Perth Courier - World War I.
supplied by Christine M. Spencer of Northwestern University, Evanston, Il., USA.
Lanark County
,
World War I
Document #3
Drummer Lindsay G. McCarthy, 59th Battalion, Calgary, eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. George McCarthy, formerly of Perth—a photo was in this issue of the Courier of Drummer Lindsay with the above as a caption under the photo.
Another photo in this issue of Private F. G.
Carr—“Private F. G. Carr of
William R. Clark, youngest son of Samuel Clark of
Capt. Jack Hope is getting quite the lengthy marches at Barriefield and the last march was about 16 miles. This would certainly be a fatigue producer but such work is necessary for the complete training of the Canadian troops.
Dean Starr of
The latest returns in
connection with Canadian prisoners of war in all parts of
The Red Cross Room will be open every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon to receive jam for the soldiers. A good response is expected.
Rev. T. F. Dowdall, M.A., Rector of Trinity Church, Middleville, has been asked by the militia department to accept the chaplaincy of one of the Canadian overseas regiments. He has not decided whether or not to accept this honor.
Major J. E. deHertel and Captain E. J. Watt are recruiting agents for the 42nd Regiment for Perth and Smith’s Falls.
Harry Warren returned on Thursday of last week from a trip to Calgary. He went to Calgary to see his brother Joseph Warren, who is in the Calgary Army Medical Corps and is leaving for the front in two weeks time. While in Calgary, Harry visited Banff the famous mountain resort near Calgary and he says it is certainly worthwhile to see.
Another Perth boy to joint the ranks is Fred McCallum, of the Merchants Bank, Calgary. He has joined the 50th Battalion, A Company and expects to leave for England in a short time. Mr. McCallum, in a letter to his parents in town, Mr. and Mrs. Neil McCallum says they were getting a number in Calgary going to the front and he thought he would do his “bit” also.
Allan Code, son of Mr. T.A. Code was in Ottawa last week and received a commission with the 42nd Regiment Mechanical Transport Services and will leave for the Toronto instruction camp on receiving further orders.
A lady in town received an interesting letter this week from Private Mattie Donohue, formerly of Perth, who is now with the 48th Battalion at Shorncliffe, England in which he states he met his sister whom he had not seen in 29 years. Mattie joined the battalion at Victoria, B.C. He has been away from Perth for some years and his many acquaintances hope he will survive the sufferings and ill fortunes of the present conflict.
Major A. Clyde Caldwell, R.C.E., is going to the front to fight for the Empire and has been raised to the rank of Lt. Colonel and as such will be in command of the battalion of engineers which is training at Ottawa. Lt. Col. Caldwell, who is the eldest son of Mrs. W. C. Caldwell of Lanark, made his last public appearance as aide-de-camp to Lt. Gov. Henrie at the military review held at the Toronto Exhibition on Thursday last. Era.
John Hartney, son of Mr. James Hartney of town, who has been in Ottawa for some time, has enlisted with the 32nd Battalion, A Company.
Gunner Ross Brown, formerly of Perth, is now with the 25th (?) 26th (?) Battalion of the 7th Brigade at Otterpool, Kent, England.
Lt. Basil Morris, son of Major Morris of Pembroke has been appointed machine gun officer for the 59th Battalion at Barriefield. He attended the school of machine gunnery for some time.
Adjutant Watson, former manager of the Bank of Commerce at Smith’s Falls, and Lt. Gilroy, formerly postmaster in that town, are training at Barriefield Camp, Kingston.
D. G. Bonell, who some time ago was arrested for stealing bicycle accoutrements from a store in Almonte, was before Judge Scott on Tuesday and was let go on a suspended sentence on the understanding that he would enlist. He later passed the medical exam and joined the 59th Battalion at Barriefield. C. J. Foy was the defendant’s lawyer with Crown Attorney Shaw prosecuting.
Thomas Brown has resigned his position as boss dyer in the Clyde Woolen Mills at Lanark and will leave early next month for his old home in Selkirk, Scotland where he intends enlisting in Kitchener’s Army. Tom left after for Newark, N.J. to visit relatives but will return here before leaving for the old country. Era.
