Month: November 2017

In honour of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment’s role in the Cambrai offensive from 20 November – 6 December 1917, today’s slang term is “Blue Puttee”.

Following the outbreak of war in 1914, Newfoundland suddenly found itself needing to clothe hundreds of volunteers, without having a stock of uniforms, nor even the proper fabric to make their own. In desperation, the Patriotic Association’s Equipment Committee hired local clothing manufacturers to create uniforms, underwear, ground sheets and blankets as quickly as possible (Nicholson, The Fighting Newfoundlander, p. 110). Without any khaki wool available for making puttees, navy blue fabric was used instead.

As a result, the five hundred troops of the Newfoundland Regiment’s First Contingent left St. John’s in October 1914 wearing blue puttees. They would be the only Newfoundlanders to be equipped with puttees in this colour and thus, it became a badge of honour.

Consequently, ‘to be a “Blue Puttee” was to be a member of the famous First Five Hundred’ (Nicholson, The Fighting Newfoundlander, p. 110).

For many years after the war, veterans of the Newfoundland Regiment – proud “Blue Puttees” – gathered annually on 4 October, marking the anniversary of the First Five Hundred’s departure from St. John’s in 1914. взять деньги в долг на карту

On this day in 1917, having massed their forces, the Germans counter-attack the Cambrai offensive. At one point on the line, four British divisions face nine German divisions. Striking hard from the east, the Germans intend to drive in the British flank and then turn north, sweeping the entire salient clear. Caught off-guard, the Newfoundland Regiment is rushed forward as desperate fighting breaks out all along the line.

With only one night of rest, on the morning of 30 November the Newfoundland Regiment is sent to relieve a unit in front of Masnières. Caught in the opening barrage before the German counter-attack, the Newfoundland companies are sent forward individually, entrusted to make their own way to the assembly point.

Coming upon Marcoing Copse, expecting to meet fellow 88th Brigade units, the Newfoundlanders instead stumble upon advancing Germans. Breaking into a charge, a wild melee takes place at bayonet point and the Newfoundlanders steadily roll back the German advance, in concert with the other 88th Brigade units to the south. In the midst of this, Brigade Major, Captain J. K. McConnell gallops up and down the line, riding bareback on a horse, directing the defense (Nicholson, The Fighting Newfoundlander, p. 420). By the end of 30 November, the 88th Brigade had pushed back the enemy almost a mile. But the Newfoundlanders suffer heavily, losing one officer and 130 other ranks.

The next day was marked by enemy machine gunning and sniper fire as the Commonwealth forces desperately dug in to their precarious positions along the St. Quentin Canal. For now the situation was saved, but within twenty-four hours, another German counter-attack would re-ignite the crisis.

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“We Have Passed From Death Unto Life Because We Love The Brethren”

Epitaph of Private Ernest Fisher, Regimental No. 3516, Royal Newfoundland Regiment, 29 November 1917 (age 18).

Ernest, a butcher from St. John’s, enlisted on 6 March 1917. He landed at Rouen, France on 27 September 1917, making his way to the Newfoundland Regiment as they prepared for the Battle of Poelcappelle in early October.

Taking part in the Battle of Cambrai, Ernest was wounded on 21 November 1917 and admitted to the 21st Casualty Clearing Station with gunshot wounds to the chest. He died eight days later from his wounds on 29 November 1917.

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“We gave our son. He gave his all.”

Epitaph of Second Lieutenant James John Tobin, Regimental No. 69, Royal Newfoundland Regiment, 20 November 1917 (age 24).

James enlisted on 2 September 1914 with the Newfoundland Regiment, leaving his $10-per-week job as a barber. He landed at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli in September 1915. After the evacuation of Commonwealth forces from Suvla Bay in December 1915, he was admitted directly to hospital in England with jaundice. In July 1917 he was married by proxy to a Mrs. Margaret in Quebec City. Just four months later, 2nd Lt. James John Tobin was killed during the Cambrai offensive, leaving behind his new wife and child.

James’ wife was employed in Quebec City as a nurse for the children of a Mr. A.J. Price of the Quebec-based Price Brothers & Co. lumber sawmill and pulp and paper giant. In December 1917, Mr. A.J. Price wrote to the Deputy Colonial Secretary of Newfoundland to inquire “what pension she and her child will get from the Newfoundland Government”, as Mrs. Tobin’s grief was such that she was unable to deal with her late-husband’s affairs.

James’ brother Walter Tobin also enlisted with the Newfoundland Regiment, but survived the war. In 1918, James’ wife moved to live with his mother in Boston, Massachusetts.

