Stationary Yet Aggressive

“The attack will be pressed forward with the utmost firmness, and when the German                   Front Line has been gained, its consolidation will be vigorously pressed.”

-Para. 4 Operations Order No. 57

1^st Canadian Infantry Brigade

7 July 1916[1]

Just a few days prior, a heavy thunderstorm had broken the steady weather of hot days.  Out of the line, men had been reporting sick at higher numbers than usual.  The day of this breaking storm, the 4^th of July 1916, one battalion medical officer recorded fifteen men on sick call, four of whom were bad enough to evacuate to hospital.[2]  Heavy rain had soaked the rich Flanders earth to slick and sticky mud, but after the storm passed, the summer’s heat continued.  What had also remained constant, rain or shine, day and night along the stiches of trench lines winding through ground interrupted by singular hills and shattered woods was the duel between German and Canadian artillery; whose unwitting witness and victim were the infantry clinging to what shelter these much abused defences could provide.

At intervals from 6 pm to midnight on the 8-9^th July, the Canadian guns increased their intensity of fire.  “July 8- weather fine and warm….From 6.00 to 7.40 pm a bombardment of the enemy’s trenches on MOUNT SORREL took place and also again at 11.40 pm.  At midnight out fire lifted and the infantry advanced.”[3] This bombardment was concentrated on a particular stretch of the enemy line- one of the few places still in German hands from two weeks’ worth of back and forth battles the month before- meant to cut the wire in front of the German position to clear the way for a party of men from the 4^th Canadian Battalion, led by Captain A.G. Scott, each one of them laden with as many grenades as they could carry, so that they could finally take back this ground.

In the four years of a World War, so much can become overlooked, overshadowed and, through that, forgotten.  In most references to Canada and the Western Front, the Battle of Mount Sorrel is well documented.  Between June 2-13 the Canadian Corps and the German forces in the area engaged in a costly struggle.  Just after daybreak on the 2^nd, “For four hours a veritable tornado of fire ravaged th Canadian positions from half a mile west of Mount Sorrel to the northern edge of Sanctuary Wood….The trenches vanished and the garrisons in them where annihilated.”[4]  Such was the intensity and ferocity of shelling that by the time German troops advanced they “met with very little resistance (and) in a very short time Mount Sorrel and Hills 61 and 62 were in German hands.”[5]

It was a shocking development.  While Canadian units had been afield since spring the year before, operating at corps strength was only a recent evolution, and in fact, the Canadian Corps had still yet to incorporate all of its divisions.  The 4^th Canadian Division was still organising itself in England and would not embark for France until August.  Perhaps, some thought, in light of this loss of ground at Mount Sorrel, these colonial divisions should be kept within British Corps and under closer supervision.  Now, not only was it tactically prudent to counterattack and regain the ground lost, it was becoming a matter of national pride, and perhaps the result would become the basis on which an independent Canadian Corps would be judged.  This hasty attempt failed to gain any ground, and it wasn’t until ten days from the initial assault, after deliberate and meticulous planning that the corps won through.  On the 12-13 June “The determined Canadian push, ably supported by the artillery successfully recaptured most of the ground lost.”[6]

 

The fight at Mount Sorrel in its initial stages had all the attendant elements of a Great War battle.  Artillery and mines devastated the 4^th Canadian Mounted Rifles to a shadow of its nominal roll and a desperate stand by the PPCLI at Sanctuary Wood against terrible odds kept the line from entire collapse and showed the plucky resolve which captures public imagination.  Continuing to the well organised and brilliantly executed counterattack which presaged how battles were to be won in this war and vindicated the young Canadian Corps, these two weeks of action at Mount Sorrel wrap up quite nicely.  This is where the narrative of history leaves off.  Even Colonel Nicholson’s expansive official volume pauses here, picking up the story of Canada’s war in September, upon the Corps’ movement to the Somme area of operations.  Yet, the 12-13 of June was not quite the end of things at Mount Sorrel- revealed above in Professor Cook’s use of the phrase “recaptured most of the ground lost.” (emphasis mine)

I myself had little notion of this and honestly stumbled upon it while researching something else altogether.  Understandably these ten weeks from mid-June to September are overlooked; indeed overshadowed by the shocking bloodiness of the British offensives in July; but for Captain Scott and his men about to strike out at midnight between 8-9 July, those events further south were of little consequence to them.