Messrs Stanley and Jack Joss of Almont, brothers of James and Frank Joss of Lanark have enlisted with the 73rd Highlanders of Montreal. Archie McLean, who was employed as painter here this summer with James Joss has jointed the band of the 77th in Ottawa. Era
Following are names of former Perth boys who have enlisted. This list could be greatly enlarged if all who know of Perth boys enlisting from outside points would be so kind as to send in their names, where they enlisted and what branch of service they are in.
Signallor William R. Clarke, Edmonton, 63rd Battalion
Dr. W. H. Lambert, New Westminster, B.C., Army Medical Corps
Fred McCallum, Calgary, 50th Battalion, A Co.
W. H. Moore, Toronto, 15th Battery, reported missing
David Carson, 51st Battalion
J. Reginald Webb, 38th Battalion, in Bermuda
Lt. George Bothwell, Edmunton, 51st Battalion
Private Harmon Warren, Edmonton
Private Fred Morris, Edmonton, 63rd Battalion
Private W. Morris, Edmonton, 63rd Battalion
Private Mattie Donohue, Vancouver B.C., 48th Battalion at Shorncliffe
Ross Brown, not known where he enlisted from
Richard Leighton of Harper, with the telegraphy service
Arthur Johnston left for Barriefield Camp, Kingston
on Thursday last where he will be a drummer in the bugle band for the 80th
Battalion now being organized by Sgt. John Enright.
Norman Miller was in town over the weekend. He is at Barriefield Camp with the 32nd Battery Field Artillery. He expects to be in a draft of soldiers from Barriefield leaving for the front in October.
The casualty list of Sept. 16 contains the name of Gunner Stanley Strickland, severely wounded. Stanley is connected with the 2nd Field Artillery Brigade and was last reported to be in Boulogne from where, it is expected, he will be moved to England as soon as his condition permits.
Gunner John Hartney of the 32nd Battery, Barriefield Camp, spent the weekend at his home in town. He expects to leave with a detachment for Europe on Thanksgiving Day.
Following is an extract from a letter received from Captain Hooper in which he says that Archie Sinclair fell. In all probability he was wounded and was picked up on the field by the Germans and taken as prisoner. Miss Dennistoun, who is at present in London, England, informed Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair recently of the exact whereabouts of Archie in Germany which were given in last week’s Courier. The letter below is dated 25th August.
Your very welcome letter of 25th July was received today. This is the quickest I have had yet. I have had one from Mrs. Simons and one from Mrs. Fairbairn. They are really pathetic but I know nothing. I charged and we took a bush in front of our position and also a house on the morning of the 24th April. I saw that we would be surrounded and sent back word to that effect. I got back word to hold the position at all costs. Later on in the morning I saw it was hopeless so reduced my garrison to 20 and later to ten men and myself. We were well protected and held them off until after 4:00 pm. On the 24th April at 3:30 pm every one of the 11 of us were either dead or wounded and half an hour later our ammunition gave out. Once we stopped firing they charged us in overwhelming numbers and all was over. Ormsby saved my life two times but at last went down; Sinclair of Perth stuck with me after I was first wounded but he went down too. However, we know that we gave those in the rear time to entrench and that Cullings’ Co. was saved from certain death. You can understand that there was no time to remember who fell and who did not, whether they were seriously wounded or not, in fact I am anxiously waiting for the list of casualties which I wrote asking for so that I may know what happened to each one. Simon, I think, got away with the second lot but Fairbairn I am pretty sure was with me to the last. I am the only Canadian here and if you can get the address in Germany of Corp. W. Elliott of Renfrew he can tell more about who is alive than I can. On the list of English missing I saw yesterday I see I am listed missing but I assure you I am very much alive.
According to reports, Renfrew boys may be participating in the recent “drive” on the western front, however it is not authentic. Messrs Neil Stewart, W. Stewart, Alex Young and George Walker are the ones reported to have been on the firing line southwest of Ypres.
