At the outset of World War One in August of 1914, the 52nd (New Ontario) Battalion was established in and was headquartered at Port Arthur. The 52nd Battalion was part of the 9th Brigade (3rd Canadian Division), commanded by Brigadier-General F.W. Hill. About 1000 men made the cut during the first call for volunteers. They drilled at Gresley Park where they began in earnest their training for military life.
(Port Arthur News Chronicle March 16 1915)
A previous militia, the 96th (District of Algoma) Battalion of Rifles, begun in the 1885 as a response to the Red River Rebellion, but had disbanded by 1896. A local militia was more formally formed in 1905, but the outbreak of war in Europe necessitated more enlisted men. They would have their chance to fight for the 52nd in the years ahead, though many would not return.
In November of 1915 the 52nd Battalion (New Ontario) was preparing to leave for Europe. Private W.C. Millar of Fort William wrote of his experiences with the “Fighting 52nd”: “The Armories presented a lively appearance on the evening of the 4th, when the friends and relatives of the boys were allowed in to bid us Godspeed on our journey. At last, with Bandmaster Sara in the lead, the first company started for the station, where thousands were gathered to see us off, in spite of the inclement weather. By ten o’clock the last of the gallant 52nd had moved out of Port Arthur, on what was to be the last trip out for many a poor boy.”
(Port Arthur News Chronicle May 28 1915)
On November 8th, the battalion was in Saint John, New Brunswick. Then on the 22nd, they were to board the S.S. California, bound for England. Once there, they were encamped at Salisbury where they drilled, exercised and prepared to fight on the continent. Then they were moved to Witley Camp in Surrey:
“Although “Lights Out” had sounded hours before, every battalion in camp turned out to welcome the Can-I-dians, as the English boys called us. We were the only Colonial Battalion in Witley Camp, the other twenty battalions being composed of English, Welsh, Irish and Scotch units. After a day’s rest, we started hard training under English physical instructors, who had been “Out There” and could talk from experience. These instructors are, or were, the pick of the British Army, and were splendid examples of what physical training can do to develop a man. We spent six weeks in Witley Camp, then moved – this time to Bramshott Camp in Hampshire. Here we camped alongside the 44th battalion, of which so many of the men were of Port Arthur and Fort William, especially the machine gun section, which was chiefly made up of bartenders of the Twin Cities. We were at Bramshott about two weeks when it came out officially that we were brigaded with 43rd, 58th and 60th battalions forming the 9th Brigade. We stayed in Bramshott until the 20th of February when orders came for the 9th Brigade to go across the Channel.”
Once they crossed the English Channel, they were stationed in France to defend Western Front near Belgium. They landed in La Havre on February 21st, 1915. Belgium was two days away. “We arrived in Poperhinge station on the evening of February 26th. As soon as we came off the train we heard the big guns going, and saw numberless aerial combats between our own and enemy airmen.”
Julia Shapton Collection (Courtesy of Mark Chochla)
On March 18th, they reached the village of Locre (south of Poperhinge and southwest of Ypres), then from here they were ordered to go to the front line. “Part of our battalion went into the front held by the 42nd battalion, and the other half with the Royal Canadian Rifles of Quebec.” They spent about a week in Wytschaete and were then relieved by another battalion. They then received training in “bombing, scouting, etc., for one week, then the whole of the 9th Brigade moved off for the Ypres salient.” Their first defensive position was at Maple Copse, an oak forest to the left of Hill 60 (an artificial mound), then to Hooge (just east of Ypres) to take cover in craters created by German artillery. “Tommy Slater and “Big Jeffries,” of Kenora, were the first casualties there, both being struck by bomb splinters.”
Back and forth the 52nd Battalion went, between trenches at the Hooge and dug-outs at Ypres, usually spending a week at each position. “On the evening of the 15th of May the advance party of the 52nd, under Captain Hunter, went into Maple Copse and railway dugout trenches. Before any battalion goes into a line, two men from each company go in a day ahead and take over the different dugouts from the battalion which they are to relieve. We relieved the 49th battalion…On the evening of the 16th, the whole battalion came in, A and D companies going into Maple Copse, and B and C into the railway dugouts.” The next day, the so-called “Third Battle of Ypres” began.
German artillery rained down on the battalion beginning the morning of May 17th, 1915. The allies were “shelled practically day and night.” During an attempt to observe the enemy, Private J. Hill (of Port Arthur) was wounded by artillery. He was rescued and “spent nearly a year on his back, owing to the severe wound he received that morning.” On the 22nd of May, the battalion moved back from the Maple Copse and the railway dugouts.
On May 31st, they were ordered to move to Mount Sorrell. The battalion was under constant fire and shelling and they lost an officer that day, Lieutenant Naylor, the O.C. of Works. A few days later, on June 2nd, the Battalion lost another of their officers, Lt. Hatton. He was in “no-man’s land” trying to get back to his trench when a German sniper shot him.
“Lieutenant Hatton left Port Arthur as a sergeant-major of the signallers, and was promoted to commissioned rank while we were stationed at St. Johns, N.B. He was a hard-working officer, who never seemed to take any rest while in the front line, and was highly respected and well liked by his men. We lost about eleven men that trip in, three of them being killed.”
On the 4th of June, the 52nd Battalion was relieved by the 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles (but because of the trenches, they were dismounted and turned into infantry). “We got back to C camp that morning after the hardest fifteen days we had yet had, having been under shell fire the whole time, which kept anyone from getting any sleep, and which caused about eighty casualties in our battalion.” But their respite was short as more heavy shelling (compared to the already-heavy shelling) was heard from the front line. Within hours, the 52nd Battalion (as well as the 43rd, 58th, and 60th – which made up the 9th Brigade) was ordered to “stand to” and prepare to go back to battle at the Ypres’ salient – a five mile long horseshoe shaped ridge – where the Germans first used chlorine gas.
Sources:
Granatstein, J.L. (2004). Canada’s Army: Waging War and Keeping the Peace. University of Toronto Press.
Millar, PTE. W.C. (1918). From Thunder Bay through Ypres with the Fighting 52nd. p.4
Millar, PTE. W.C. (1918). From Thunder Bay through Ypres with the Fighting 52nd. p.5
Millar, PTE. W.C. (1918). From Thunder Bay through Ypres with the Fighting 52nd. p.6
Millar, PTE. W.C. (1918). From Thunder Bay through Ypres with the Fighting 52nd. p.7
Millar, PTE. W.C. (1918). From Thunder Bay through Ypres with the Fighting 52nd. p.8
Millar, PTE. W.C. (1918). From Thunder Bay through Ypres with the Fighting 52nd. p.12
Cassar, G. (1985). Beyond Courage: the Canadians at the Second Battle of Ypres. Oberon Press. p.63
Millar, PTE. W.C. (1918). From Thunder Bay through Ypres with the Fighting 52nd. p.18
Millar, PTE. W.C. (1918). From Thunder Bay through Ypres with the Fighting 52nd. p.32-33
Millar, PTE. W.C. (1918). From Thunder Bay through Ypres with the Fighting 52nd. p.36
Millar, PTE. W.C. (1918). From Thunder Bay through Ypres with the Fighting 52nd. p.37
Millar, PTE. W.C. (1918). From Thunder Bay through Ypres with the Fighting 52nd. p.26
Millar, PTE. W.C. (1918). From Thunder Bay through Ypres with the Fighting 52nd. p.41
Millar, PTE. W.C. (1918). From Thunder Bay through Ypres with the Fighting 52nd. p.41
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