The enemy had been observed strengthening position-those still remaining in German hands since th

e attack the month prior- and estimates of troop strength indicated a build-up of manpower.  It was entirely possible the Germans were preparing for another push.  1^st Canadian Infantry Brigade, upon the direction of 1^st Canadian Division had issued orders to the unit facing this portion of the line.  “The 4^th Canadian Battalion…will re-establish out position on MOUNT SORREL on the night of July 8/9 at Zero o’clock.”[7]

Major William Rae DSO, Officer Commanding 4^th Battalion had placed himself well forward to observe the attack.  Just after dark, he had sent patrols out to discern the state of the enemy’s wire.  Zero hour was only moments away, and the reports were not promising.  Some small gaps had been cut, but along much of the attack’s front, the wire was mostly intact. Counterbattery fire against the Canadian gun line had reduced their capacity to commit effectively to the bombardment of German trenches. The 5^th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery, although suffering no casualties or losses of guns had been hit so severely it was forced to move and did not contribute to the entire fire plan.[8]  Major Rae was faced with a difficult decision, certainly not one which is enviable.  Resigned that it was “too late to make any change in the plan,” Major Rae ordered the attack be carried out.

It turned out to be an impossible job.  The wire was strung in thick coils, breast high and several rows deep.  Gaps which the scouts had reported were only apparent in the forward most row, “the succeeding ones being practically intact.”  One of the first field reports taken from Major Rae’s superiors at 1^st Brigade to the command at 1^st Division relayed “our advance was met by heavy MG and rifle fire and bombs AAA Casualties not definitely ascertained.”[9]  Major Rae’s after-action report corroborates “Most of our casualties were due to the bombs of which the Germans threw a very large number.” Something else had gone terribly wrong, the attacking party lost a great deal of cohesion when “the leaders and most of the leading groups of the parties became casualties almost immediately.”[10]

Captain Scott was killed just moments into the attack; Lieutenant Ansley, only just arrived overseas two days prior, was lost; believed to also have been killed, though by late August was known to be a prisoner of war in German hands.  Lieutenant Greacen was terribly wounded, the second time in two months, hit several times with grenade fragments at the beginning of the attack, but rallied his men to go forward for a second attempt, refusing medical treatment until he could make his report to the CO. Company Sergeant-Major Rusk despite having a foot blown off, stayed with his men and continued to direct them throughout the attack.  Men came back to Canadian lines, in great excitement, to request more bombs in order to press the assault home.  It was of no use.  Within the first hour and a half of the operation, Major Rae “decided to discontinue the attack and consolidate our position.”

Major Rae sums up his report by stating “I consider the behaviour of the men as worthy of the highest praise….even after they discovered the nature of the obstacle confronting them, they continued their efforts to overcome it, notwithstanding their casualties.”[11]  These were: 13 killed, 22 wounded and 6 missing.  It might not seem much in a war that for British and Commonwealth forces cost an average of 1,723 casualties each day, but it illustrates that even at times considered “quiet”, periods glossed over by texts and narratives, men were putting their lives at risk, a risk sometimes forgotten when this occurs in a three month period encapsulated in the Official History by one sentence as “The Canadian Corps remained in the Ypres Salient until the beginning of September, its role ‘stationary yet aggressive.’”[12]

---

[1] Operations Order No. 57, Appendix B, 1^st Canadian Infantry Brigade War Diary July 1916

[2] War Diary Entry, 31^st Battalion Medical Officer, 4^th July 1916

[3] War Diary Entry, 6^th Brigade Canadian Field Artillery, 8^th July 1916

[4] Nicholson Col GWL “Canadian Expeditionary Force: Official History of the Canadian Army in the First World War” Roger Duhomel, Queen’s Printer Ottawa, 1962 pp 148-9

[5] Marteinson, John “We Stand on Guard: An Illustrated History of the Canadian Army” Ovale Publications 1992 pg. 137

[6] Cook, Tim “At the Sharp End: Canadians Fighting the Great War 1914-1916” Penguin Canada 2008 pg. 373

