to become what is CIBC in 1961. 1869 – Women's suffrage: In New York, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman Suffrage Association. 1891 – Pope Leo XIII defends workers' rights and property rights in the encyclical Rerum novarum, the beginning of modern Catholic social teaching. 1904 – Russo-Japanese War: The Russian minelayer Amur lays a minefield about 15 miles off Port Arthur and sinks Japan's battleships Hatsuse, 15,000 tons, with 496 crew and Yashima. 1905 – Las Vegas is founded when 110 acres (0.45 km2), in what later would become downtown, are auctioned off. 1911 – In Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States, the United States Supreme Court declares Standard Oil to be an "unreasonable" monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act and orders the company to be broken up. 1911 – More than 300 Chinese immigrants are killed in the Torreón massacre when the forces of the Mexican Revolution led by Emilio Madero take the city of Torreón from the Federales. 1919 – The Winnipeg general strike begins. By 11:00, almost the whole working population of Winnipeg had walked off the job. 1919 – Greek occupation of Smyrna. During the occupation, the Greek army kills or wounds 350 Turks; those responsible are punished by Greek commander Aristides Stergiades. 1925 – Al-Insaniyyah, the first Arabic communist newspaper, is founded. 1928 – Walt Disney character Mickey Mouse premieres in his first cartoon, "Plane Crazy". 1929 – A fire at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio kills 123. 1932 – In an attempted coup d'état, the Prime Minister of Japan Inukai Tsuyoshi is assassinated. 1933 – All military aviation organizations within or under the control of the RLM of Germany were officially merged in a covert manner to form its Wehrmacht military's air arm, the Luftwaffe. 1934 – Kārlis Ulmanis establishes an authoritarian government in Latvia. 1940 – USS Sailfish is recommissioned. It was originally the USS Squalus. 1940 – World War II: After fierce fighting, the poorly trained and equipped Dutch troops surrender to Germany, marking the beginning of five years of occupation. 1940 – Richard and Maurice McDonald open the first McDonald's restaurant. 1941 – First flight of the Gloster E.28/39 the first British and Allied jet aircraft. 1941 – Joe DiMaggio begins a 56-game hitting streak. 1942 – World War II: In the United States, a bill creating the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) is signed into law. 1943 – Joseph Stalin dissolves the Comintern (or Third International). 1945 – World War II: The Battle of Poljana, the final skirmish in Europe is fought near Prevalje, Slovenia. 1948 – Following the expiration of The British Mandate for Palestine, the Kingdom of Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia invade Israel thus starting the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. 1957 – At Malden Island in the Pacific Ocean, Britain tests its first hydrogen bomb in Operation Grapple. 1958 – The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 3. 1960 – The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 4. 1963 – Project Mercury: The launch of the final Mercury mission, Mercury-Atlas 9 with astronaut Gordon Cooper on board. He becomes the first American to spend more than a day in space, and the last American to go into space alone. 1966 – After a policy dispute, Prime Minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ of South Vietnam's ruling junta launches a military attack on the forces of General Tôn Thất Đính, forcing him to abandon his command. 1969 – People's Park: California Governor Ronald Reagan has an impromptu student park owned by the University of California at Berkeley fenced off from student anti-war protestors, sparking a riot. 1970 – President Richard Nixon appoints Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington the first female United States Army generals. 1970 – Philip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green are killed at Jackson State University by police during student protests. 1972 – The Ryukyu Islands, under U.S. military governance since its conquest in 1945, reverts to Japanese control. 1972 – In Laurel, Maryland, Arthur Bremer shoots and paralyzes Alabama Governor George Wallace while he is campaigning to become president. 1974 – Ma'alot massacre: Members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine attack and take hostages at an Israeli school; a total of 31 people are killed, including 22 schoolchildren. 1976 – Aeroflot Flight 1802 crashes in Viktorovka, Chernihiv Raion, killing all 52 people on board. 1987 – The Soviet Union launches the Polyus prototype orbital weapons platform. It fails to reach orbit. 1988 – Soviet–Afghan War: After more than eight years of fighting, the Soviet Army begins to withdraw 115,000 troops from Afghanistan. 1991 – Édith Cresson becomes France's first female Prime Minister. 1997 – The United States government acknowledges the existence of the "Secret War" in Laos and dedicates the Laos Memorial in honor of Hmong and other "Secret War" veterans. 1997 – The Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on STS-84 to dock with the Russian space station Mir. 2004 – Arsenal F.C. go an entire league campaign unbeaten in the English Premier League, joining Preston North End F.C with the right to claim the title "The Invincibles". 2008 – California becomes the second U.S. state after Massachusetts in 2004 to legalize same-sex marriage after the state's own Supreme Court rules a previous ban unconstitutional. 2010 – Jessica Watson becomes the youngest person to sail, non-stop and unassisted around the world solo. 2013 – An upsurge in violence in Iraq leaves more than 389 people dead over three days.