Second Lieutenant James John Tobin is buried in Marcoing British Cemetery, Nord, France.

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One of the many casualties suffered by the Newfoundland Regiment during the Cambrai offensive was their leading sniper, Lance-Corporal John Shiwak. An Inuk from Labrador, Shiwak was killed along with nine other Newfoundlanders by a lone shell as the regiment moved into reserve at the end of 20 November 1917.

Prior to the war, Shiwak had met and befriended a writer, Lacey Amy, who convinced Shiwak to keep a diary. In a last letter to Lacey before his death, Shiwak longed for home, his family and hunting community : “There will be no more letters from them until the ice breaks,” he wrote (Nicholson, The Fighting Newfoundlander, p. 416).

In a tribute to Shiwak following his death, Lacey wrote:

“He had earned his long rest… Out there in lonesome Snipers’ Land he lay, day after day; and the cunning that made him a hunter of fox, and marten, and otter, and bear, and wolf brought to him better game. And all he ever asked was: “When will the war be over?” Only then would he return to his huskies and traps where few men dare a life of ice for a living almost as cold. John Shiwak – Eskimo – patriot.”

(Nicholson, The Fighting Newfoundlander, p. 416-417).

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On this day in 1917, members of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment and Canadian Cavalry Brigade distinguish themselves in the attack on Cambrai. Amongst the Newfoundlanders, two earn Distinguished Conduct Medals, another a Military Medal, a fourth the Bar to his Military Cross, and the fifth, a Distinguished Service Order. From the Canadian Cavalry Brigade, Lieutenant Harcus Strachan of the Fort Garry Horse earns Canada another Victoria Cross.

The Newfoundlanders joined the British Third Army’s attack on Cambrai two and a half hours after the initial start, forming the left flank of the 88th Brigade’s diamond formation, which was led by four tanks. At first the advance took place “in an almost leisurely manner over unspoiled fields” with knee high grass, thistles and nettles replacing the usual mud and shell-holes (Nicholson, The Fighting Newfoundlander, p. 411). The few enemy positions that had survived the first wave of attack were quickly overcome.

However, the horrors of war would soon re-appear. When B Company was halted by machine gun fire, it was eventually found to be coming from a disabled British tank. Inside, the tank sergeant had suffered half his face being shot away and was in a state of madness from the horrific death of his comrades and the terrible heat within the tank. In his miserable state, he “was firing indiscriminately at any living target he could see” (Nicholson, The Fighting Newfoundlander, p. 412). As the Newfoundlanders attempted to speak to him through the open tank door, the sergeant was struck by an enemy bullet and killed.

Captain Grant Paterson, MC & Bar
Company Sergeant-Major Albert Janes, DCM
Sergeant Albert Davis, DCM
Company Quartermaster-Sergeant Ernest Cheeseman, MM

Three other men received honours for their actions during the fighting at the footbridge and lock. Company Sergeant-Major Albert Janes was one of the first to cross to the far side of the canal, receiving the Distinguished Conduct Medal. Sergeant Albert Davis received the Distinguished Conduct Medal after he “had kept his company moving by running forward alone and killing two snipers” (Nicholson, The Fighting Newfoundlander, p. 414). Lastly, Company Quartermaster-Sergeant Ernest Cheeseman, received the Military Medal for courageous leadership amidst the fighting for the footbridge.

Captain Bertram Butler, DSO, MC

Now on the far side of the canal, the Newfoundlanders prepared to dash from the shelter of a building to the railway tracks, sixty yards away. Several attempts to cover this ground were halted by heavy machine gun fire and severe casualties before Captain Butler, M.C., rallied his men and charged forward, “followed by cheering Newfoundlanders” (Nicholson, The Fighting Newfoundlander, p. 413). The enemy position was eliminated and the now-wounded Butler received the Distinguished Service Order for his actions.

Now entirely across the canal and with their left flank secured, the Newfoundlanders turned to their right to help capture Masnières. However, enemy fire from positions in old gun pits north of the railway tracks soon drew the Newfoundlanders’ attention for the remainder of the afternoon, with fighting by rifle, bomb and bayonet carrying on until daylight ran out (Nicholson, The Fighting Newfoundlander, p. 414). Overnight, mopping-up parties moved through Masnières, clearing out all resistance except for in the north of the town and a small party still in the catacombs at its centre (Nicholson, The Fighting Newfoundlander, p. 415).