[7] Operations Order No. 57, Appendix B, 1^st Canadian Infantry Brigade War Diary July 1916

[8] War Diary Entry, 6^th Brigade Canadian Field Artillery, 8^th July 1916

[9] Message rec’d by 1^st Canadian Division, 9^th July 1916 from 1^st Canadian Infantry Brigade, appended to 1^st Can Div. War Diary July 1916

[10] After action Report, submitted by Major W. Rae, OC 4^th Bn. on actions of 8/9 July 1916, appended to 4^th Bn. War Diary July 1916

[11] After action Report, submitted by Major W. Rae, ibid.

[12] Nicholson Col GWL, ibid. pg. 154

Hard and Determined Fighting

“During the next five days our troops followed up their advantage hotly, and in spite of increasing resistance from the German rearguards, realised a further deep advance.  The enemy clung to his positions…with much tenacity….and the progress of our troops was only won by hard and determined fighting.”- Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig, Despatches, Describing offensive actions, late August 1918[1]

The fighting was intense, constant and every yard hard won.  Each river crossed, village cleared or trench destroyed in the final three months of the war was wrested from an enemy who would not concede easily to defeat.  Everywhere along the Western Front, the war was moving more quickly than it had in the previous three years.  These last hundred days would be a series of battles, clawing forward, relentlessly pushing the Germans back from and beyond the ground taken during their daring Spring Offensives.  Keeping constant pressure on the enemy meant that commanders no longer had the luxury of months in which to train and rehearse for set-piece battles such as Vimy the year before.  Urgency and haste can be seen in archived operations orders contemporary to the Hundred Days.  Many are hastily handwritten in an expedient script on small leaves of notepaper in the hours before an attack rather than thoughtfully typed out weeks in advance in perfectly edited clerical lines.

On the evening of the 26^th of August, 1918, the 18^th Canadian Infantry Battalion moved from its support position to jumping off points along the Arras-Cambrai road. “By nightfall, as the forward troops began to approach a trench system known as the Fresnes-Rouvroy Line, German resistance grew more resolute…The Germans brought in fresh divisions and many additional machine guns.”[2]  The 18^th Battalion had been adequately reinforced since their last stint on the front, and although while in support on the 26^th it had taken some casualties, these were to be considered “light” and would not have been viewed as a diminishment of effective ability. Tomorrow was going to be worse.  Tomorrow they would be at the head of the advance.

My last post, “In the Event of My Death” was very well received, and wanting to do a similar post, I was held up by not having a ready subject.  However, through The Vimy Foundation’s Facebook page, I found out about a community art project being done in Huron County Ontario.  With the Poppy Installation at the Tower of London as inspiration, Huron County plans to make and display ceramic poppies in numbers representing that County’s fallen from WWI. (more on the project here)  The Tower Installation was an awesome, thought inspiring display, the association between the deep red of the poppies and that of spilled blood was quite a powerful and sombre image.  I love the idea of such a thing being done on a much smaller scale; at the level of an individual community; for it was as communities we sent our sons to war, and it was communities who suffered as one when so many failed to return.  Huron County raised a battalion for overseas service, the 161^st (Huron) Battalion, CEF, but this unit, like many others raised from 1916 onwards would not be deployed to the front intact but would be used to supplement existing battalions already in the field.  This made the prospect of finding an individual to commemorate a bit tricky. As it happens, the system of appointing regimental numbers (an individual identifier like today’s service or serial numbers) was done in blocks, and the 161^st was authorised a block of numerals beginning with “654.”[3]  A search for matching numerals in the CWGCDatabase turned up, as a first result #654805 Graham AJG, L/Cpl. 