#Events

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esprit-de-corps-magazine · 7 years

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GERALD BIRKS: ACE KILLER OVER ITALY :PART 1 From Jeweller's Son And Trench Warfare To Fighter Pilot

(Volume 24-6)

By Jon Guttman

Although Britain only committed three squadrons of Sopwith Camels to Italy during World War I, they produced a lot of aces, a disproportionate number of whom were Canadian — starting with William George Barker, whose tally of 43 aerial victories was the highest of any nation’s over that front, and who would subsequently receive the Victoria Cross for engaging 60 German aircraft, of which he was credited with shooting down four, on October 28, 1918. Among the many other Canadians who flew with Barker with their own share of distinction was Gerald Birks, whose 12 credited successes included two enemy aces.

Gerald Alfred Birks was born on October 30, 1894 in Montreal, Quebec. The son of William Birks, owner of the jewellers store Henry Birks and Sons, Gerald was educated at Montreal High School (Junior Section), later attending Lower Canada College, also in Montreal. During part of 1914–15, Gerald was a part-time student at McGill University’s Department of Agriculture, during which, in an intercollegiate ski meet held at Dartmouth, he won two second prizes in cross country and jumping, and took third place in the slalom.

On August 31, 1915 Birks enlisted in the 73rd Battalion of the Black Watch, Royal Highlanders of Canada, and took the Infantry Officer’s Training Course at the Citadel in Halifax, Nova Scotia. During the winter of 1915 and 1916, he trained with the 73rd Battalion in Montreal and at Camp Valcartier, near Quebec City. When the battalion went overseas, however, Birks was left behind because, at 21, he was considered underage. That age standard would soon be revised, but in the meantime Birks used the influence of his uncle, who was the head of the Young Men’s Christian Association in Canada, to expedite matters.

“I proceeded overseas on my own,” Birks said, and found employment driving concert parties and entertainers to Canadian military camps in the Folkstone area for the YMCA. “While in Folkstone,” he said, “I received a telegram from the adjutant of the 73rd Battalion, saying that the colonel wanted me to rejoin the battalion, which I did. Our training continued at Camp Bramshot.”

In July 1916 Birks’ battalion departed Folkstone for Flanders. “We had our first casualties while leaving Ypres at night,” he said. “We were in Belgium and northern France for some time before moving south to the Somme.”

Begun on July 1, 1916 with a mammoth artillery barrage, the Battle of the Somme had been intended as the great breakthrough on the Western Front, but became just another meat grinder for the hapless soldiers who walked across no man’s land to assault the well-entrenched Germans. As his unit was committed to the faltering offensive, Birks said: “I was wounded by two pieces of lead from a German dum-dum bullet which shattered the left wrist of my company commander. When I got to him, he was holding his left hand in his right hand. It looked as if his left hand would drop off if he let go. He was losing blood at a frightful rate. With a knife which I had just received as a Christmas present from my family in Montreal — and which I still have in my trouser pocket — I cut his trench coat, tunic, coatsweater, shirt and underwear until I was able to get my thumb on the artery at his left elbow. I was able to almost stop the bleeding. Because we had been first over the top, the last man in the company caught up with us. I shouted to him to have the stretcher-bearers come back, as the captain had been hit. As they started to climb out of the trench, I could see the blood starting to flow again. Against my will, my thumb was letting go, so I knew that I myself had been hit.”

Birks would spend a month in London hospital recovering from his wound. “When I was about to be discharged from the hospital I applied for sick leave to Canada,” he said. “I thought that there was no chance of my application being granted. But it was granted and I sailed for Halifax and took the train to Montreal.”

While convalescing at home, Birks decided to pursue a new endeavour. “When in France,” he said, “I had talked about transferring to the Flying Corps. Our medical officer said, ‘Gerald, there is no use of you applying for transfer. Your medical card, which I have, shows that you have astigmatism and the Royal Flying Corps will not have you.’”

When Birks returned to Montreal, however, the British military was clamouring for Canadian pilots, so he applied. The recruiter warned him, “You will have to give up your commission in the Canadian infantry to join up as a cadet,” a grade equivalent to a second-class mechanic. “That is all right with me,” Birks replied. “If I cannot earn a commission in the Flying Corps, I do not deserve one.”

Before he could start over again, however, Birks faced a major obstacle. “I had to pass a physical examination,” he said. “The doctor examined me thoroughly and then sent me into the next room to have my eyes tested, which was being done by a corporal. He had me cover one eye and read the test card in which I rated 20 — perfect vision. I covered the other eye and read the card again. Again I scored 20. So both eyes were perfect and I passed, as he did not notice the astigmatism.”