Lieutenant Harcus Strachan, VC, MC

East of Masnières, the 88th Brigade’s Hampshire Regiment and Worcestershire Regiment had gained the far bank of the St. Quentin Canal, and the Worcesters were now advancing on the town from the east, while the Newfoundlanders closed in from the west. The outcome of the attack on Masnières was still uncertain when the Canadian Cavalry Brigade received erroneous reports that the 88th Brigade had captured all its objectives on the far side of the canal. Sensing the opportunity for a cavalry breakout, Brigadier General J. E. B. Seely ordered the Fort Garry Horse (FGH) across the canal.

Having sped off towards a ridge overlooking Masnières, “B” Squadron was beyond reach of the orders to turn back and would now face the enemy alone. Their initial orders had been to capture an enemy headquarters and scout ahead for crossings of a further canal. Captain Campbell was soon killed whilst leading a charge through a gap in the enemy wire and command fell to Lieutenant Harcus Strachan. Quickly encountering an enemy artillery battery, “B” Squadron charged the guns, eliminating the entire battery by saber and hoof. Spotting enemy infantry in the open beyond, Strachan turned his men and charged these as well, eliminating many but also losing many of his own men from heavy machine gun fire.

For his actions and leadership that day at Cambrai, Lieutenant Harcus Strachan received the Victoria Cross. He already held a Military Cross for his actions at St. Quentin in May 1917.

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On this day in 1917 (20 November), the Royal Newfoundland Regiment and Canadian Cavalry Brigade take part in the launch of the massive Commonwealth attack on Cambrai. Labelled “The Great Experiment”, the attack foregoes the typical artillery bombardment, and instead relies on advanced surveying and range-finding to launch a sudden furious barrage at the hour of attack. Trundling into this are nearly 300 tanks, followed by infantry deploying aggressive fire and movement tactics. The next major offensive on the Western Front was now underway.

“The Great Experiment”

Like the Canadian Corps, the Newfoundland Regiment had fought at Passchendaele in the fall of 1917. After only a short rest period the Regiment was sent back to France near the town of Cambrai. An important supply point on the German Hindenburg Line, Cambrai was the site of the next British attack after the end of Haig’s long and draining Passchendaele Offensive.  

The attack by the British Third Army, organised by General Julian Byng of Vimy fame, would make use of combined infantry and artillery, with the second major deployment of Haig’s mystery weapon of 1916 – the tank – alongside the Cavalry Corps. Now in sufficient numbers to be massed together, over 200 tanks were to be used to break the Hindenberg Line.  

Launched early in the morning, the massed artillery, machine guns, and tanks quickly overwhelmed the German frontline positions. Placed in a follow-up wave, the Newfoundland Regiment pressed forward with the other units of the 88th Brigade. Meanwhile the Canadian Cavalry Brigade (CCB) waited for the opportunity to attack across the open ground that was to be cleared by the infantry.  

Initially, Cambrai was a great success. The British Army advanced further in one day than the entire Passchendaele campaign, and everything seemed to be going well until the first German counter-attack. Unfortunately, the CCB was stuck until mid-afternoon on 20 November waiting for an improvised bridge to be constructed for their horses, and the Third Army had almost no reserves. This weakness began to show as the battle dragged on, and on 29 November the expected German counter-attack pushed the exhausted Third Army back towards their starting position. On 4 December, Byng carried out a fighting retreat to a position along the Hindenburg Line, where the army was to wait out the winter. 

Losses were heavy for both the Newfoundland Regiment and the Canadian Cavalry Brigade; total Third Army losses were over 40 000 killed, wounded and missing. By the night of November 29, the Newfoundland Regiment had only 8 officers and 230 other ranks left.  The Battle of Cambrai lasts from 20 November – 7 December 1917.

Technological Advancements

-General Byng attempted the combination of artillery, infantry, tanks, and mobile cavalry that would be so successful during the Hundred Days Offensive in 1918. There were a lot of moving parts, and not all of them worked as they should, particularly the tanks and cavalry; however, Byng realised that combined attacks were what would win the war.

-The initial attack marked the first use of tanks en masse, with over 200 from the newly formed Tank Corps functioning as an independent unit in coordination with the infantry, rather than suborned to it.  

-The artillery approach at Cambrai was reconfigured, with no preliminary registering of the guns other than survey calculations. As a result, the creeping barrage opened up with no prior warning, gaining surprise, but at the loss of accuracy. The infantry was to advance behind the tanks, which was supposed to protect them from accidental friendly fire.

Notables

The courage and sacrifice displayed by the Newfoundlanders during the Cambrai offensive resulted in a number of medals and awards being awarded to individual members of the Regiment. A member of the Canadian Cavalry Brigade also received the Victoria Cross.

Please click on the hyperlinks in the men’s names for further reading about their lives and actions at Cambrai in 1917.

