Proud of Canadian Outfit

Best Equipped Soldier in the World, Friends Claim
Complete Outfit Shown in Store Window Attracts Attention of Crowds

The [Spokane, Washington] Spokesman-Review, 3 October 1917

In proof of their contention that the Canadian soldier is the best equipped in the world, officials of the British and Canadian recruiting mission, W603 Sprague Avenue, yesterday placed the entire paraphernalia of a Canuck infantryman in the Riverside avenue window of the Owl drug store. With the figure of a soldier as the centerpiece the outfit fills virtually an entire window.

The soldier wears a complete uniform with puttees, army boots, Oliver belt equipment, knapsack, water bottle, ball pouches, haversack, cap and regimental insignia, and carries a Ross rifle with fixed bayonet. The rest of the equipment is displayed around him.

It includes a pair of canvas shoes and an extra pair of army boots, winter cap, overcoat, jacket sweater, overshoes, cap comforter, knitted, winter mitts, boot dressing, extra bootlaces, cloth, hair, shaving and tooth brushes, hair comb, two sets woolen underwear, knife fork and spoon, holdalls, housewife, clasp knife, service shirt and trousers, razor with case, two flannel shirts, two winter shirts, two pairs woolen socks, two hand towels, first field dressing, bottle water enamel, infantry whistle, mess tins ans trays, kit bag, bottle of oil, pull-through and lanyard clasp knife.

The complete outfit costs the Canadian government $95.31, and every soldier is given it the moment he enlists and reports for duty. The various pieces are replenished at the captain's order when one is worn out.

When the soldier lands in England his Ross rifle is supplanted by a Lee-Enfield, the official British arm, and his leather equipment is replaced by a web outfit. There he gets his entrenching tool. The Canadian soldier does not buy any part of his equipment except soap, and in the trenches he is furnished with soap, cigarettes, chewing and smoking tobacco and a dram of rum, which is issued daily. His entire equipment is kept up by the government.

Crowds of people were around the window all day yesterday and studied the outfit carefully. The most interested were the American soldiers.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EST

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The 1st Battalion's Other Triple-MM

Many Canadians will have seen at least passing reference to Francis Pegahmagabow in news feeds or social media if they have any interest in the First World War. Canada's most decorated First Nations soldier of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF), Pegahmagabow was awarded the Military Medal for bravery in battle three separate times. His medals are now on display in the Canadian War Museum. Pegahmagabow served in the 1st Canadian Infantry Battalion, a unit of the CEF that is now perpetuated by The Royal Canadian Regiment.

But few Canadians are aware that 38 other men also received the Military Medal (MM) three times. This short list, out of 12341 recipients of the MM (1235 men received it twice), also includes a second three time recipient from the same battalion as Francis Pegahmagabow.

178218 Private William Anson Ogilvie was a miner and prospector in Porcupine, Ontario, when he enlisted for service in the CEF. Ogilvie joined the 87th Battalion Canadian Infantry (Canadian Grenadier Guards) at St. John's Quebec, on 17 February, 1916. 33 years old when he enlisted, Ogilvie was described as 5 feet 10 inches in height with a 44 in chest, dark complexion, grey eyes and dark hair.

The 87th Battalion, on reaching England, was absorbed into the reinforcement system supporting the Canadian Corps in France and Flanders. Ogilvie joined a draft of reinforcement for the 1st Canadian Infantry Battalion.

The Gazettes for William Anson Ogilvie' Military Medal awarded were published as follows:

• Military Medal – 9 July 1917 (possibly a Vimy Ridge action)
• 1st Bar – 11 February 1919
• 2nd Bar – 23 July 1919

The list of triple Military Medal recipients as shown in John Blatherwick's Canadian Army; Honours – Decorations – Medals, 1902-1968 is shown below. This out of print reference is a valuable addition to any Canadian Army researcher's library.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EST

Updated: Tuesday, 15 December 2015 8:02 AM EST

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Revetments

Trench Warfare; A Manual for Officers and Men,, J.S. Smith, Second Lieutenant with the British Expeditionary Force, E.P. Dutton & Co., 1917.

