Quiet Heroes of the Great Wars

By Denise Martin

Through the horrors of trench warfare and the mud fields of Passchendaele, come along and experience first-hand the true and riveting adventures of father and son as they travelled across Europe with the Canadian Army, beating back the Axis Powers during the Great Wars of the Twentieth Century. Experience graphic descriptions of the true conditions of an Internment Camp up close, and the brutal treatment of prisoners in the Stalags throughout Germany.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9781503571754

Denise Martin

Denise Martin is a Medical Imaging Technologist in Toronto. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting and a Masters of Applied Science from Charles Sturt University in Australia. She is an avid gardener and lives in Ridgeway Canada with her husband and son.

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Copyright © 2015 by Denise Martin.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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Rev. date: 05/20/2015

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CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1     Papa’s Journal: The Early Days

Chapter 2     Moving North: Camp Borden 1916

Chapter 3     The Adventure Continues Overseas

Chapter 4     The Arras Offensive and Vimy Ridge

Chapter 5     Background Tactics

Chapter 6     The Hindenburg Line 1918

Chapter 7     The Arras Offensive: Canada’s Hundred Days

Chapter 8     Armistice

Chapter 9     Winding Down

Epilogue for Papa

Chapter 10   Dad’s Turn

Chapter 11   Dad

Chapter 12   D-Day – Operation Overlord

Chapter 13   Dad’s Adventures through Germany

Final Chapter

DEDICATION

I would like to dedicate these memories to my family who hopefully will pass them on to the next generation, so that they might know what heroes their great grandfather and grandfather were, as were all Canadians who fought for World Freedom.

INTRODUCTION

War is Hell. It’s a favourite throw-away line that is always said during the war movies like the ones that my father used to take me to when I was young. After the research I’ve done, I think it is an understatement. Everything about fighting in a war is Hell. The living conditions were almost uninhabitable, especially during WW1, where the men lived in tents even in the winter, and spent hours in the trenches hoping the rats wouldn’t gnaw on them when they slept, and Jerry wouldn’t attack them where they stood. For instance, initially these trenches they lived in and fought from were just deep enough so that a man could be protected but was still a sitting duck, since it was impossible to get out of them quickly, yet, they were expected to go ‘over the top’ instantly when they had to attack the enemy.

The trenches were continually filled with mud and water rats and frogs. It’s just the way the terrain was. The addition of wood mats above the bottom of the trench helped but, there was always the threat of Trench foot that could lead to gangrene with the possibility of losing a limb. Or just catching a disease like Dysentery that could kill you, just from the Trench conditions. There also was the horror of possibly inhaling poisonous gas the enemy loved to use. The trenches and tents were kept as clean as possible, but it didn’t stop the lice and vermin who relished the possibility of fresh meat.

After reading about the horrid and disgusting conditions of World War 1: lice-infested clothes and that also found a haven in one’s personal body areas, as well as thousands of rats running across you while you’re trying to eat your food and the ease with which one could contact Typhoid, never mind poisonous gas attacks; or worrying that the enemy would ambush you in the trench. It brought home the realization that it wasn’t just that the soldiers had to be brave, a lesser person could go mad. In fact, WW1 was the first time the medical community acknowledged Shell Shock as a real disease, and the first hospital was opened in France for this disability.

Never mind trying to sleep at night. I could not begin to comprehend the issues that the soldiers and their families had to deal with when they returned from battle. This would be added to the fact that the Canadian economy had taken a downturn since 1912, and the Depression was right around the corner.

It wasn’t really fair that so many families had to deal with the result of the sacrifices a family member made to liberate a bunch of strangers. It was interesting that the soldiers didn’t feel that way, and I suppose their skillful fighting left a feeling of pride and accomplishment, and their patriotism for God and Country overshadowed their distaste for War. My thought is that since the majority of immigrants were from the United Kingdom, and there is a history of fighting massive battles all through Europe from time immemorial there, it must have been inbred in these men to fight for freedom, regardless whose it was.

To those of us in modern times, it is absolutely astounding to realize how primitive conditions were, and it breaks my heart to read about the battles with so much loss of life and those bodies that couldn’t be recovered, decomposing in a mud- filled bomb crater or buried in a foreign country that the family might never be able to visit. However, it also makes me proud that these everyday men and women who selflessly fought bravely or cared for the wounded, for the freedom of a country that most had never thought about before, let alone visited, along with the fact that a big part of the success for the Allies was thanks to the highly trained and well commanded Canadian Troops who were integral in both conflicts, and never lost a battle when they fought as a group of Divisions. These victories by Canadians, helped to define Canadian Exceptionalism that was acknowledged by the world, providing Canada with a new respect from other Powers, and allowed Canada to become an independent county.

With the introduction of improvements such as tanks and new, more powerful artillery, the Canadians were specifically important since, the efficiency and introduction of modern warfare was thanks to brilliant Canadian Officers, specifically Commander General Sir Arthur Currie who led the Canadian Corps, and General Andy McNaughton, who revolutionized and increased the efficiency and accuracy of the heavy artillery by his ‘set piece’ attack. Their excellent grasp of a changing situation and the best way forward, helped save the life of many Allied troops, who got to go home after the war.