Lance Corporal John Shiwak, was an Inuk from Rigolet, Labrador and one of the Newfoundland Regiment’s snipers. He was killed on 20 November 1917, by a direct hit from a German shell that killed nine other men. Shiwak corresponded with the journalist William Lacey Amy, who had encouraged him to keep a diary while at the front.  

Lieutenant Harcus Strachan, VC, MC, served with the Fort Garry Horse, and received a Victoria Cross after leading “B” Squadron through the enemy lines when their Captain was killed, eliminating an enemy field gun battery and numerous infantry parties along the way. Strachan survived the war and returned to Alberta where he lived until his death in 1982.

Captain Grant Paterson, MC & Bar
Company Sergeant-Major Albert Janes, DCM
Sergeant Albert Davis, DCM
Company Quartermaster-Sergeant Ernest Cheeseman, MM
Captain Bertram Butler, DSO, MC

Download our poster about the centennial anniversary of Cambrai. 

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On this day in 1917, the Canadian Corps’ launches the final phase of the Battle of Passchendaele. With the subsequent capture of the high ground at Vindictive Crossroads and Hill 52, the Passchendaele offensive comes to an end. On the final day, another 1094 Canadians become casualties, including 420 dead. In total, Canada suffers 15,654 casualties in the Battle of Passchendaele (Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force – 1914 – 1919, p. 327).

One hundred years later, such mud, misery and destruction still endures as the world’s collective memory of that horrific patch of land.

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No one knows how much I miss you
No one knows the bitter pain
I have suffered since I lost you.
Life has never been the same.
In my heart your memory lingers
Sweetly tender, fond and true
There is not a day, dear Gordon
That I do not think of you.

Clifton Gordon Carpenter was born in 1898 in Montreal, Quebec. His father, Silas, served as the first chief of Montreal’s detective force before moving the family to Alberta in 1912. As a young man, Gordon was an avid sportsmen, who curled, skated, played hockey and baseball and loved the outdoors. (Note – he went by his second name, even signing his attestation papers as Gordon Clifton Carpenter).

When war broke out, Gordon’s height seemed to mark him for military service, so much so that he would be stopped on the street and asked why he wasn’t in the army. Consequently, in November 1915, Gordon enlisted with the 82nd Battalion in Calgary, lying about his age (he was only 17). In his diary he noted that training in Calgary was lonesome, without family to visit. Before heading east, he was able to make final visits with his family in Banff, and even stopped off in Montreal to see relatives.

Once in England, his diary talks of training, visits to Folkestone, Shorncliffe, and Hythe to go to the movies and out for meals, and playing baseball. Eventually, through a number of reinforcement drafts, Gordon joined the 1st (Western Ontario) Battalion in late-April 1917. In September 1917 he was promoted to Sergeant, following the death of a Sergeant Adam Young, Service Number 406219 (presumably Gordon’s predecessor). He was sent to a Canadian Corps School and rejoined the battalion on 3 November 1917.

Only three days later, on 6 November 1917, during the third phase of the Canadian Corps’ attack at Passchendaele, the 1st Battalion advanced on the village of Mosselmarkt. Sadly, just as the final objectives were gained by the Canadians, an enemy shell struck Gordon, killing him instantly. In the mud and destruction of the Passchendaele battlefield, Clifton Gordon Carpenter’s body was never recovered, and he is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial To The Missing.

As one of the missing, Gordon’s family never had the opportunity to provide an epitaph on a tombstone for him. However, his grief-stricken mother, who was never able to come to terms with losing her son, did make an undated entry in her personal diary, perhaps to serve as the lasting epitaph she was never able to set in stone:

No one knows how much I miss you
No one knows the bitter pain
I have suffered since I lost you.
Life has never been the same.
In my heart your memory lingers
Sweetly tender, fond and true
There is not a day, dear Gordon
That I do not think of you.

Clifton Gordon Carpenter’s story was brought to our attention by his family, who hoped to help commemorate both the centenary of his death and the Battle of Passchendaele. All family notes, diary details and photographs come from the family collection.

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On 6 November 1917, the 1st and 2nd Canadian Divisions entered the attack on Passchendaele, having relieved the 3rd and 4th Canadian Divisions on the Blue Line during the night of 4-5 November. The objectives for 6 November now included the village of Passchendaele itself and the smaller hamlets of Mosselmarkt and Goudberg, encompassed within the boundaries of the Green Line. Once again, the mud made its presence felt, with Canadians having to advance through the knee or waist deep morass (Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919, p. 324). All the while, in the skies above, pilots from either side strafed each other’s infantry. (Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919, p. 324).