When fire trenches are to be occupied for any length of time it is necessary to revet them. By that I mean the walls, and especially front walls, have to be faced or strengthened by sand bags, boards, corrugated iron or other material that is needed. This work to be of any use at all must have solid foundations and be thorough from top to bottom. Careless revetment work is of no use and a source of endless labor and trouble. All such work should be supervised by officers or N. C. O.'s who have a thorough understanding of such things, and they will be amply repaid if they take an active part in the work with their own hands. There are several forms of revetment, according to the materials available and the conditions of the walls to be revetted, but the usual materials are the sandbags, corrugated iron, stakes, boards, wire netting, etc., and these can be used either separately or in a combination. All these materials are generally kept in engineer dumps, some little way behind the firing line. Requisitions are made during the day by the officer commanding the sector of trench which requires revetting, and at night the men are detailed in carrying parties to go down to the engineer dumps and carry these things up for work the next day.

Sandbags

Sandbags are usually available in large quantities, but it is well to remember that generally only half the number indented for reach the indentor. The rest gengo around the men's feet and legs to keep them warm at night, and very often are used as a sort of mattress in the dugouts. This should not be allowed as it creates a tremendous wastage. The sandbags should only be about three-quarters filled, thus allowing for the choke or neck end, after tied, being turned under the back when laid in position. This also gives something to catch hold of when laying and brings the weight to something manageable, about sixty pounds.

A bag three-quarters filled measures approximately 20" x 10" x 5". Laid sand bags are called headers, when laid with bottom of the bag facing the center of the trench, and ptretchers, if laid with the side facing the trench as per sketch. The neck end should always be tucked well in the bag in the case of the stretcher; the side seam, which is a weak spot in the sand bag, should be kept from exposure, that is, should be turned from the center of the trench.

When the front wall of a trench is to be revetted and only sandbags are available, the wall should first be cut to a slope of from 10 to 15 degrees from the perpendicular, and the loose soil obtained, if dry, placed in the sandbags. When there is an unrevetted fire platform, this should be also cut away and put, if dry, in the sand bags. A bed should then be dug about 6 inches into the solid bottom of the trench (disregarding the soft mud which for foundation purposes is of no use) and sloping down into the parapet at right angles to the slope of the front wall. Into this bed place a row of headers. On this row place a double row of stretchers. Joints must always be the same manner as brick-laying that is, care taken that the joint where the ends of the stretchers meet does not come immediately over the joint between the headers and the lower row. Sand bags should now be beaten down flat, generally with a wooden mallet provided for this purpose; then alternate rows of headers and stretchers laid; each layer being flattened out with the mallet until the top of the parapet is reached. The top layer should always come out as headers.

Twenty-five headers or twelve stretchers, or sixteen mixed, is the average required for revetting every superficial yard of trench.

The slope of a front trench wall, even when from 10 to 15 degrees from perpendicular, is apt gradually to assume the perpendicular, and then fall in, owing to the sinking of the trench bottom or the actual thrust of the earth in front. This can, however, be checked by using 6' to 8' stakes driven well into the front wall foundation, and at the same angle as the front wall. Then, wiring the head of these stakes to what is known as an anchor-stake driven about 10' into the ground in front of the trench.

Sandbars come in bales of 250, which are again divided into bundles of 50 each. On a carrying party it is an average rule that each man carry 100 sand bags.

Corrugated Iron

Generally, when lengths of corrugated iron and plenty of floor boards and stakes are available, this material is used for revetting the lower half of a trench wall, as it removes a great many difficulties, such as looking over substantial foundations for sandbag revetments. It makes it unnecessary to fill sandbags, etc., thus saving a great amount of time and labor. In revetting with corrugated iron and stakes or hurdles, cut the slope or wall from 10 to 15 degrees from the perpendicular, putting the soil in the sandbags and leaving it in some handy place for any future use. Then, drive 6' to 8' stakes well into the trench foundation and approximately 4' apart, thus giving adequate protection to each piece of corrugated, having the stakes at an angle of 15 degrees at least, from the perpendicular, and 6" or 8" away from the trench wall. Then, slide the corrugated, hurdles, or boards on their sides down behind the stakes, overlapping slightly the ends ,and ramming them well down into the mud or soil in the bottom, and filling in the space behind with soil.

The bottom third or half of the front wall is thus substantially, easily and quickly revetted, and the upper half or remainder is generally revetted with the sandbags, a bed being dug so that the first layer of headers is about half its depth below the top of the corrugated. If stakes shorter than 6' or 8' have been used in the revetting, half should be cut off to where the sandbag revetting commences and wired to anchor stakes, driven into the parapet end of the bed, and not wired over the top of the parapet, as it tends to gradually pull them upwards. Then cover this wiring with your first layer of headers. "When hurdles or floorboards are used instead of corrugated iron, empty sandbags or similar material must be hung behind them to prevent the soil crumbling through and thus

weakening the foundation of the sandbag revetments. Corrugated should not be used for revetting the front wall higher than 2', which is the width of one sheet, as the supply is generally limited and can be put to more valuable use as dealt with later. Corrugated iron comes in bundles of about 24 sheets to the bundle, averaging 6' by 3'. Two sheets is the average load for any one man in a carrying party.