Dr. F. W. Lees (?) of Vancouver, formerly of Fallbrook, who went to school in Perth, left for the front recently with the British Colombia Hospital Corps. While in Perth, he held the rank of Lt. in the 42nd and later obtained the rank of Captain with the Vancouver regiment. John O’Brien of Vancouver and formerly of Perth has also enlisted with the Duke of Connaught’s Own Rifles at Vancouver.
Experiences of the soldier—Sgt. Thomas McClement was in town last Friday night, having arrived on board ship in Montreal from England along with 106 invalided soldiers from Europe. His home is in Newboro and he was one of the first to enlist with the 42nd and left Perth fairgrounds about a year ago bound for Valcartier Camp and later for the front. Sgt. McClement has certainly seen his share of the fighting. He was in five of the “big fights” as he says. He has seven bullet wounds in his right leg and three in his left leg and at the Ypres engagement he says he was “gassed” along with many of the boys and thought his days were over. He says “we were banging away with all our might when we suddenly saw a great cloud similar to smoke came rolling towards us. We did not know what to make of it. But we had very little time to think before it was upon us and our eyes started to smart and we could not get our breath we were all choked up. In no time a great many of the boys went down over it. I came through alive but not without getting my share of it.” Sgt. McClement’s lungs and voice are greatly impaired, and he speaks like one with a heavy cold and especially in the morning he can speak very little above a whisper and his eyes are affected—such is the effect of the gas. He walks with a decided limp as a result of the bullet wounds but he says “I will recover from my wounds but that gas, that ‘s the worst yet”. He describes the feeling on the eyes of the gas as much like the forces arising from the onion when it is being peeled and the effect on the lungs is like breathing the fumes from burning sulphur only worse. Sgt. McClermont was under the command of Captain Hooper and fought side by side with Lt. Clyde Scott and while Archie Sinclair was further down the line and he was not well acquainted with him. He says: “it was in the Battle of LaChappelle that Scott and Hoper went down. The old 42nd charged and we took a bush in front of our position and a house and held our position for a time but they were gradually making ground on us and would in time surround us so part of our number retired leaving Captain Hooper in the house with a bunch of men and Clyde Scott was also with him. It was not long before it was all up with the boys in the house and they were taken but they held it long enough for us to trench in the rear”. According to a letter received from Captain Hooper Archie Sinclair was also one of the number in the house when it was take. Sgt. McClermont has nothing but praise for Captain Hooper “he is the best captain ever. When a fellow was down he would tear the pack off his back and help him along and he always was in the thick of the fight”. In the first hand to hand fight Sgt. McClermont was in, he killed five Germans without taking a breath—it was do or die. While in France he happened in to a school house one day and found three children lying dead on the floor. One of the teachers had on her desk a silver cross and he has it as a memento. Sgt. McClermont was offered $100 for the cross by a man in Canada but he did not want to part with it. He has several other mementos from the battlefield. He says that the German soldiers who are taking the brunt of the fighting now are not as well trained as the ones who were fighting when the war first started. The best trained German soldiers that were in the first six months of the war have gradually fallen and their places have been taken by less experienced men. “There is no getting by it” says Sgt. McClermont “the first German troops at the beginning of the war were soldiers from start to finish. They had the best of guns and they were well trained but times are changing”. In a sharp engagement Sgt. McClermont lost his rifle and picked up another one—it was a dandy and the magazine loaded—he did not discover that it was a German rifle until he attempted to reload it. His cartridges would not fit the rifle but just the same he did not like to part with it however it was useless without the proper cartridges. He says the first German soldiers could almost make a rifle from a piece of iron they understood their rifle’s makeup so well. While the 42nd boys were shooting from the trenches behind sand bags they had their rifles ranged through holes between the bags and time after time the men were falling, shot through the head. Soon they saw that the men were being shot in the head every time they took aim to fire—the Germans were watching these holes and every time they saw a head along the sight of a rifle they fired. It was later discovered that the Germans had machine guns directed at these holes all the time and simply toughed the controlling mechanism of these formidable weapons and there was a rain of bullets at the desired place. “We were fighting against machines not men and after this we did not take aim but were forced to fire randomly through the holes or not at all”. When they would hold up their caps at the end of their rifles it would not bee any time at all before they were riddled with bullets so that to raise the head for a second above the sand bags meant almost certain death. “Of the old 42nd there are only about twelve left” says Sgt. McClermont and most of them have fallen while a few are prisoners. He is one of the twelve. Sgt. McClermont was in the trenches at one time for a stretch of four days up to his knees in water and had practically nothing to eat during this time so he knows what it is to be really hungry. Following the boat he came over on will be over 200 invalided soldiers from Europe returning to Canada. Sgt. McClermont left Perth for Newboro on Saturday morning.