Alexander John Goggin Graham, a farmer from Fordwich, Huron County Ontario attested to the 161^st Battalion on the 10^th of May 1916 and embarked with his battalion for England that November.  Aside from three weeks that following April in hospital with the mumps, Graham spent the fifteen months since arriving in England at a training camp.  His records show he was twice promoted, to Lance and later full Corporal, but such must have been his desire to serve at the front he “reverted to Private at (his) own request in order to proceed overseas” on the 28^th of February, 1918.  Graham was assigned to the 18^th Battalion (4^th Canadian Infantry Brigade, 2^nd Canadian Division) and joined them in the field on the 15^th of March.  Aside from the change in scenery, the day of his arrival must have seemed like the routine he’d left behind in the camp at Kent.  The 18^th, out of the line in a rest area reported on that day:  “Company inspections of rifles and equipment.  Serialised training as per syllabus attached. 91 OR’s (Other Ranks, including Graham) arrived from 5^th Canadian Division…as reinforcements…..Recreational training i.e. football, baseball etc. during afternoon.”[4]

A few months later, it was a different story altogether.  The Germans had taken a huge series of offensives throughout the spring, pushing the Allies back a great distance, but had failed to definitively break the line before their momentum was lost.  In response, the Allies launched a coordinated counter-offensive which, three months after it had begun in August would conclude with the Armistice.  Throughout the month of August “the Canadian Corps was confronted by a series of formidable defence positions which the enemy was holding in strength.”[5]

 

Graham, still with the 18^th Battalion had just been appointed to the rank of Lance Corporal on the 8^th of August, to replace a man who had died of his wounds the day before.  On the morning of the 27^th, he was present with the men who had made it this far, some of them only recent arrivals; waiting tensely in the trenches captured only hours previously to set off behind a creeping barrage- a sheltering wall of steel- to assault a subsequent defensive line along the Sensée River and the town of Vis-en-Artois.  Historian Tim Cook notes: “The fighting since August 26^th had been of the worst kind.  The Canadians had excelled at plunging ahead behind the battle winning artillery barrage and, when that failed, at employing fire and movement infantry tactics.”[6] With Zero hour set for ten that morning, the artillery was planned to be a creeping barrage lifting 100 yards every four minutes, “a pause being made and a protective barrage formed approximately 300 yards beyond the River SENSEE.  This pause will last for thirty minutes; the barrage will then continue at the same rate as before.”[7]

A report received at 2^nd Division HQ at 11:05 was positive, the attack was going well.[8]  Later, close to four that afternoon, the Division received conflicting reports.  The first was that the attacking battalions (18^th and 19^th) had taken Vis-en-Artois and were moving beyond the river.  This was only half true, the latter report corrected: “4.10 p.m. 4^th Canadian Infantry Brigade advise- the 18^th Battalion was held up at SENSEE RIVER at 3 pm….Hostile opposition very heavy from the East.”[9]  The rapidity of these advances and the fluid nature of battle tore at the ability of the artillery to cooperate and coordinate with infantry units operating well in front of their line of sight.  The 6^th Brigade, Canadian Field Artillery, responsible for covering the 4^th Canadian Infantry Brigade on the 27^th stated: “The attack was resumed on the morning of the 27^th with a barrage starting at 10.00 a.m…..The barrage was completed about 1.00 p.m. and the batteries began to push forward.”[10]

At the tip of the spear, though, while the first objectives had been reached by noon, helped by the covering barrage, “At this juncture, a barrage scheduled to continue after half and hour’s curtailment failed to materialise.  Consequently an outpost line had to be formed.”[11]  Meaning that the battalion could not move against the strong enemy positions to their front without artillery support. When “the barrage sputtered…the German machine-gunners were able to emerge.”[12]  The 18^th Battalion was pinned by this fire, well short of their main objective at the Sensée, and prepared a hasty position in a captured German trench.  Somewhere in all of this, LCpl Graham was taken from the field with a penetrative GSW (Gun Shot Wound) to the abdomen.  He was brought to Number 42 Casualty Clearing Station, no doubt in great pain.  Nothing could be done for him and later that same day, Alexander Graham, farmer from Huron County, died of his wounds.[13] 

 

Casualties had been heavy, the 18^th Battalion recording “Approximate casualties all ranks 15 killed & 150 wounded.”[14]  Altogether, the losses of the 4^th Brigade in the five days of fighting at the end of August were the equivalent to the loss of an entire battalion, between 25-30% of effective strength.