A front wall constructed in the manner shown, if prompt and immediate attention always be given to repair if damage is done, will give very little bother. It is the usual custom to construct your fire platform after this revetting work has been done.

A trench should be dug no deeper than will afford protection to the firer, a deeper passageway necessitating a fire platform, a subsequent work, and by first revetting the whole front wall from bottom to top then adding the fire platform, each gets the benefit of the foundation of the other. Until this fire platform is constructed, emergency methods may be used and improvised in a moment with ammunition boxes, loose sandbags and the various other junk which accumulates in a trench.

Fire Platforms

Now that the front wall has been revetted, either with corrugated or sandbags, the construction of the fire platform should be at once started. To start this, short stakes should be driven well into the trench bottom about 36" from the front wall and parallel to the slope of the front wall, averaging from 2' to 3' apart and generally as substantial as the large revetment stakes, although this is not of absolute necessity.

When brushwood is procurable, it should be used as a foundation, putting it in after the short stakes are driven and ramming it down behind them. This gives you as nearly as possible a dry and compact foundation for your first row of headers. Then this may be covered with another lot of brushwood, and that again by a row of headers, and from then the layer should be alternate headers and stretchers. Sand bags do not offer a good platform after a heavy rain, as they become wet and slippery and the material quickly rots, then they break open and the top of your fire platform is gone. To avoid this, it is necessary to use whatever material may be at hand in the covering of the top layer.

One good way of providing this top covering when the material is procurable, is a wire netting used in a double thickness. It should be placed behind and up against the stakes before the foundation is laid. Then when the fire platform is built to its proper height, bend the wire from the top of the fire platform and fasten it down on the sides by whatever means are handy. Using this double wire netting makes it possible to use brick and all sorts of general trash in the construction of the fire platform and gives a very good dry footing. When doing that the face of your platform should be either corrugated sheets or boards.

Very often what are known as sentry-boards, or small floor boards about 36" square and with additional cross pieces underneath, giving them a height of about a foot, thus raising them well out of the mud, are used, and are very handy before a fire platform is made, and in some cases have to be used for small men after the fire platform is made.

Joseph Shuter Smith

Joseph Shuter Smith was an American author born in Philadelphia in 1893. He spent his childhood in Alaska during the Gold Rush and spent his years before the Great War as a lumberjack, miner, surveyor and cowboy. In 1914, continuing his adventurous streak, he went to Canada and enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, declaring his birthplace to be Port Hope, Ontario (with next of kin in Oakland, California). Smith enlisted with the 29th Canadian Infantry Battalion at Vancouver. He served in France and Belgium as a soldier in the CEF and, after being commissioned in August, 1916, as an officer of the British Army with The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment). He resigned his Imperial commission after a year to return to the US and enlist in the American Army. Joseph Smith also wrote the memoir: Over There and Back in Three Uniforms; Being the Experiences of an American Boy in the Canadian, British and American Armies at the Front and through No Man's Land.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EST

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Dugouts

Trench Warfare; A Manual for Officers and Men,, J.S. Smith, Second Lieutenant with the British Expeditionary Force, E.P. Dutton & Co., 1917.

It is only under very exceptional circumstances that under-cutting a trench wall is allowed, and then the shelter should be cut in the rear wall only. These shelters must be carefully supervised and watched by the officer, as men are very often careless, with the result that the shelters are dug in a hurry and poorly. Then it rains, the shelter falls in, and the men are no more, It should be high enough for a man to sit up straight, and long enough for him to lie down in, and deep enough for two men to lie side by side. It should be raised at least a foot above the floor level in the trench to prevent water from the trench floor coming in. A shelter smaller than these dimensions is useless. It has a demoralizing effect, destroying all activity, mental and physical. These shelters can only be properly made by cutting into the rear trench wall the necessary depth and length and right to the top. Then, with any material which is convenient, such as corrugated iron, brush wood, old rubber sheets, revet the sides and back. A corrugated iron roof is supported on posts at a depth of about a foot to a foot and a half below the normal level of the ground. Then, when possible, cover this with rubber sheets. If not possible to procure rubber sheets, simply cover with dirt excavated from shelter, taking care that it does not rise higher than your parados.