Herbert Wilson, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Wilson of this town, arrived home from Victoria, B.C. on Thursday morning and has taken a commission in the 42nd Regiment. He will shortly go to military school at Toronto and will qualify for the rank of lieutenant.
William Vandusen of this town received word on Saturday last that his brother Private Walter Vandusen was wounded and was in a hospital in France. He enlisted with the 38th Battalion from Smith’s Falls.
Leonard Noonan, son of Mr. and Mrs. R. T. Noonan of Burgess has enlisted from Regina with the 57th Cameron Highlanders and was in training at Minto Barracks, Winnipeg. Leonard attended the Perth Federal Business College and was an employee of Noonan Brothers in Perth about 5 years ago. He has lately been employed in the office of the city of Regina corporation.
William Knowles of Merrickville, who attended the Perth Collegiate Institute some years ago, has enlisted with the 80th Battalion. He was in town on Saturday.
Perth and Neighboring Towns are Doing Their Share
Under this headline are three photos with these captions:
Gunner Stanley Strickland, severely wounded and is lying in a field hospital in Boulogne
Gunner John Hartney, son of Mr. and Mrs. James Hartney of Perth, who enlisted with the 32nd Battalion Field Artillery from Ottawa and left with a detachment from Barriefield Camp for overseas on Thursday of last week.
Gunner Norman A. Miller, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Miller, Ottay Lake, who enlisted with the 32nd Battalion Field Artillery from Ottawa and left for overseas last Thursday with a detachment from Barriefield Camp.
Private David Carson, formerly of Perth, has enlisted with the B Company of the 32nd Battalion and is no at Shorncliffe Camp, England.
Gerald Brown, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Brown of Perth has enlisted with the 73rd Highlanders in Montreal.
Rev. A. H. Scott received a letter last week from his son Dr. Ronald Scott, who is with the Army Medical Corps and is at present at the head of a division on the western front of the battle line. His duties take him right up to the trenches and he recently suffered a slight shrapnel wound on one of his arms. In his letter he says it is not war but simply butchery and that it was surprising he had gotten through so safely. Previous to joining the Army Medical Corps, Dr. Scott was medical superintendent of the Western Hospital in Montreal.
William Fletcher, engineer with the Carpet Company, left on Tuesday for Barriefield Camp in Kingston where he will take a position with one of the brass bands. His brother Thomas Fletcher is at Barriefield Camp and he also has four brothers at the front.
In Monday’s casualty list the name of Private William Arthur Bailey of Portland, member of the Second Battalion is listed as wounded.
Roderick Darcy Matheson of Ottawa was recently gazetted as lieutenant with the 77th Battalion at Rockliffe. He is a nephew of Capt. Matheson of this town.
Mrs. Hooper of Carleton Place in the last letter received from her husband Captain Hooper says that he has heard that five of his men are prisoners in Belgium. This may account for some of those who are missing but the names cannot be obtained.
Mr. and Mrs. Neil McCallum and Miss Hazel McCallum with Mrs. A. McLaren of Perth were in Ottawa on Sunday to meet the former’s son Fred J. McCallum who reached Ottawa at 7:30 Monday morning with the 58th Regiment having enlisted from Calgary. Fred has been for some years in the western country in the employ of Merchant’s Bank. While in Ottawa he was able to spent nearly five hours with his parents and sister at the home of Mr. and Mrs. A.E. Sheppard, Stanley Avenue, with whom they were guests.