Lance Corporal Graham is buried at the Aubigny Cemetery Extension. “From March 1916 to the Armistice, Aubigny was held by Commonwealth troops and burials were made in the Extension until September 1918. The 42nd Casualty Clearing Station buried in it during the whole period.”[15]  He rests among 2,771 of his comrades. 227 French, 64 German war graves and seven burials from the Second World War are also present at Aubigny. Lance Corporal Graham is fittingly remembered by the inscription on his grave stone: “Gone, But Not Forgotten.”

---

[1] Boraston, Lt-Col JH (ed.) “Sir Douglas Haig’s Despatches” JM Dent &Sons ltd. 1919 pg. 269

[2] Marteinson, John “We Stand on Guard: An Illustrated History of the Canadian Army” Ovale Publications 1992 pp 196-7

[3] http://cefresearch.ca/

[4] War Diary Entry, 18^th Canadian Infantry Battalion, 15 March 1918 courtesy Library and Archives Canada

[5] Nicholson Col GWL “Canadian Expeditionary Force: Official History of the Canadian Army in the First World War” Roger Duhomel, Queen’s Printer Ottawa, 1962 pg. 430

[6] Cook, Tim “Shock Troops: Canadians Fighting the Great War 1917-1918” Penguin Canada 2008 pg.475

[7] 2^nd Canadian Division Operations Order 248, Appended to 2 Can Div. War Diary, August 1918 Courtesy Library and Archives Canada

[8] War Diary Entry, 2^nd Canadian Division dated 27 August 1918, Courtesy Library and Archives Canada

[9] War Diary Entry, 2^nd Canadian Division, ibid.

[10] War Diary Entry, 6^th Brigade Canadian Field Artillery dated 27 August 1918

[11] War Diary Entry 18^th Battalion dated 27 August 1918

[12] Cook, Tim ibid. pg. 469

[13] Service Records 654805 Graham, L/Cpl AJG, Courtesy Library and Archives Canada

[14] War Diary Entry 18^th Battalion, ibid.

[15] http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/5300/AUBIGNY%20COMMUNAL%20CEMETERY%20EXTENSION

In the Event of My Death

The Life of an Ordinary Man

“In the event of my death, I give the whole of my property and affects (sic) to my mother, Mrs. William Fowler”[1]

                        -Excerpt from the Military Will of Cpl H Fowler, dated 9 June 1916

I am often thanked, quite graciously, when I can provide some input to a question of history.  My response to that gratitude is an equally sincere, and most literal use pf the phrase “my pleasure.”  What I get to do in this, from time to time, is not only help find the answer sought, which is gratifying in itself, but I get to meet, in a sense, the ordinary people who have made our history; those who have witnessed poignant moments of the past and some, like Corporal Harry Fowler, 44^th Battalion, CEF, who contributed everything they had to the event.

A young woman, involved in Canada’s cadet program (a youth program of citizenship and leadership based upon the three branches, RCN, Canadian Army and RCAF of our Armed Forces) had taken on a research project investigating a soldier from her home province of Newfoundland who had served, and died in the First World War.  Some questions on clarification had been passed along and appeared on a social network page I follow on my news feed.  I was only too happy to provide an answer, and in doing so came to know about a life I may otherwise have not.  Circumstance of history and the way in which Library and Archives Canada (LAC) are pursuing their work helped a great deal.  Cpl Fowler, though from Newfoundland joined the Canadian Army from where he was at the time, Winnipeg, Manitoba.  Had he joined in Newfoundland, it would have been harder to get his records.  As Newfoundland and Labrador didn’t Confederate with Canada until 1949, military records for the province for both World Wars are not in the National Archive.  Also, as LAC is diligently preserving all WWI service records digitally and are working alphabetically, it’s fortunate the subject had a surname closer to the top end.

