Private Harry Sherman Pope #457399, 3rd Battalion

Photo by Bob Richardson 2014

Born on July 15, 1900 in Smith Falls, Lanark County, Ontario, young Harry was baptized in the Congregational Church, Danville, Quebec in 1903. Father Alfred. a locomotive fireman, and mother, Catherine, I believe were Francophone, despite having an Anglo surname. Harry was the older brother to James, Frederic, Ruby, Lila, Greta and Adeline with the family living 2555 Mance Street, Montreal early 1915. Working as a “plumber”, he joined the 60^th (Victoria Rifles of Canada) Battalion, “D” Company on June 15, 1915. At the time of enlistment in Montreal June 15, 1915, Harry was described as 5' 6 1/4" tall,  fair complexion, brown eyes, brown hair, weight 144 pounds. He gave his religion as Presbyterian and his birth date as July 15, 1897, neither of which we now know NOT to be true.

Joined the 60th (Victoria Rifles) Battalion, 1^st Reinforcing Draft that sailed August 27, 1915 from Montreal on the S.S. Scandinavian. On arrival at Shorncliffe this draft was absorbed by the 23^rd Reserve Battalion on September 6, 1915. Private Pope was then transferred to the 3^rd Battalion reaching that unit on December 12, 1915 in the field. His service record states “Killed in Action, bullet in the head, died on reaching Advance dressing Station of No.2 C.F.A.” in the trenches north of Wulverghem January 8, 1916. He is buried in Wulverghem-Lindenhoek Road Military Cemetery, grave I.E.33, Flanders, Belgium.  We can see that the young man spent only 31 days in the service of the 3^rd Battalion. Age 15. 

Baptism Certificate 1900 Private Harry Sherman Pope

His attestation paper and service record at Library and Archives Canada can be found HERE
His page on the Veteran Affairs Canada Virtual Memorial can be found HERE

A Sergeant of the Great War, 3rd Battalion Canadian Infantry

Photo by Bob Richardson 2007

There is a French cemetery named Sains-Les-Marquion British Cemetery, Plot 1 Row B Grave 29, a Sergeant, according to the grave stone, of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Battalion killed on September 29, 1918. I have a photo of a gravestone "A Sergeant of the Great War 3rd Battalion Died 27 September, 1918" grave number E 29, Sains des Marquion Cemetery.

Checking the War Diary casualty list there are no Sergeants from the 3rd Battalion missing that day. There were 17 other ranks killed and 12 other ranks missing in the Battle for Bourlon Woods. All men found were "handled entirely by 1st Brigade Burial Party" which consisted in part of 1 NCO and 12 other ranks from the 3rd Battalion. There was one Sergeant wounded, Sgt. Tellier #426722 but he appears to have survived. As well Sergeant M.Roberts #171720 was KIA that date but buried in Queant C.C. British Extension, grave C-20.

The obvious problem with this burial is that there are no Sergeants from the 3rd Canadian Infantry Battalion missing that day. Nor are there Sergeants missing from any surrounding day. So who is buried in the grave? Richard Laughton of the CEF Study Group Forum is convinced the man might be a Sergeant Donald Land #782323 of the 3rd Battalion, Canadian Machine Gun Corps. Here is Richard's preliminary analysis: 

There was only one that day, Sgt. Donald Land #782323 of the 3rd Battalion, Canadian Machine Gun Corps. The only other 3rd Battalion Sergeant KIA in 1918 and recorded on the Vimy Memorial is Adam Gaw #138579 and that was back on September 2, 1918 (and way out of the area).

I think I need some help with this one. Although it is the only option, there remains the question of someone marked "3rd Battalion Infantry" versus "3rd Battalion CMGC". The GRRF only says "3/ Cn. Bn.". Shown below are the 2 pages of the COD file and the GRRF page. The details from the war diary for late September and early October in in Appendix 1A of October 1918(page 1, page 2, Page 3, Page 4, and Page 5).

Where this got messy was reading the COD file as it says the body was buried at 51a F10 4.5/4.5 which is not anywhere close to where the action was on that day. After considerable searching and identifying the area where the 3rd Bn. CMGC was located it became obvious that the card should have read 51a S10 d4.5/4.5. That is just SE of Blecourt almost due north of Tilloy (bottom left corner of MAP 51a). The area is as depicted on Nicholson Map 13 for the Canal du Nord and Cambrai 27 Sept - 11 Oct 1918. SEE update in posts that follow!

What identification would a Sergeant in the 3rd Bn. CMMG have been wearing on September 29, 1918? This cemetery had bodies brought in from Marquion Churchyard and the surrounding battlefields. I have not located any COG-BR for this cemetery. The body was brought in from the location noted above where a cross was erected. It may have said 3rd Battalion CMGC and they noted only 3rd Battalion. The CWGC notes that this cemetery was constructed by the 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade of which the 3rd Battalion CMGC was a part. The "3/" may thus refer to 3rd Brigade as well as "3rd Bn." in this case.