A fire-trench, however, is not a proper place for shelters, and they are generally better as a weather protection than a shell-proof shelter. Even this should not be favored too much, as it tends to cause obstruction, delay and inconvenience in the passing of troops. The real dugouts for the accommodation of men holding a line are generally behind the fire-trenches in an immediate support line, or as in the case of T-bays, in the control trench and communication trenches leading to and from them. These are large dug-outs, having a depth of 30 and 40 feet, and in some cases capable of holding 100 to 250 men, generally having from 5 to 10 exits and entrances. Here the men stay during bombardments and are generally safe from any caliber shell which may light on top, unless a half dozen should light in the same particular spot.

This work is generally of a very skilled and technical kind. Plans, drawings and labor are supervised by the engineers, expert tunnelers being used in constructing work, although the infantry supplies working parties to dispose of the dirt, etc., resulting from these excavations and to carry the materials and tools needed and required in the construction.

The design and general scheme of a small dugout which can be made by the infantry under the supervision of an officer, without the aid of an engineer, are here given.

The dugout should be approximately 6 feet from floor to roof and about 8 feet wide, with an approximate length of 12 feet, thus allowing men to lie down and yet leave room for passage through. The width depends upon the number you intend to have occupy it. Each man requires 18". Depth to be dug below ground depends entirely to what extent you may raise the roof upon the ground without making an unduly exposed hump which will at once tell the enemy a dugout is there. The thickness of the roof should be approximately 6 feet, constructed with sideposts, cross beams, corrugated iron, water proof oilcloth, sandbags and soil. Sandbag revetments should be used in the strengthening of side posts. When possible, although hardly ever so, walls should be lined with waterproof oilcloth and entrances so placed that they get as much sun as possible.

Great care and attention must be given to these dugouts, and even though taking a little longer than seems necessary, care must be taken to see that they are substantially constructed, otherwise they are in a constant source of danger of cave-ins during heavy shelling and bad weather. Not more than 10 men should occupy one of these dugouts. Then, if accidents happen, your casualties are not so great.

The roof of these dugouts should be prepared in a manner tending to withstand as high shell shock as possible, and for this purpose the following table would be of some use, any part of which, or a combination of all, will give some idea of what is required.

Resistance of Roof Materials

(a)     Shrapnel bullets—Stout planks suitably supported and covered with corrugated iron and 12" of earth or 3" of shingle.

(b)     Ordinary guns of 3" caliber—Strong timber supporting 4 ft. of earth with a top layer of heavy stones or broken bricks to cause early shell burst.

(c)     Field howitzers (of less than 6" caliber)—12" logs, supporting 8 ft. of earth with top layer of heavy stones or broken brick and lightly covered over with some earth.

(d)     "Jack Johnsons"—20 ft. of earth or 10 ft. of cement concrete, reinforced with steel and covered over with a covering of heavy stone or broken brick.

It is very often the case that there is a line of trenches with very few dugouts. Those that exist are mainly occupied by first aid stations with a medical officer in charge, and officers' headquarters. When such is the case, very narrow, deep trenches, known as retirement trenches, are dug roughly from 20 to 50 yards behind the firing line, so that every one, except those on sentry duty, may retire there during the heavy shelling. It is very obvious that excellent communication must be kept up between trench and the firing line.

Joseph Shuter Smith

Joseph Shuter Smith was an American author born in Philadelphia in 1893. He spent his childhood in Alaska during the Gold Rush and spent his years before the Great War as a lumberjack, miner, surveyor and cowboy. In 1914, continuing his adventurous streak, he went to Canada and enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, declaring his birthplace to be Port Hope, Ontario (with next of kin in Oakland, California). Smith enlisted with the 29th Canadian Infantry Battalion at Vancouver. He served in France and Belgium as a soldier in the CEF and, after being commissioned in August, 1916, as an officer of the British Army with The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment). He resigned his Imperial commission after a year to return to the US and enlist in the American Army. Joseph Smith also wrote the memoir: Over There and Back in Three Uniforms; Being the Experiences of an American Boy in the Canadian, British and American Armies at the Front and through No Man's Land.

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In the Trenches

Trench Warfare; A Manual for Officers and Men, J.S. Smith, Second Lieutenant with the British Expeditionary Force, E.P. Dutton & Co., 1917.