Upon acceptance, Birks reported to the RFC headquarters in Toronto. “I was billeted in a building which still stands on College Street,” he said. “I was made to drill the youngsters in elementary infantry drill. They gave me one stripe — a lance corporal. Then they gave me two stripes — a full corporal. Then they wanted to make me sergeant, but I refused. I felt that a sergeant must cooperate with the officer so much that he ceased to be ‘one of the boys.’”

Birks remembers that, “After ground school I was sent to Camp Mohawk near Deseronto. There I had a total of two hours and 20 minutes before going solo. The two hours included my first flight, when the instructor said: ‘Do not touch the controls. I will show you your flying field, the Bay of Quinty, the town of Deseronto, the railway tracks and a few of the features to the west.’ When I had a total of 35 hours, I was made a flying instructor and sent to Camp Borden, where I instructed all summer. I was posted for overseas on November 16, 1917.”

In England Birks flew Avro 504Ks with “A” Flight, 4th Training Depot Squadron at Hooton Hall. He then moved up to Sopwith Pups and Camels with No. 54 Training Squadron at Castle Bromwich, near Birmingham. “There,” Birks recalled, “the English instructor said to us: ‘You damned Canadians put your machines into a gentle glide and think that you are diving. There are two pieces of canvas laid out in the next field. They represent an enemy machine for you to dive at; now get well over it before you start your dive.’”

And so he did. “When I looked over the target through my sight, I was not diving quite steeply enough. I moved my joystick forward very slightly, but it was enough to make my machine suddenly turn upside down. I was hanging in my belt and the seat cushion was out behind my knees. When I tried to half loop, the elevator slowed up my forward speed and I started to spin on my back, I put my controls into neutral and stopped the spinning.”

Not giving up, Birks attacked the target a second time. “When I tried again, I started to spin in the opposite direction. Then I thought, ‘If I cannot half loop, I will try a half roll.’ By that time the trees below me were coming up very fast. The half roll worked. I was not very far from the tops of the trees. I flew around the airfield several times before landing. I had been with 66 Squadron at the front quite a while before I heard that you can often pull out of trouble by using your engine.”

By the time he was sent to an operational assignment, Birks had the good fortune to have amassed 138 flying hours, including 10 hours 30 minutes on the tricky Sopwith Camel — nearly twice the amount accumulated by most Camel pilots before they were sent to the front.

On March 10, 1918, 2nd Lt. Birks joined No. 66 Squadron which, with Nos. 28 and 45, had been sent to northern Italy following the catastrophic rout of the Italian army at Caporetto on October 26, 1917. “Our field was located in San Pietro in Gu,” Birks said, “east of Vicenza, west of Citadella, between the Brenta and Astico rivers.” The commander was Major J. Tudor Whittaker, who Birks described as “an efficient squadron commander. He had few rules and they were sensible ones. And he was a good sport.”

Birks was assigned to “C” Flight, led by New Zealander Captain John Maxwell Warnock. Other flight members with whom Birks would do much flying in the next few months were 19-year-old Lieutenant William Carroll Hilborn from Alexandria, British Columbia, and 2nd Lt. Gordon Frank Mason Apps from Kent, England.

Birks flew five different Camels in his first weeks with No. 66 Squadron, but the one that would eventually be his “personal” plane was B6424, bearing the fuselage letter “P,” which he described as “a true Sopwith (built by the Sopwith Company),” as opposed to one of numerous Camels produced by subcontractors, and had been with the squadron since October 15, 1917. “It had a 130-hp Clerget engine,” said Birks. “It was not new when allotted to me, but it was a very sweet machine to fly.”

On March 18, 1918, Birks and Warnock reported encountering a “Rumpler” over Pravisdomini aerodrome and both attacked. One of Warnock’s guns jammed, but he pursued the descending enemy for 500 feet until he used up all his ammunition in the other weapon, claiming to have seen the observer slumped in the rear cockpit. Birks kept after it to 100 feet, at which point he saw it crash near the aerodrome, to be confirmed as his first victory. In actuality, his quarry was an Austro-Hungarian-built Hansa-Brandenburg C.I, serial number 161.69, of Fliegerkompagnie (Flik) 43/D, whose pilot was wounded. Upon learning those particulars, Birks wrote back: “One thing that strikes me at this time is how very poor our identification of enemy aircraft was. We had very small drawings of the various types of our opposition. My log book states that my first victim was a Rumpler two-seater and my second an Aviatik two-seater. Your list, which I assume is correct since it is based on Austrian records, states that they were both Brandenburg C.Is.”