Everything points to this body being that of Sergeant Land. I checked all the other Vimy Memorial Sergeants as well and there is nothing close in time or location and most certainly nothing related to "3rd". Once again I was also sent on a wild goose chase because the map coordinates were wrong.

Having read Richard's report. I do not feel the man buried in this grave is Sgt Land, 3rd CMGC for the following reasons

1. The Sergeant was buried in a mass trench grave among his comrades from the 3rd Battalion.
2. A 1st Brigade Burial Party, including one N.C.O. and 12 ranks from the 3rd Battalion buried these men. I feel that they would know their own men and could differentiate from men from the CMGC
3. The date and location was very specific to an attack launched by the 1st Brigade and the 3rd Battalion Battle of Bourlon Woods.
4. Date of death for Sgt Land is incorrect
5. Death location for Sgt. Land is far from the location of the 3rd Battalion men on the GRRF report, all recovered at the same time and buried in a trench grave.
6. I believe they would have been several closer cemetery burial location options to where Sgt. Land was found.

So who is the mystery Sergeant? My guess is that if indeed it is a Sergeant buried in this grave, then we could look at the other 1st Brigade Battalions (1st, 2nd, 4th) all of whom took part in the battle. Otherwise it could be a mis-identification situation -the man may have not been a Sergeant" at all, date was incorrect, or ?
I do not have an answer at this point but feel that all avenues should be investigated to support the details on the GRRF and the gravestone. Could our man be mentioned incorrectly on the Vimy Ridge Memorial? I believe the date is correct on the gravestone and GRRF unless proven otherwise. The dead of the 3rd Battalion KIA September 27-28, 1918 can be found HERE http://www.mediafire.com/download/1puug12ohhdfc9e/3rd_Battalion_27-28_September_1918.xlsx

Richard Laughton continues:
It is September 28th as when I first was looking at these I thought they had the 1916 war diaries in 1918 and so I went through a number of pages before I convinced myself that the Underwood had a "bad 8" that looks like a "6". A few other keys as well.

If it was Land, he was hit by a MG bullet in the head. If it was not Land and the Corporal, he was lost and missing so we have no idea what condition he was in at the time. If he got hit by the "Milton Gun" it was all over as it was firing over open sites. When I was writing that story a few years ago and read about that I always wondered how many it took out in the hours before it was captured.

There is no doubt in my mind now that it is either Sergeant Land or Corporal Paterson. The problem with Paterson is that:

1. He is not a Sergeant, unless he had a recent battlefield promotion. Even if he did, why did his men not recognize him if it was a 3rd Battalion burial party? The cemetery at Railencourt was much closer then and host to a number of other burials. That cemetery hosted a number of 3 Bn. CMGC as well who were not involved with the barrage fire units.
   
2. He was about 4,500 yards past the burial site on his path from Cagincourt ( 51b.V.9.c.6.0 ) to Haynecourt ( 51b.X.15.a.9.8 ) and north to Sans-le-Marquion (51b.W.10.c.2.0). Those are "central" codes for the communities off the trench McMaster map.

One of the leads I was following on this case was the whereabouts of Sgt. Elton Kight of the 3rd Battalion CMGC (see Where is Sgt. Elton Kight?). Well that opened a whole new CAN OF WORMS as he may not even exist and if he does he is lost!

After spending a large part of the afternoon going through PT II orders, I sadly have to report that I found absolutely nothing on Cpl. Paterson, 3rd Battalion. Appears not to have been promoted to Sergeant. He is also absent from the 83rd Battalion sailing nominal roll which is strange. The QOR Memorial Honour Roll show his date of death as 24/10/1918. So I guess he is not our man. Back to Sergeant Land I guess but I still feel his evidence is largely circumstantial until something concrete is found. Not sure the CWGC folks will buy this one.
I just read the appropriate excerpt from The History of the CMGC (abt. page 340). It appears to me that the 3rd Battalion CMGC and 3rd Infantry Division did not enter the action until morning of Sept 28 6:00am. The attack was launched from areas already captured the previous day Sept 27. Note the 1st Brigade Burial Party was despatched Sept 28 7:00am to collect dead and wounded from the previous day. To me the burial party was in action possibly before Sgt Land was killed. They would not have been collecting bodies in an active battle zone - restricted to areas captured in the previous day's action.

Our Sergeant KIA September 1918 remains a mystery!