The following is part of a letter received in Arnprior from Private Giles who is with the 38th Battery in Bermuda. “Well, I suppose you would like to know a little about Bermuda. Here you can go down in caves 1,000 feet below the surface and view nature’s beautiful work. Last Monday we went on a march to the ‘Crystal Cave’ which is the scene by which Annette Kellerman was inspired to produce that well known play Neptune’s Daughter. Here hundreds of feet below the surface may be seen crystals such as one never dreamed of. Bermuda is certainly a wonderful place to spend the winter as the number of American tourists show. We are protecting Bermuda’s shores having taken over all duties”
Everett Stone, son of Charles Stone of this town, has enlisted with the 87th Battalion Canadian Grenadier Guards.
Lt. Herbert Taylor of the Regina Regiment, son of our police magistrate and Private George Edmonds, have landed at their English port of duty, Plymouth, per troopship Lapland.
Word has been received by his relatives in Smith’s Falls of the wounding of Capt. Rene Girouard who is with the Canadians in France. Captain Girouard is now in a hospital in London. He is a son-in-law of Mrs. William Grant of Perth.
Edmund Tenant, of Ramsay Township, who has been in Perth gaol for about six months awaiting trial on a charge of forgery, came up before Judge Scott on Friday last and pled guilty. He was given a chance to enlist and having passed the exam joined the 80th Battalion. Tenant comes from a good family but apparently departed from the straight and narrow pathway to commit forgery.
There is a photo in this issue of Corporal Harold M. Smith, nephew of Mrs. William Imeson, Perth, who enlisted with the 77th Battalion at Ottawa and left for overseas Friday, 22nd Oct., with a detachment from Rookliffe Camp, Ottawa. For the past two years he has been living in Perth and enlisted last August.
Official notification has come to the family at Renfrew that Private Samuel John Dempsey has been killed in action. He was a member of the Third Contingent and was 21 years of age.
Private Wilfred Charlton has arrived from England coming from France where he has been in a hospital severely wounded.
A carload of horses was shipped to Ottawa on Thursday last week by T. J. Devlin. This is the second lot of horses he has shipped to that city for the French army.
The 80th Battalion left for Barriefield Camp
last Monday morning, the headquarters staff, brass and bugle bands, A & B
companies going to Belleville while C & D companies went to Napanee and
Picton respectively. This crack
regiment paraded through the principal streets of the Limestone City headed by
the 59th Battalion Band and a hearty send off was given as the
special of eleven coaches and four baggage cars pulled out.
At Belleville the battalion was received with open arms and continued
cheering as they paraded from the G.T.R. depot to the winter quarters.
The ladies of the city had prepared an abundance of lunches and were so
thoughtful as to present every man with smokes after the good victuals had been
fully attended to. The Perth boys in
the battalion are Sgt. J. E. Enright and Drummer A. J. Johnston of the
bugle band, and received the glad hand of welcome from three former Perthites,
George Lee, Jack Brown, Lorne Young and Dr. Sprague, formerly of Perth.
Mrs. Jas. H. Bell of Lombardy has received a letter from her husband Sgt. J. H. Bell, who is now at Bromschotte Camp, England in which he states that he is enjoying good health and the 8th C.M.R.’s of which he is a member are anxious to leave for the battle front. The 8th C.M.R. troopship had some narrow escapes while in the water but came through safely.
The arrival of the steamer Orduna at a British port with Canadian troops aboard is officially announced. The Orduna sailed from Canada 27th October and reached England on the 4th Nov. Fred McCallum, son of Mr. and Mrs. Neil McCallum, of this town, was on board. This ship, with the 50th Calgary Battalion, consists of 41 officers and 1,037 men; civilian medical practitioners for the regular army of 6 and details of one officer and 12 men.
In Saturday’s casualty list the name of Private William J. Daughen of Perth is given that he was wounded but is now on duty. This is the first time that his name has officially been reported on this list. He joined the battalion at Kingston last fall leaving Perth with several other boys. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. James Daughen of Perth.