Birks remembers his first kill. “My first enemy machine, though a two-seater, had only the pilot in it. I did not intend to kill or wound him after he was on the ground, but the bullets from my machine were not going where my sights were pointed. I tried to destroy his machine. But he was hit although a short distance from his craft. After that first patrol, I had my machine put on the target range very frequently.”

Birks’ second victory came southeast of Conegliano on March 24, and was over Brandenburg C.I 69.81, both of whose crew members, Sulski and Poelzi of Flik 50/D, were killed. Again, Birks had been at the controls of B6424, and on March 29 that was officially designated as his regular Camel.

On April 10 Nos. 66 and 28 Squadrons had an exchange of flight leaders, with Warnock transferring to take over “C” Flight at No. 28 while its “C” Flight leader took over No. 66’s “C” Flight. Birks’ new flight leader was Captain William G. Barker. For Birks, this change marked a turning point. Under Barker’s contagiously aggressive leadership, his combat career was about to transition from honourable to downright deadly.

Next month: Birks’ reputation is further cemented under the leadership of Canadian ace and VC recipient Billy Barker.

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THE BATTLE OF VIMY RIDGE: Part 3: Canadian Corps Succeeds Where Others Had Failed

(Volume 24-05)

By Bob Gordon

On the first day of the Canadian Corps’ assault on Vimy Ridge, the three divisions on the right and centre all met with success, gaining their objectives in a timely manner. Moreover, by the standards of the Western Front, they did so with limited casualties. Only the 4th Division on the left flank failed to keep to the timetable.

Of all the divisions, the 4th had the narrowest no man’s land to cross and the closest objective lines to reach. Despite these superficial advantages, they confronted the most difficult assignments tasked to the Canadian Corps on Easter Monday.

Unlike the 1st Division in the south, which advanced four kilometres up a gentle rise, the 4th Division faced a steep climb to the summits of The Pimple and Hill 145, the two highest points on the ridge. Hill 145 was on the right of the divisional front, its capture assigned to the 11th Brigade. The Pimple, 1,500 metres north, dominated the division’s left flank. Accurately the official history notes:

Hill 145, the 4th Division’s principal objective, was the highest and most important feature of the whole of Vimy Ridge. As long as it remained in German hands, enemy watchers could observe all movement in the valley of the Souchez … and its southern offshoot, Zouave Valley, which ran behind the 4th Division’s front. Once taken, however, Hill 145 would afford its captors a commanding view of the German rearward defences in the Douai plain and on the Ridge itself. It was thus a valuable prize.

Cognizant of the importance of these two dominant points, the Germans had spent over two years reinforcing their defences. On Hill 145 the German First Line consisted of two trenches on the forward slope. Two more lines of trenches encircled the summit. Additionally, the defenders were protected by both peacetime mine workings and dugouts (Hangstellung) buried deep in the reverse slope.

According to the official history, The Pimple’s “surface was a maze of trenches, and below ground German engineers had constructed deep dug-outs and tunnels protected in every way that their ingenuity could devise.” The 4th was tasked with capturing the highest, most heavily defended points on Vimy Ridge.

The 11th Brigade’s assault companies that had left the trenches to attack Hill 145 were immediately decimated and the attack dissolved. Withering enfilade fire from The Pimple scythed through the ranks. By the end of the day, the 87th and the 102nd Battalions had both suffered over 300 casualties.

On the left, the 12th Brigade’s assault was also immediately disrupted and momentum was lost. Attacking across lower ground between The Pimple and Hill 145, the leading platoons found themselves wading through mud. Unbelievably, considering the intensity of the bombardment, they confronted a 90-metre section of trenches, machine guns and emplacements that had passed through the inferno unscathed. Finally, as long as Hill 145 held out they endured enfilade fire from machine guns dug in on the Ridge’s northern slopes.

Desperate for a success, divisional CO Brigadier-General Victor Odlum threw the 85th (North Nova Scotia Highlanders) Battalion against Hill 145 in the early afternoon. It was their first experience of combat and, remarkably, they cleared the summit. Finally, after 1500 hours, divisional HQ could report Hill 145 clear of Germans. In contrast, 20 minutes earlier, General Sir Julian Byng had telephoned the British First Army pointing out the possibility of using a cavalry regiment to exploit the success of his two right-hand divisions.

Along the Canadian lines, day two of the attack consisted of mopping up and consolidation with the 4th being a painful exception. With Hill 145 subdued, the division was expected to turn its attention to securing The Pimple. After the disasters of day one, the assault on The Pimple had to be delayed. The 10th Battalion had been scheduled to put the attack in. Bloodied when it was dragged into the desperate fight for Hill 145, it was no longer available.