Lieutenant Edward Slattery #457479, 3rd Battalion

Photo by Bob Richardson 2007

Born December 15, 1893 Montreal, Quebec one of nine children to parents Patrick and Elizabeth, natives of Harbor Grace, Nfld. At the time of attestation, his next of kin was listed as mother, Elizabeth, living at 437
Magdalen Street, Montreal. He was a single, laborer when he joined  A" Coy, 1st Draft of the 60th (Victoria Rifles Canada). His height was noted as 5' 6", fair complexion, blue eyes, red hair and weighing 117 lbs. Religion was shown as Roman Catholic in keeping with the family's Irish background.

Joined the 60th (Victoria Rifles of Canada) Battalion on June 18, 1915 in Montreal. He was one of 250 men assigned to "E" Company which meant that he was put in the 1st Reinforcing Draft and sent ahead of the main body of the Battalion to England on the S.S. Scandinavian from Montreal on August 27, 1915. (the full battalion left on the same vessel and port on November 6, 1915). On arrival in England, this large draft was transferred to the 23rd Reserve Battalion in Shorncliffe. Edward Slattery was then sent to the 3rd Battalion along with a number of other men from the 60th Battalion on December 1, 1915 as badly needed Valley Cemetery, Vis-en-Artois, France, grave A.10
replacements.Treated for GSW to hand June 4, 1916 #1 Canadian General Hospital, Etaples. Returned to unit June 39. Awarded the Military Medal June 1916 for actions at the Somme.Promoted to rank of Sergeant October 8, 1916. Awarded bar to Military Medal April 9, 1917 for actions at Vimy Ridge. Awarded the Distinguished Conduit Medal for gallantry actions July 1917. Sent to 1st C.O.R.D. Cadet School December 31, 1917. Given Commission January 26, 1918 rank of Lieutenant. Rejoined 3rd Battalion April 9, 1918 as Lieutenant. Awarded 2nd bar to Military Medal June 7, 1918. Killed in action August 30, 1918 in the taking of Orix Trench, Vis-en-Artois, France. He is one of 31 men from the 3rd Battalion killed that same day, buried in mass graves in beautiful

Lieutenant Edward Slattery was considered the most decorated soldier to fight in the 3rd Battalion and one of the most decorated in the entire Canadian Corps. His brother, Michael Slattery #458270, who had also enlisted in the 60th Battalion, was killed in action August 14, 1917 while in service of the 87th (Grenadier Guards of Canada) Battalion. A younger brother, 16 year old William Slattery #660815, served in the 163rd (French-Canadian) Battalion.

His attestation page and service record Library and Archives Canada can be found HERE

His page on the Veteran Affairs Canada Virtual Memorial can be found HERE

L/Sergeant John Lamb Brereton #65112, 24th Battalion

Photo by Bob Richardson 2014

Born on August 22, 1890 in Kidderminster, Worcester, England To Richard Brereton, railway goods clerk, and Eleanor Lamb. At the age of twenty-four John made his way to the U.S.A. and eventually to Canada looking for steady employment. He may have have been given a Land Grant in South Saskatchewan as he crossed from Portal, North Dakota into Saskatchewan September 1914. By October 1914 however after war was declared, John Brereton is found in Montreal enlisting into the 24th (Victoria Rifles of Canada) Battalion. He enlisted October 26, 1914 in Montreal listing his occupation as "rancher", single. 5'4" tall, fair complexion, blue eyes, light brown hair, religion Church of England.

Officially joined the 24th Battalion on November 7,1914, the day Ottawa formally authorized the battalion\s formation. They left for England on the S.S. Cameronian. May 1915.On arrival Private Brereton forfeited 1 day pay for being AWL from East Sandling on May 20. 1915. September 1 promoted to Lance Corporal.The 24th Battalion traveled to France September 15. Promoted full corporal December 12, 1915. Suffered GSW wound to right hand and fingers February 23. 1916. Rejoined unit in field April 6, 1916. Appointed Lance Sergeant April 11, 1915. Granted 8 days leaves May 2. 1916. Killed in action May 23, 1916.

Killed in action May 23, 1916. The battalion war diary for that day nor the Circumstances of Casualty form include any details which is fairly strange. Lance Sergeant John Lamb Brereton is buried in Wysschaete Military Cemetery, grave IA.E.7

His page on the Veteran Affairs Canada Virtual Memorial can be found HERE 
His attestation paper and service record can be found on Library and Archives Canada HERE

Private John Campbell #64036, 14th Battalion

Photo by Bob Richardson

Born August 5, 1985 Perth, Scotland to Mrs. Margaret Campbell and husband 1 Ishaffay Street, Perth. At the time of enlistment in 1914, John was working as a single stone mason in Quebec. He was 5'4 1/2' tall had fair complexion, brown eyes, poor teeth and and sandy hair. His religion was Presbyterian. Next of kin was his mother.Very strangely, he attested on the very last day just before the 23rd Battalion was entraining for Halifax, February, 1915.