Although Canada was just a colony that was under British protection, as a Canadian rather than British Officer, was not afraid to disagree with the seasoned Commanders that led the British army. Eventually, his way of preparation and fighting techniques was adopted by all Allied troops, as well as by German Divisions. It’s probably their brilliance that helped my father survive the conflict of WW2. Currie always kept the safety and welfare of his troops in mind and did what he could to lessen the number of casualties. Britain had a problem embracing this new type of warfare, but after several losses with huge, unacceptable casualties, eventually adapted.

My father especially and grandfather rarely, like most other former soldiers, did not readily talk about their war experiences, and when I pressed my Dad many times for information of what happened, all he would say is some things he couldn’t remember, which I knew was a fib. My Dad and I were very close, and although he always deflected any questions about the war, after about thirty years I started to get the real stories. They stuck with me, but memories will fade, and I needed some way to document them for future generations to enjoy and know what a hero he was. I was able to fill in the events between his stories, to understand what happened to make him the person he was, only after he passed away, since I was lucky enough to obtain his Military records from the Library Archive of Canada in Ottawa. Oh, I also pumped my Uncle Bob for the rest of the details. I am very thankful to my Father posthumously, who had so much attention to detail since he never threw anything out. Dad even had the deed to our house from back in 1963 safely tucked away, so when I found my grandfather’s War diaries in the bottom of a box of his old papers, I knew I’d found a treasure, and I realized I definitely had to preserve their memories. I had had my grandfather’s Military records for years, with the vague idea of doing something with them, and I now had the incentive to move forward.

Papa’s diary was one of the few Military objects that I could rescue before the family swooped in and spirited the rest away, never to be seen again. It was probably more than one diary, but all there were, were loose pages. You could hardly read the scrawl and the pencil writing was very faded, but it was almost one hundred years old after all. Also, I owe a great thank you to the Library and Archives of Canada who not only had both their complete Military records, and the diaries from the different Battalions Papa was on loan to during WW1.

The first section of the book are stories directly from my Papa’s War Diaries during World War 1, and the second part are stories from my Father who fought in World War 2. Both were heroes as were all men who served, and I want to honor their bravery and every man, by sharing their stories with family and any other interested readers. I am so lucky that both heroes came home albeit slightly broken because so many did not.

*I would like to acknowledge the permission from the Directorate of History and Heritage, a Crown Corporation, for the use of their map of Canadian operations throughout the entire First World War.* . Much of the background history of WW2 I used is referenced from www.historyonthenet.com.

I hope you enjoy the ride.

CHAPTER 1

Papa’s Journal: The Early Days

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Papa 1916

Our family immigrated to Canada in 1896 when I was four years old. We arrived by ship at the Port of Montreal. The ship was an old freighter and was packed with other families from the UK, Ireland, England and Scotland, who wanted to escape the almost destitute economic conditions in their homeland. The economy was booming in Canada, and many wanted to escape abject poverty and move to a place that offered new opportunities for a better life. Most, at least initially, settled in the larger cities such as Toronto or Montreal. Many chose to travel to the Prairie Provinces because they wanted to settle and farm, like when they were at home. Also, wheat sales from the west was the major industry and some were willing to brave the primitive conditions to make their fortune in farming. None of us in the family knew how to speak French, so we took the train to Toronto with many other families and people. By the time the war broke out in 1914, about eighty-five percent of the population of Toronto were immigrants from the UK.

Toronto was unlike any place we had seen. Rolling into the train station, one could see the most massive lake we had ever seen. There was a great expanse of trails and trees and very few houses. The land was so beautiful and green, and looked peaceful. Our father had arranged for us to be met at the station, which was inundated with people and baggage. It was quite a sight. Mom told Doug and Bob, the oldest kids to watch to see that Georgie and I didn’t get lost or run over by a horse and buggy, or a street car. Even though I was young, I still remember looking up to the sky and thinking how big everything was, because at home we lived in a tiny village, where the tallest building was the church.

I remember being scooped up by one of dad’s friends into a big buggy. Harnessed to it were four big brown horses. We were packed in and I was on my mother’s lap, while I was holding on for dear life to my bear Sonny. I wasn’t afraid of the horses because we had some on the farm, but being surrounded by so many strangers frightened me.

As we left the bustle of the train station, we noticed that very few people were on the street in this area. There were lots of big smoke stacks that blew black smoke. An electrical red streetcar drove past us, full of people. The connection with the overhead wires sent out sparks that startled us, but it became second nature after a while. The noise of the wheels on the track sounded like someone running their nails on a board.

We lived on 208 Bartlett Street in the West end of Toronto. There were many people from Ireland and Britain living around us. There were a lot of ball fields and we’d spend our summers swimming in the lake and playing baseball and stickball. During the winters we spent a lot of time skating on the back yard rink that my father would make each year. We’d stay out until the street lamps came on. It was a very safe place and no one locked their doors.