Mr. W. J. Thompson of the Lower Scotch Line received the following interesting letter from “Jimmie Smith” who is doing his bit at the front. Jimmie lived in Perth for several years and up to the time of enlisting last fall was a valued member of the town band. Dear Friends: We have been in the trenches for four days and after that time I would sooner be somewhere else. It has been raining now for two days and we have an abundance of mud. Things are a little quiet so far today but I do not think it will be for long; they generally give us a severe shelling every day just to let us know they are living. Of course, though, an occasional bullet whistles over our heads from a sniper and a sniper is a very dangerous chap. I would give a great deal to sit down to a good meal instead of crawling into a hole in the ground with some hard tack and cheese in your mitt but then, a fellow must be thankful to get this. We have pretty good trenches and a fellow is pretty save as long as he does not stick his head over the parapet and it is a case of laying low when the shells start to fly. This country is nothing but a heap of ruins, houses and villages blown to atoms it is terrible. There are lots of wooden crosses scattered around marking where soldiers fell and every little church yard is full of soldiers’ graves. Well, the sun is beginning to shine and I hope it continues to do so as it will make things a little more pleasant. I laid down last night and tried to sleep but I was too cold and wet; however, that is part of war so we cannot complain. Well, Billy, I hope you are all well and give my regards to all and tell them I am well. I guess I will have to close in case a shell comes and spoils this letter. It is hard enough of a job to write this with an ammunition box for a desk in a hold about 3 inches square. Well, I say goodbye now. Your friend, Jimmie
Hon. Arthur Meighen, Solicitor General, wants to go to the front. He would like to join the 87th Grenadier Guards as quartermaster. The regiment is commanded by Brigadier General Meighen, his cousin. However, it is a question as to whether Sir Robert Borden would permit his brilliant young Solicitor General to leave. His legal advice is constantly being sought by the cabinet and it is a question whether he could be spared. Mr. Meighen said any announcement is premature but he did not give a direct denial that he was asking for an honorary commission to go on active duty.
Gordon Bell returned Saturday night from Ottawa where he is enlisted with the 32nd Field Artillery. He has been a member of the staff of this town’s Merchants Bank and previous to severing his connection with the bank last week the manager and staff gave him a wrist watch as a token of remembrance.
W. B. Finlayson has resigned his position as leader of the Smith Falls band and has joined the 130th Lanark and Renfrew Battalion that is being recruited under the command of Col. de Hertel for overseas service. He will organize a band for the battalion and will make a capable leader.
Messrs. Walter Ferrier and Sydney Davidson left for Montreal this week to go into active service training with General Meighen’s “Guards”.
Private Gerald Brown of the 73rd Highlanders, Montreal, is visiting his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Brown of Isabella Street, Perth, this week.
Enlistment in the new 130th Lanark and Renfrew Battalion is on a high average throughout the two counties and almost 300 are now on the rolls. There are at present 50 who have joined in Perth besides the officers in command here which is the headquarters for the new battalion. The officers are Lt. Col. J.E. de Hertel in command of the battalion; Major E. J. Watt, second in command; Major E.C. Consitt medical officer; Capt. H. J. Airth, quartermaster; Capt. M. Corry, paymaster; Capt. E. Wilson, Company Commander; Battalion Sgt. Major Rennie; Sgt J.T. Mackey, pay sergeant; Sgt. Porter stretcher bearer sgt; and Sgt. H. L. Edwards. Following is a list of privates to date:
T. Alberry
W. C. Andison
P. Banks
A. Bishop
E. O.. Bates
H. Bygrove
J.M. Bennett
P. Brunette
A. Beauchamp
D.C. Blair
A. Cartier
A. Chevier
R. Cavanagh
W. Cummings
J.A. Courtney
L. Lambureux
S. Mange
G. Marcotte
B. McEwen
W. L. McKee
A. Provost
C. Riley
M. Sullivan
J. Saunders
B. H. Tanner
R. Dickson
T. Delaney
F. Daughen
A. Dodds
A. Foster
W. B. Finlayson
F. Gravel
C. W.. Grier
R. H. Holmes
C. F. Harvey
W. J. Jackson
J. Kingston
W. Lavelle
J. Lamoreaux
T. Moore
T. Mundy
T. Morrison
E. McKerracher
A. Norman
J. Rosenburg
J. Patterson
D. Stefanelit (?)
R. Robinson
J. Sunderland
(Transcribers’ note: see also the first document I transcribed on WWI which has a more complete listing for this battalion.)