Why Harry Fowler, a labourer from Brigus, Conception Bay, Newfoundland was in Winnipeg can only be guessed at a century on, but it is most likely he went to the mainland to find work.  Before the war, both Canada and Newfoundland had been in recession and going afield to find decent paid work for the unskilled was a common occurrence.  We also cannot guess at his motives for joining the army- the reasons could range from patriotism to the promise of regular pay or a mixture of many things.  Whichever they may have been, on the 4^th of June 1915, he was attested to the 61^st Battalion for overseas service.[2]

The 61^st trained in Canada for nearly a year, sailing for Great Britain aboard the SS Olympic on the 21^st of April, 1916.  The Battalion’s embarkation, it seems, was delayed so that their hockey team could compete for the 1916 Allan Cup, which they won after defeating all opposition.[3]

The article posted to MyWestman.ca regarding the 61^st’s hockey triumph, also tells us the fate of the Battalion when it arrived in Britain: “Once there the unit was broken up and the soldiers in the battalion redistributed to Canadian army units in France as replacements. This was a common occurrence and many battalions raised on the Prairies and the rest of Canada were broken up once they arrived in Britain and the soldiers sent on to other units. While the breaking up of units was hard on the morale as soldiers suddenly lost the companionship of men they had trained with and perhaps enlisted with, the leadership felt it was better that veteran units were kept up to strength as these units had actual experience on the battlefield and could better pass on this experience to new re-enforcements.”[4]

Harry Fowler was transferred to the 44^th Battalion which subsequently departed for France as part of the 4^th Canadian Division in August of 1916.  The 4^th Division’s arrival completed the Order of Battle of the Canadian Corps, though it would be several months before all four of the Corps’ divisions were assembled together.  Before that point, these new units arriving went through work-up training in the field under the supervision of more veteran units, and took part in the closing phases of the Battle of the Somme.  During this period, Fowler was twice wounded. On the 23rd Oct 1916 “Four Other Ranks were wounded on carrying party of last night.”[5] Fowler was one of the four wounded, receiving a “GSW” to his right cheek.[6]  GSW stands for “Gun Shot Wound”, but does not necessarily mean he took a bullet to the face.  GSW is a medical catch-all for any wound caused by fragments, whether they be rifle bullets, shell splinters or shrapnel.  As his records indicate he was in hospital for only one day, it can be reasonably assumed that the wound was superficial and none too serious.  The wound happened whilst he was, with others from his unit, carrying rations from a supply dump to the front line.

20 Nov 1916 “Enemy’s artillery active during relief.  Casualties 2 OR[Other Ranks] killed and 4 OR wounded.”[7]  This matches Fowler’s record of going into hospital on 21 November after being “Buried by Shell.”[8]  This happened when the 44^th Bn was being relieved at the front line by the 73^rd Bn.  Reliefs such as these were part of a regular series of rotations.  “Once in the line, the rotation of trench duties followed a set pattern.  The usual routine for infantrymen in France was as follows: three weeks or a month moving between the front, support and reserve lines, passing five or six days in each...then followed perhaps ten days at a rest camp eight or ten miles back, or occasionally a still longer period twenty to thirty miles to the rear.”^[9]  Such movements were bound to attract enemy attention, and an increase in artillery during a relief was a fairly expected event.

Neither wound seems to have been serious as he returned to duty rather quickly, and no treatment records are part of his file. 

In January of 1916, Fowler was selected for an NCO’s course, the need for junior leaders for upcoming operations was an integral part of the planning of this offensive.  He was promoted to Corporal on the 21^st of January.

The operation being prepared for was the Canadian Corps’ attack on Vimy Ridge, part of the opening moves of the Battle of Arras, April 1917.  4^th Canadian Division formed “the left flank of the Canadian Corps Operation (with) the 11^th and 12th Canadian Infantry Brigades attacking HILL 145, with the 10^th Canadian Infantry Brigade in support.”[10]  As part of the 10^th Brigade, the 44^th Battalion would not be going into action on the first day.  Two battalions, the 44^th and the 50^th were scheduled to advance the following day, to capture a feature known as “the Pimple” meaning to have it in possession and consolidated against counterattack by midnight, 10^th April. 