On April 12, the fourth day of the attack, the 4th Division finally captured The Pimple and nearby ruins of Givenchy. At terrible cost, days behind schedule, the 4th Division’s battle for Vimy Ridge ended. The exceptional nature of the 4th Division’s struggles demands closer examination.

In The Official History of the Canadian Army in the First World War, historian Colonel G.W.L. Nicholson places the blame for the 11th Brigade’s failure on the shoulders of the CO of the 87th Battalion, Major H. LeRoy Shaw: “A portion of German trench had been left undestroyed by the heavy artillery at the request of the commanding officer of the left assaulting battalion (the 87th), who hoped to put it to good use when captured. From this position machine-gun fire cut down half the 87th’s leading wave and pinned the right of the supporting 75th Battalion to their assembly trenches.” Nicholson cites the “4th Div. Report on Operations, Appx. “B” to W.D., April 1917” in support of this interpretation.

While the cited document clearly blames an undamaged stretch of trench, it does not identify that as an intentional omission, but rather an error. “The portion involved was about 100 yards in length, and the trench and wire had not been properly destroyed. Either the barrage did not cover this point, or the men did not follow it closely enough.” Simply put, the document that Nicholson refers to does not support his contention that the blame rests with Major Shaw.

The question is further complicated by the research findings of Andrew Godefroy. In his contribution to Vimy Ridge: A Canadian Reassessment, he refers to a document found in the personal papers of 11th Brigade CO, Brigadier-General Victor Odlum. Marginalia in Odlum’s hand states: “Requests were made for the heavy artillery to destroy this position on the 8th but in compliance with Brig. General Odlum who hoped to make it his headquarters during the advance, the bombardment was not carried out.” Subsequently, Godefroy asserts, “It appears that Odlum assumed responsibility for the decision not to bombard the German trenches.”

The document Nicholson quotes in blaming Major Shaw actually clearly places responsibility for the division’s hard going elsewhere. “It was finally decided by superior authority that the PIMPLE operation should take place at a date subsequent to that against Hill 145 … It would have been preferable to put in an attack against the PIMPLE at the same time as the other.” The 4th Division’s interpretation held that the plan imposed by “superior authority” was inherently flawed. It places the responsibility further up the chain of command, not down on the brigades and battalions.

Other historians have placed the blame a month before the assault on Hill 145 even occurred. In early March the 4th Division undertook one of the largest trench raids of the war and the only raid to employ gas. It was also uniquely unsuccessful. The gas discharge was deadly — to the raiders. The gas refused to flow up the ridge; instead, much of it moved laterally and wreaked havoc among the erstwhile raiders. It settled in shell holes in no man’s land and poisoned raiders, wounded or seeking shelter from the German counter-barrage, when they sought protection in them. The raid resulted in heavy casualties with no appreciable benefits. This apparently plausible explanation does not hold up under detailed scrutiny. [For the most part,] the battalions that suffered the worst during the gas raid were not engaged in the initial assault on Vimy Ridge. They were not principle actors in the debacle that Easter Monday became for the 4th Division.

Interestingly, Major Michael Boire finds the roots of the 4th Division’s failure underground. The original plan of attack called for the detonation of a large offensive mine underneath the defences of The Pimple at zero hour. Its purpose was twofold. With The Pimple scheduled for assault on the second day of the attack, the mine was intended to destroy its defences and kill its defenders. [Immediately,] it was intended that the explosion of the mine would eliminate long-range machine-gun fire from The Pimple, augmenting the defence of Hill 145 to the southeast during the initial assault on that position.

Unfortunately, despite Herculean efforts, the tunnellers had come up short. On Easter Monday, their tunnel was 30 metres short of the objective. Consequently, no mine was laid and throughout the attack the Canadian troops on the northern, western and eastern slopes of Hill 145 were subject to long-range machine-gun fire from The Pimple. Wading through mud in the valley between the two promontories and clawing their way up the steep slopes of Hill 145, the Canadian infantrymen were subject to shattering fire from The Pimple.

The large section of undamaged trenches coupled with the inability to counteract defensive fire from The Pimple condemned the 4th Division to the hardest and longest fight of the battle for Vimy Ridge. While Hill 145 was eventually subdued on April 9, success of the plan required the deployment of the troops committed to assault The Pimple on April 10. Consequently, The Pimple was not fully occupied until April 12, two days later than the plan called for and three days after the other three Canadian divisions had reached the Brown Line, their final objective.

Regardless, with the occupation of The Pimple on Thursday, April 12, the Canadian phase of the larger Battle of Arras drew to a close. It was undeniably an astounding victory, at a cost of 10,602 casualties, a fraction of the number suffered during previous unsuccessful attacks.