Enlisted February 17. 19115 to the 23rd Battalion in /Quebec City before heading for Halifax. Perhaps this was his ticket home? The 23rd Battalion arrived in Shorncliffe England ultimately being broken up for reinforcements. John Campblee was given 4 days Field Punishment #2 and loss of pay for being absent from billets without leave. May 13, sent to 14th. Battalion. Killed in action December 15, 1915.

"KIA- Instantly killed by an enemy shell which hit the dugout which he was occupying". Buried in La Plus Douve Farm Cemetery, gave # II.C.2

Private Edward James Lock #9331, 3rd Battalion

Photo by Bob Richardson  2014

Born on May 5, 1886 in Compton, Quebec to Ernest Charles and Mary Lock, of Compton, Quebec. According to Private Lock's attestation paper, he was single, working as a tailor in Toronto, a member of the 2rd Regiment Queen's Own Rifles militia for six years. He was 5'9" tall, had dark complexion, blue eyes and black hair, religion was Baptist.

Pte Lock and Sgt Slater, Ploegsteert
Wood, winter 1915-16

Enlisted in the 3rd (Toronto) Battalion Valcartier, Quebec on September 22, 1914. He accompanied this battalion in the 1st Contingent , 1st Brigade on the S.S. Tunisian training the winter of 1914-15 in Bustard Camp on the Salisbury Plain in England. Private Lock forfeited 2 days pay on December 14, 1914 for "being absent without leave". On arrival in Armemtieres, France February 21, 1915 Edward Lock was given 2 MONTHS Field Punishment No.1 for Pt II No.4 "drunkenness". Apparently Private Lock survived the battles of 1915; 2nd Ypres, Festubert and Givenchy unscathed. August 28, 1915 attached to 3rd Field Company, Canadian Engineers, returning to 3rd Battalion October 7. He was given 9 nine days leave of absence on November 22, 1915. Assigned to 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade Wirers December 5. Returned to 3rd Battalion January 9, 1916. In trouble again on returning from leave given four days F.P. #1 December 6 for "Insolence to an N.C.O.". Finally  on January 10, 1916, Private Lock was given "14 days F.P. #1 for (1) Disobedience to a routine order (2) giving a false name (#) when in confinement escaping on 30.12.15". Killed in action February 11, 1916.

Killed in action February 11, 1916. Although the mention was made that he was taken to a dressing station, he possibly died en route. The casualty sheet in his service file states "Killed while wiring in front of trench, bullet through the abdomen". Buried in Wulverghem-Lindenhoek Road Military Cemetery, grave I.E.34

3rd Battalion War Diaries
Thursday, February 10, 1916
Location: TEA FARM
Entry: Capt ALLEY returned from leave. Pte. LOCK[E] killed while wiring. Pte. SORENSEM wounded by a stray while on working party.
Weather fine.

Friday, February 11, 1916
Location: TEA FARM
Entry: Capt. HUTCHESON returned from leave. Pte LOCK[E] buried.
Weather rainy.

His page on the Veterans Affairs Canada Virtual Memorial can be found HERE
His attestation paper can be found on the Library and Archives Canada database can be found HERE


Thanks to Marika Pirie Toronto Star clipping December 6, 1915

Private John Bradeen #812161, 85th Battalion

Photo by Bob Richardson 2014

Born April 1, 1887 in Page, Nebraska to parents of German origin living in Berlin, (Otoe) Nebraska. In the 1911 Canadian Census, John Bradeen and his brother, Jake, are living and working in Edmonton, Alberta. In 1913, there were a series of devastating tornadoes that leveled the town and resulted in many deaths. It is possible that John parents perished at that time. See HERE. According to his attestation paper, John was married to Gertrude Irene, living at 12244-104th Street, Edmonton, occupation farmer. He was 5'6" tall, had fair complexion, blue eyes and fair hair. Religion was Church of England.

Joined the 138th  (Edmonton) Battalion in Edmonton on April 3, 1916. He was transferred to the 113th (Lethbridge Highlanders) before leaving Canada. Departed with the 113th on the S.S. Tuscania arriving England October 6, 1916. On arrival the entire 113th Battalion was transferred into te 17th Reserve Battalion in East Sandling.On December 11, 1916, John Bradeen was sent to the CASC Depot in Shorncliffe. He was transferred to the 85th Battalion July 4, 1917. Listed as missing in action October 30, 1917. The next day, October 31, was confirmed as killed in action in the taking of Passchendaele, the previous day.

Killed in action October 30, 1917 in Pacchendaele. Found by battlefield clearances and buried in Tyne Cot Cemetery, grave II.J.2.

His page on the Veteran Affairs Canada Virtual Memorial can be found HERE
His attestation page and service file can be found on the Library and Archives Canada site HERE