It was that “on the left, the 4^th Division had some of the toughest objectives….(the Division) faced Hill 145, the highest point of the ridge and the best defended.”[11] The highest feature of a high feature, Hill 145 “was the lynch pin on the German defence.  It had to fall.”[12]  By late evening on the 9^th, after a daring assault by the 85^th(Nova Scotia Highlanders) Battalion, most of this high ground was won, “except for the upper summit…and parts of the eastern slope…the 44^th and 50^th Battalions sere sent in.”[13]

Lt Colonel Reginald Danbury Davies, the commanding officer of the 44^th, a man of exceptional courage (he was awarded three Distinguished Service Orders and was five times Mentioned in Despatches for his service in France),[14] wrote that “at 6 PM on the 9^th orders were received cancelling the attack on the PIMPLE area. The Battalion (took position) behind the Battalions of the 11^th Canadian Infantry Brigade, whose attack had been held up in the neighbourhood of HILL 145.”[15] Colonel Davies continues, “At 11 AM April 10^th, I received orders to capture and consolidate, as an outpost line, the eastern edge of VIMY RIDGE lying beyond Hill 145.”[16]  ‘C’ and ‘D’ Companies of the 44^th were the battalion’s assaulting units, moving towards their objectives at 3:15 that afternoon.  This meant that the Battalion would be going into action at short notice against an objective they had not specifically trained for.  The months preceding the battle, and part of the tremendous success of the ridge’s capture, were spent in the meticulous planning, training and rehearsing for the very specific jobs each unit would be expected to undertake in the battle. 

It is quite remarkable, and in fact a testament to the high level of proficiency in that preparatory training of the Canadians that the 44^th Battalion went into the attack after having moved from the positions they had taken up for the now cancelled attack on the Pimple to this new, supporting assault and moved forward behind a covering barrage mere hours after receiving their updated orders. ‘C’ and ‘D’ Companies had reached their objectives and made contact with each other within the hour, despite “’D’ Company had some difficulty in clearing the wood.  Mopping up parties moved through to farther edge capturing a good number of prisoners.  Very heavy casualties were inflicted on parties of enemy who attempted to escape through the wood.”[17]  It was later found that the 44^th had attacked an enemy force which outnumbered them two to one.

The Battalion’s casualties in this operation were reported as one officer and fourteen OR’s killed, four officers and seventy-one OR’s wounded, ten OR’s missing.[18]

Cpl Fowler was among the dead. We may not know what he did on that day, or how he met his death, but he was among men who accomplished a great feat that day, and so he counts as he should for his part in that accomplishment.  He has no known grave and is thus listed by name on the Vimy Memorial with 11 000 other members of the Canadian Army whose bodies were not recovered or whose remains were not identified, becoming, like so many others of this war “Known Unto God.”  Whatever personal effects Cpl Fowler had in his barracks kit- those items not taken into battle- would have, in accordance with the will he wrote just ten months prior, been sent to his mother in Conception Bay, Newfoundland.

---

[1] 460060 Fowler, H Service Records, Courtesy Library and Archives Canada

[2] 460060 Fowler, H Service Records

[3] http://www.mywestman.ca/community-news/3271-the-61st-overseas-battalion-1916-allan-cup-champions

[4] http://www.mywestman.ca/community-news/3271-the-61st-overseas-battalion-1916-allan-cup-champions

[5] War Diary, 44^th Battalion CEF, 23 October 1916, Courtesy Library and Archives Canada

[6] 460060 Fowler, H Service Records

[7] War Diary, 44^th Battalion CEF, 20 November 1916, Courtesy Library and Archives Canada

[8] 460060 Fowler, H Service Records

[9] Pateman, John, “Seven Steps to Glory: Private Pateman Goes to War” Lulu.com. pg 30

[10] Operations Order Number 53, 10^th Canadian Infantry Brigade, April 1917, courtesy Library and Archives Canada

[11] Morton, Desmond & J.L. Granatstein, “Marching to Armageddon: Canadians and the Great War 1914-1919” Lester&Orpen Denys, 1989 p 143

[12] Cook, Tim, “Shock Troops: Canadians Fighting in the Great War 1917-1918”, Penguin Canada, 2008 pg. 134

[13] Cook, Tim, ibid. pg. 136

[14] Davies, Reginald Danbury, Lt Col. Service Records, Courtesy Library and Archives Canada

[15] War Diary, 44^th Battalion CEF, Appendix I, Page 1, April 1917

[16] War Diary, 44^th Battalion CEF, Appendix I, Page 1, April 1917

[17] War Diary, 44^th Battalion CEF, Appendix I, Page 1, April 1917

[18] War Diary, 44^th Battalion CEF, Appendix I, Page 2, April 1917