My father was an electrician and as I got older, I apprenticed with him. My day job was working at The Star in the printing room with my brother Doug, until the War started. Bob worked as a gadget salesman in Toronto. George and our sister Beatrice lived at home and he took care of Mother after our Father died. When she died in 1937, Georgie eventually came to live with Mae and me in Toronto, until he died at the age of forty-eight from a bleeding ulcer.

Georgie was the favourite uncle, because he would take Stew and Bob to the store each week for a treat and a Vernor’s. It was very sad when he died because he was a wonderful, funny person. We missed him for a long time. It was like a piece of our hearts was cut out and thrown away. When the war broke out, everything changed.

Start of the Great War

So, how did World War 1 really start? On June 28th 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was visiting the town of Sarajevo in Bosnia. Many people in Bosnia were unhappy about his visit because the people of Bosnia were Serbs and did not want to be ruled by Austria-Hungary. They wanted to join Serbia, the country next to them. Ferdinand’s assassination at the hands of the Black Hand, a Serbian nationalist secret society, set in motion a mindlessly mechanical series of events that culminated in the world’s first global war. Because of the few countries initially involved, it was thought that this would be a very quick conflict.

Personally, I think that Germany didn’t think this situation through, and that they underestimated what the result would wrought. Initially, Germany thought it would go in, take over Serbia and quash France through neutral Belgium. Germany was so greedy, it forgot about the different protection alliances between European countries over the years who had pledged to safeguard neutral territory from further annexations.

Germany was trying to regain the land they had last in previous conflicts because they wanted to be the ruling Power of Europe. Belgium, a neutral country had been promised by her Allies that she would never be annexed and would be defended to the death if she were ever invaded.

History of European Ententes

By 1914 two strong Entente powers had formed in Europe. Britain, France and Russia, joined to prevent Austria and Germany from annexing unwilling countries. The Austrian government blamed Serbia, and declared war on them (who were an ally of Russia, as many of its citizens were Serbs) on July 28th 1914. At this point the various Alliance agreements kicked in, as to the agreed on responsibility to support the Ally in conflict.

Germany had always wanted to be as powerful as Britain and France. Throughout history, Britain had always had the most powerful navy. Germany also didn’t like the amount of territory Russia had. Germany tried to bait Britain into the conflict by building up their naval war vessels to take the title of Admiralty of the Sea, but the British built twice as many huge Dreadnaught war ships, which destroyed Germany’s plan to rule the seas and intimidate Great Britain.

Britain tried it’s best to stay neutral during the conflict, as was in previous agreements, and did their best to defuse diplomatically the threat of retaliation on Serbia by Germany and Austria-Hungry, until June 1916, when Germany invaded neutral Belgium. They wanted a quick path to attack France before France helped Serbia and Russia.

Britain was bound by its responsibility to defend neutral Belgium, so entered the war. As a result of Britain entering the war, the British ‘Colonies’ from Australia, New Zealand and Canada automatically became involved. France of course wanted to keep their country from being destroyed, but they really didn’t want to fight. What was supposed to be a short conflict with Germany and Austria-Hungry attacking Serbia, escalated into the ‘Great War’ or the ‘War to end all Wars’, which caused massive loss of life of approximately fifteen million people and horrific events.

The Canadian Expeditionary Forces (CEF)

Canada was the senior Dominion in the British Empire and automatically at war with Germany upon the British declaration. There was strong support for England’s entry into the war from immigrants of the UK. Many patriots offered to join the Canadian Corps, but those in charge initially only accepted men with previous military experience, because there was such a huge number of casualties and experienced men might lessen that number. However, soon they realized they needed all the recruits they could get, experienced or not. It is ironic that there were very few Canadian-born men fighting in the units during the early years of the war because the majority of experienced soldiers were from Europe.

Later in the war, before Conscription in 1917, the preferential selection of satisfactory troops to go overseas was drying up. The excitement of news of the patriotic, brave fighting at the front for God and Country at first overshadowed the horrific details of conditions and massive casualties reported every day in the newspapers. To some it was sobering and depressing, but it actually ended up increasing the patriotism and desire to help to beat the enemy back.

The government sponsored many mass events, to rally the crowds into showing their patriotism by enlisting. They also used upbeat posters and even asked the Clergy to rally their parishioners by pushing patriotism and duty to support the war effort. Papa said that initially there was so much excitement and interest in the fighting that people actually would push others out of the way to be the first in line to attest. He also said that many applied solely because the economy had taken a downturn and employment was scarce.

Since there was an immediate need for fresh troops, the Canadian Minister of Militia Sir Sam Hughes decided to raise numbered Battalions for an Expeditionary Force, with mobilization beginning on August 8th 1916.

Battalions from all aspects of life were formed and offered for combat. The Canadian Expeditionary Force eventually