Photos in this issues with the below captions:
1. Private Clifford Couch joined the 28th Battalion at Winnipeg and is now on active service. He formerly resided in this district and was a grandson of the late Mrs. J. W. Cowie.
2. Sgt. T. H. Ryan, formerly of Perth and a son of Patrick Ryan of town. He enlisted with the 59th Battalion from Smiths Falls and left for overseas on 12th Nov
Private John F. Murphy of Ottawa was a visitor in town last week visiting his mother and other relatives. He expects to leave for Bermuda with an Ottawa Regiment in the near future.
Private William Beatty, son of Mrs. William Beatty of Christie Lake, who was wounded this summer and invalided home about two weeks ago passed through Ottawa on his way to Winnipeg where he had to go to obtain his honorable discharge papers having enlisted with a battalion in that city.
Capt. Rene A. de la Girourd arrived in town on Tuesday of this week arriving at St. John, N.B. on Sunday and coming immediately to Perth where he will spend three months convalescing on leave with his wife and family at Mrs. Dr. Grants. Capt. Girourd went with the 22nd Battalion from Montreal with the 2nd Division and has been in the thick of the fighting in France up to the 20th of October, when he was forced to leave France and up to the time of sailing for Canada he has been in England convalescing, where, he says, they cannot do too much for you. Capt. Girourd is recovering from a nervous breakdown caused by concussion. As he says, this is a very common ailment on the firing line. The noise is deafening at times and nerve racking in his particular case he was working his way through a communication trench to the front line when a small shell exploded on the edge tearing a hole in the side of the trench and embedding him in the earth. Following this he was seized with a severe attack of concussion and is now trying to recover from this attack which naturally has left him in a weakened condition. Near London, says Capt. Girourd there is a hospital in which there are 3,000 raving men as a result of nervous breakdowns caused by listening to the greatest noise that can be produced by mankind—the continual explosion on all sides of 20th century explosives. Capt. Girourd will report to his regiment in France in three month’s time.
Photo of Capt. J. B. Edwards of the 130th Battalion who will probably have the rank of junior major. Lately he has been in command of the 42nd guard at Petawawa.
Gunners Archie Kincaid, Allan Wright and Arthur Reiyna (?) embarked for overseas service on Sat. of last week. Les Waddell also left for overseas on Sat. with the Canadian Army Service Corps.
J.G. Bothwell (?) –Rothwell (?), son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Bothwell, Ferguson’s Falls, who has been employed in the freight office in Ottawa for some time has enlisted with the 32nd Battery now training at Kingston for overseas service.
Home for the holidays are the following:
Private William Knowles of the 80th Battalion, Belleville with friends in town.
Private Fred Lappin of Montreal with his parents Mr. and Mrs. M. Lappin.
Private Grant Mitchell, A.M.C., Calgary with his mother Mrs. D. Mitchell.
Private T. P. Smith, Grenadier Guards’ St. John, N.B. with his mother Mrs. Thomas Smith.
Sgt. Stuart Wright, A.M.C. of Kingston with his parents Mr. and Mrs. B. H. Wright.
Pte. Clarence Cameron, A.M.C., Calgary with his parents Mr. and Mrs. A. N. Cameron.
Private Gerald Brown, 73rd Battalion, Montreal, with his parents Mr. and Mrs. Robert Brown.
Sgt. Tom Moore, Kingston, spent Christmas with his parents Mr. and Mrs. Jas. R. Moore.
Private Everett Stone of the Grenadier Guards, St. John, N.B. with his parents Mr. and Mrs. Charles Stone.
Private Sydney Davidson of the Grenadier Guards, St. John, N.B. with his brother Archie Davidson, Smiths Falls, visiting their mother in town.
Lt. George Bothwell (Rothwell??), 51st Battalion, Edmonton, with his parents Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Bothwell.
Gunner William Johnston of Kingston with his wife and family in Port Elmsley.
Posted: 23 January, 2004.