Despite all this, the Canadians advanced with great speed. At Mosselmarkt, surprise gained the surrender of four officers and 50 other ranks from a threatening pillbox and the Green Line was secured in only two hours (Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919, p. 324). To the south, within three hours Passchendaele village was captured, aided by Private James Robertson, who received a posthumous Victoria Cross for his actions. By day’s end, Canadian casualties numbered 2238, of which 734 were killed in action or died of wounds (Nicholson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919, p. 325). Two more Canadians earned the Victoria Cross for their actions, bringing the Canadian total to nine from the Battle of Passchendaele.

Colin Fraser Barron was born in Mill of Boyndie, Banffshire, Scotland, emigrating to Canada in 1910. He worked in Toronto as a teamster before enlisting on 11 January 1915 with the 35th Battalion.

On 31 July 1915 he joined the 3rd (Toronto Regiment) Battalion as a reinforcement in France. His first year in France was littered with illness, being hospitalized with bronchitis, a foot infection, gastroenteritis (infectious diarrhea), and then gonorrhea. On 24 April 1917 he finally rejoined his unit with an extended period of good health and by 22 August 1917 was promoted to Corporal.

On 6 November 1917, the 3rd Battalion was tasked with protecting the Canadian Corps’ left flank in the north. Three-hundred and fifty yards south-east of Vapour Farm, where George Randolph Pearke’s little band of fighters had held firm on 30 October 1917, the Germans had another strongpoint at the Vine Cottages. Before the 3rd Battalion could reach the Goudberg Spur, the Vine Cottages would have to be captured.

Just as they had on 30 October, the swamp lands of the Lekkerboterbeek tributaries created an isolated, bitter struggle, as Barron’s company went in against the Vine Cottages alone. When the Canadians came under tremendous fire from no less than six machine guns, Corporal Barron worked his way around to a flank. Assuming a position out in the open, Barron set his Lewis gun down and let loose a stream of accurate fire, methodically knocking out one enemy crew after the other. With two crews eliminated, Barron charged forward with his bayonet, eliminating four more of the enemy and setting the rest off in retreat before his platoon could catch up with him. Seizing one of the enemy machine guns, Barron turned it around and caught the retreating enemy in the open with devastating fire. The Vine Cottages strongpoint was now in Canadian hands, and Goudberg Spur would soon follow.

For his actions that day, Colin Fraser Barron was awarded the Victoria Cross. He would survive the war, ending the war with the rank of Sergeant. Barron later re-enlisted at the outbreak of the Second World War, serving with the Royal Regiment of Canada. He would survive that war as well, passing away in Toronto in 1958.

James Peter Robertson was born in Picton County, Nova Scotia in 1883. He was nearly 32 years old and working as a railroad engineer in Alberta when he enlisted on 14 June 1915. In England by the summer of 1916, he was taken on strength by Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians), but within two months had been sent to the 11th Reserve Infantry Battalion. Within two weeks he was sent as a reinforcement to the 27th (City of Winnipeg) Battalion, joining the unit in France in November 1916.

Robertson would prove to be a difficult soldier, with his service file recording some of his more eventful moments overseas. Shortly after his arrival in France, he was hospitalized with suspected influenza, which soon developed to ulceration of the tongue. When these ailments failed to heal by the second week of December, it was quickly identified as syphilis, and Robertson was punished, forfeiting his field allowance of 50 cents per day for the duration of his hospitalization (54 days). Robertson’s troubles didn’t end there. In July 1917 he was docked three days pay for disobeying the order of a senior officer by being in an estaminet during prohibited hours. Then in September 1917 he received 10 days field punishment for drunkenness.

On 6 November 1917, Robertson was free of disciplinary action and back with his Battalion, taking part in the attack on the village of Passchendaele. When his platoon’s advance was checked by uncut wire and enemy machine gun fire, Robertson slipped through an opening to the flank. Charging the gun alone, he eliminated four of the crew in a desperate melee. Taking hold of the machine gun he had just captured, Robertson turned it around and fired on the now retreating enemy. He then led his platoon’s advance against the final objective with the captured machine gun in his arms, using it again to eliminate retreating groups of the enemy. Later in the day, two Canadian snipers were wounded while out in front of the trench. Disregarding the danger, Robertson climbed out and carried the first wounded man to safety. Returning for the second, Robertson was seen to fall, presumably wounded, but regained his feet and hoisted the wounded sniper. Just as he was reaching relative safety with the second man, a shell exploded nearby and Robertson was killed instantly.

For his actions that day, James Peter Robertson was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. Provided a field burial, his body was later exhumed and re-buried in Tyne Cot Cemetery.

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