In the ensuing century, the Battle of Vimy Ridge has been elevated to mythic status in the Canadian psyche. Boundless hyperbole has seen popular historians declare it the birth of the nation, akin to, or even greater than, the Royal Proclamation (1763), the British North America Act (1867), or the Statute of Westminster (1931). Undeniably, it is more widely known than the three, with the possible exception of the British North America Act. According to historian Andrew Godefroy, “Canadians consider Vimy Ridge an icon of national achievement.”

While this is all well and good, in the wider framework of the First World War, the battle must be placed in the proper context and granted only its due importance and influence. Simply put, and with awareness this assessment may provoke anger, it was a relatively minor engagement, only one part of the overall offensive known as the Battle of Arras.

North and south of the Canadian Corps, 23 British divisions also were involved. On a total frontage of over 40 kilometres, the Canadian Corps was responsible for only seven kilometres. In total, Imperial forces suffered approximately 160,000 casualties of which approximately 10,600 were Canadian. In terms of the larger Battle of Arras, the Canadian Corps was responsible for 16 per cent of the offensive frontage and suffered 15 per cent of the total casualties. The Canadian Corps attack on Vimy Ridge was only one small part of a larger whole.

Furthermore, the capture of Vimy Ridge did not play any part in a significant strategic shift in the war. The Battle of Vimy Ridge did not lead to the breakthrough that the generals had been dreaming of since the spring of 1915. Four months later, the Canadian Corps was still struggling to cross the Douai Plain and capture Lens, less than 10 kilometres north of the Canadian front line when the first wave went over the bags on Easter Monday morning. The stunning, but local success of the Canadian Corps had little impact on the course of the war.

Significantly, in 1922, former Canadian Corps CO Sir Arthur Currie informed veteran A.C. Macdonnel that Vimy was categorically not the most important battle the Corps fought. “We fought other battles where the moral and material results were far more reaching than Vimy’s victory. There were other battles also that reflected to a greater degree the training and efficiency of the Corps.” He continued, Vimy “did not call for the same degree of resource and initiative that were displayed in any of the three great battles of the last hundred days — Amiens, Arras, Cambrai.”

The overall Allied strategic plan for 1917 foresaw the Imperial offensive around Arras (including the assault on Vimy Ridge) drawing German reserves into the battle. A subsequent French attack to the south, launched on April 16 along an 80-kilometre front, would then punch through the weakened German lines and achieve a decisive breakthrough, reintroducing mobility to the static slogging match that had persisted since the fall of 1914. It is reported that the French commander-in-chief, General Robert Georges Nivelle, boasted, “The German Army will run away; they only want to be off.” He even predicted that the French offensive would end the war.

In fact, the French offensive was a miserable failure. Casualties far exceeded Nivelle’s predicted 10,000 — they were greater than 100,000 on the first day alone. The optimism with which the French troops entered the battle quickly soured. Mutinies, beginning with the French 2nd Division’s refusal to follow orders to attack on May 3, quickly spread throughout the French armies on the Western Front. Nivelle’s war-ending offensive actually destroyed the combat effectiveness of French forces for the remainder of the year.

Without diminishing the extraordinary achievement of the Canadian Corps, but keeping in mind the Allied strategic plan, the battle of Vimy Ridge had little impact on the course of the war. In an industrial war that mass-produced casualties, the Battle of Vimy Ridge was but a blip on the screen. It was widely celebrated not because of its significance, but rather for the reason that it was the lone victory in a spring of failure and disappointment.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge was undeniably a Canadian victory. It forced the Germans off of a significant geographic feature. It succeeded where the British and French had previously failed. It realized all of its objectives with far fewer casualties than the previous failed assaults had suffered. It was a single achievement and the first time the Canadian Corps fought an independent action as a whole. All of these points mark it as a major achievement for the Corps. However, it was only one aspect of the larger and largely unsuccessful Battle of Arras. Moreover, it did not lay the groundwork for the anticipated breakthrough, and four months later the Canadian Corps was still slowly slogging its way across the Douai Plain only 10 kilometres from Vimy Ridge’s summit. The Battle of Vimy Ridge was clearly a tremendous victory for the Canadian Corps; its coming out party. However, it was neither a war-ending gambit nor the ‘birth’ of the Canadian nation.

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THE BATTLE OF VIMY RIDGE: PART 2: A Calculated Artillery Barrage Precedes The Assault

(Volume 24-4)

By Bob Gordon

In the pre-dawn darkness of Easter Monday, April 9, 1917, the weather took a turn for the worse. Sunday’s spring-like conditions turned foul. Lieutenant-Colonel G. R. Stevens noted in the 49th Battalion War Diary that “the weather became an ally; the temperature fell and a northwest gale blew snow into the faces of the Germans.”

Minutes before 0530 hours the sound of the Canadian guns abruptly ceased. “There had been an ordinary amount of night firing, our batteries and machine-gun fire. But about five minutes before Zero Hour, there had been an eerie, almost complete silence,” Lieutenant Leonard Youell of the 43rd Battery Canadian Field Artillery told historian Pierre Berton. Youell continued, “Then the most deafening roar and display of fireworks you’ve ever seen in your life.” Private Lewis Duncan wrote his aunt Sarah one week later that “5:30 came and a great light lit the place, a light made up of innumerable flickering tongues.” On the 3rd Division front, LCol Stevens wrote: “On the stroke of 0530 hours, a bombardment of terrifying intensity burst on the enemy forward position … From the German lines multi-coloured rockets soared in mute appeals for aid.”

With the launch of the infantry assault the Canadian artillery shifted to a creeping barrage. It had 40 separate lifts scheduled. At Zero Hour it concentrated on the German front line; at plus three minutes the barrage lifted from the German front line to the support line; at plus eight minutes it moved to the Black Line, the main German defences. The troops were to arrive at the summit directly behind the last lift, accompanied through the German defences by the destructive power of the artillery.

The advance of the creeping barrage could not be altered once the attack started. The infantry had to keep up with it. Nor could they get ahead of schedule. Private Alex Gerrard of the 1st Canadian Rifles noted that following too close to the barrage also had risks. “Some of our boys got going faster than the shells and they hit a lot of our men with ‘friendly’ shrapnel. They got caught in the barrage from the batteries behind us.”

On the right, the 1st Canadian Division had the longest distance to cover, about four kilometres up a gradual slope to Farbus Wood. Next, 2nd Division had the same distance to advance, their objective being the summit above the village of Vimy. La Folie Wood, after a two-kilometre advance, was the objective of the 3rd Canadian Division. The Division had to fight its way up a steepening slope and through a complex of German strongpoints to get there.

On the far left of the Canadian attack, with Hill 145 on the right and ‘The Pimple’ on the left, the steepest slope was the 4th Division’s front. Hill 145 was to be captured immediately to prevent enfilade fire on the left flank of the 3rd Division. The Pimple was to be assaulted on day two of the attack by the 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade. The 4th Division had the shortest distance to cover, less than a kilometre, but faced the steepest slope, worst terrain and the strongest defences on the entire ridge.

On the 1st Division front the leading platoons of the 2nd Brigade had crept into no man’s land before Zero Hour. The success of the 1st Division attacks is largely attributable to this decision and the valour of the individual infantrymen who crept into no man’s land early. The attack was supported by the explosion of two large mines under the trenches of the defending Bavarian Infantry Regiment. “Before the stuff had stopped falling, we had to man the lip of the crater that was caused,” remembered George Alliston of the 7th (British Columbia) Battalion.

The need to stick to the schedule and keep up with the barrage was in the forefront of Lance-Corporal Jack Pinson’s mind. Pinson later told a CBC interviewer that “On the way through we’d run into German machine-gun posts. We’d bomb them out or clean them out with rifle fire … We were in a big hurry. We had a timetable to keep to.” The War Diary of the 5th Battalion later noted that the training had served its purpose and the Canadians were well informed and well led, even when their officers and non-coms became casualties. “Casualties among officers and NCOs were extremely heavy, but at no time were there wanting natural leaders to carry the work forward with speed to success.”

On the far right of the Canadian assault, the southernmost unit was the 13th Battalion. One of its members, Private Roy Henley, was the youngest participant in the attack. In 1915 he lied about his age, claiming to have been born in 1898 rather than 1901, and enlisted. At Vimy Ridge he was barely 16. Interviewed in his 80s, he attributed his courage to “the rum jar … You could go and lick your weight in wildcats after that!” With a bullet hole in his canteen, two in his kilt, and a sock torn by a ricochet, he was eventually hit by shrapnel, ending up at the neighbouring 51st Highland Division (British) casualty clearing station. By the time this boy soldier was receiving medical attention, his comrades were at their final objectives and staring over Vimy Ridge into the Douai Plain with the slag heaps of Lens on the horizon.

In the 25th Battalion, on the 2nd Division front, the crucial moment for Frank MacGregor came with the order to fix bayonets. “The locking ring on a bayonet is a little loose. When the order to fix bayonets went along the line, you’d think there were a thousand bees humming. The trembling. Waiting.” Captain Claude Williams of the 6th Brigade Machine Gun Company and formerly a medical student from Hamilton, Ontario later told Pierre Berton that everyone’s highest priority was to maintain the synchronization with the barrage. “The orders were that in no circumstances was anybody to stop to do anything for the wounded — to help them, to carry them out, doing anything — it would break up the line.” For a former medical student, the order to not stop to help the wounded must have been heartrending.

At 0645 hours the 21st and 25th Battalions passed through the first wave of attackers into Les Tilleuls on their way to the Red Line northeast of the town. Thirty minutes later they were digging in on their objective. The quick leap forward had cost the two battalions 468 casualties.

The third wave of attackers then entered the fray. The 31st Battalion led the attack on Thelus and on to the Blue Line. The unit war diary attests to the effectiveness of the Canadian guns: “Buildings were demolished, trenches obliterated and wire smashed to atoms. There was hardly an inch of ground that did not bear witness to the tremendous effect of our guns.” By 1020 hours, less than five hours after Zero Hour, they were digging in on the Blue Line, and well on their way to the crest of the ridge.

At 1415 hours elements of the 27th and 29th Battalions fired three white rockets, indicating that they had successfully attained their objective: the Brown Line running from the summit near the village of Vimy to Farbus. By mid-afternoon units of both the 1st and 2nd Canadian Infantry Divisions were looking northeast over the Douai Plain, a view the Allies had been denied for almost three years.

The only aspect of the assault on the 2nd Division front that could be deemed a total failure was the effort to introduce armoured vehicles or tanks. This failed miserably. The 2nd Division assault was supported by eight Mark I tanks of the British Heavy Branch Machine Gun Corps. The tanks were armed with five machine guns and carried 30,000 rounds of ammunition. A variety of roles were foreseen for the tanks. They were to provide mobile firepower against dugouts and resistance nests: they were to provide some cover for the advancing infantrymen; and they were intended to crush barbed wire entanglements and hasten the advance of the infantry.

They proved, in practical terms, underwhelming. On foot Captain Claude Williams, commanding officer of 6th Brigade Machine Gun Company, advanced across no man’s land faster than the tanks. “The tanks were mired,” sniper L. R. Fennell, 27th (Winnipeg) Battalion, told CBC Radio years later. “They had tent posts and everything else wired to their racks, but [the tracks] were just turning around through the mud and the tanks weren’t making any headway.” Three of them were subsequently destroyed by German artillery fire. Ultimately, none of the new vehicles even made it across no man’s land.

On the 3rd Division front Private Harold Barker, a scout with the Royal Canadian Regiment, learned that being on schedule meant keeping up with the barrage but not getting ahead of it. “When we were going over the rehersal [sic] tapes at Bruay in the rear, we had to wait so long for the barrage to lift, but I didn’t think anything about that. I kept on going. I was too fast.” Caught in the Canadian barrage, he was wounded by shrapnel in the mouth, chest, back and leg and knocked out of the rest of the day’s action.

Advancing on the 3rd Division front, Gus Sivertz of the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles felt pressed downwards by the hail of lead. “We were dancing a macabre dance as our nerves vibrated to the thousands of shells and machine gun bullets,” recalled Sivertz. “I felt that if I had put my finger up, I should have touched a ceiling of sound.”

Private Alex Gerrard, the number two man on a Lewis gun crew, was struck not by the noise, but by the colourful German response. German flares, signalling an attack, made “streaks of reds and yellows and greens — like fireworks. It was like a coloured hail storm.” Bitterly, Lieutenant Fred James of the 2nd (Eastern Ontario) Battalion later wrote, “It was a display that made the [Canadian National] Exhibition seem like a joke. It made me think how foolish I had been to pay 25 cents to see some sputtering illuminants.”

Blind saps running forward from the Grange Subway — a tunnel system approximately 800 metres in length that had connected the reserve lines to the front line — were blown and Canadian troops had direct access to the Duffield and Durrand craters in no man’s land. The 3rd Division advanced so fast that the desultory German artillery fire fell largely behind the advancing Canadians and caused few casualties amongst the assault troops.

The biggest problem that the 3rd Division encountered was Hill 145. The promontory was actually on the 4th Division front, but immediately adjacent to the 3rd Division’s left flank. Throughout the morning, positions on the hill directed artillery and mortar fire on the 3rd Division’s advance while enfilade fire from machine guns swept through the ranks. Despite the heavy casualties, the 3rd Division fought itself toward the summit of Vimy Ridge throughout the morning. Speed moving through the kill zone and synchronization with the creeping barrage were the key elements of the 3rd Division’s rapid success, and by the end of the afternoon its leading elements had reached their objectives and joined their comrades in the 1st and 2nd Divisions along the crest of the ridge.

For the first three divisions of the Canadian Corps the attack on Vimy Ridge came off like clockwork. Casualties were well below predicted numbers and the advance went much like it had over the tapes on the practice fields in the weeks before the attack. Along the front, the Canadians attained their objectives on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Division fronts.

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