On relieving the fire trenches, the men should make no noise, and rifles must be carried so that they do not show over the parapet. This is necessary even if enemy's trenches are at a distance, as there is always the possibility of a listening or observation post being quite near.

Each man should pair off with one of the party occupying the trench and find out from him any points which may be useful.

A commander should consult the officer or N.C.O. in charge of the outgoing party and obtain the fullest information possible in connection with the position. Particular points on which information should be obtained from the outgoing officer are generally:

(a)     behavior of enemy during period preceding relief and any point in their requiring special information, such as enemy may have cut wire as though preparing line to attack;

(b)     machine gun implacement may be suspected at some particular point;

(c)     anything ascertained by patrols about ground between firing lines, thus avoiding unnecessary reconnoissance

(d)     any standing arrangement for patrols at night, including point at which wire can best be passed, ground to be patrolled, or place where they can lie under cover;

(e)     any parts of trench from which it is not safe to fire. Such positions are apt to occur in winding trenches, and are not always recognizable in the dark;

(f)     special features of trench, recent improvements, work not completed, dangerous points (on which enemy machine guns are trained at night), useful loopholes for observation;

(g)     places from which wood and water can be safely obtained;

(h)     amount of ammunition, number of picks, shovels and empty sandbags in that section of the line.

Information on these points cannot always be given by word of mouth. Written notes and plans should, therefore, be handed over to a platoon commander taking over for the first time.

In the meantime the incoming party should fix bayonets and all go temporarily on sentry at posts taken over. Occasional shots should be fired, so that the enemy's suspicions may not be roused. The outgoing party then starts back, and when clear, the relieving party should be numbered off and sentries posted and dugouts allotted. When practicable sentries should be taken from the dugout closest to his post.

By day the number of sentries varies, butshould not be less than one in six. The platoon sergeant is responsible for changing sentries, who are generally not on duty more than one hour at a time, unless under exceptional circumstances. When the maximum amount of labor must be obtained from the battalion holding the line, sentry duty is of any length that fits in with working arrangements. Every man must see that he has a good clear position for all directions. Section commanders must satisfy themselves that men have done this and reported such. When these arrangements are completed, word must be quietly passed down for men not on sentry to stand clear, and they are all not in that position again until the "Stand to" hours, generally the hour nearest dusk and the hour before dawn.

After dark, unless the moon is bright, rifles should be kept in a firing position on the parapet, and all men not on duty should keep rifles with bayonets fixed while in the trench.

Observation

Continuous survey of the enemy's lines through disguised steel loopholes should be made when the trenches are being held for any lengthy period, and such loopholes must always be sideways. Sites may be chosen by day, and made and disguised by night. Two steel loopholes about 3 yards apart enable a man with leveled rifle to wait by one while another with field glasses watches for target through the other. An observer watching persistently through glasses in complete security should make himself so familiar with the look of the opposite trenches as to enable him to observe any alteration in the enemy's wire entanglements, or notice immediately if a new sap has been run out from the enemy trenches under cover of night. He should watch points suspected of being machine gun implacements, and especially at night when the flashes can be detected. Observers should be told what marks, etc., to look for on men exposing themselves, and any result of these observations at once reported to the officer or N.C.O.

Inspection

A platoon commander should make frequent examination of trenches; at least once daily, go around with platoon sergeant and section commanders and decide on the necessary work to be done. Section commanders are responsible for carrying it out.

Before handing over a trench, a platoon commander should make a rigorous inspection to see that it is as clean as possible and that latrines are left in a satisfactory state. This includes the removal of old tins, paper, scraps of food, etc., which should be buried or burned, if possible. Empty cartridges should also always be kept cleared out, as they get imbedded in trench floors and hinder subsequent digging.

Joseph Shuter Smith

Joseph Shuter Smith was an American author born in Philadelphia in 1893. He spent his childhood in Alaska during the Gold Rush and spent his years before the Great War as a lumberjack, miner, surveyor and cowboy. In 1914, continuing his adventurous streak, he went to Canada and enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, declaring his birthplace to be Port Hope, Ontario (with next of kin in Oakland, California). Smith enlisted with the 29th Canadian Infantry Battalion at Vancouver. He served in France and Belgium as a soldier in the CEF and, after being commissioned in August, 1916, as an officer of the British Army with The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment). He resigned his Imperial commission after a year to return to the US and enlist in the American Army. Joseph Smith also wrote the memoir: Over There and Back in Three Uniforms; Being the Experiences of an American Boy in the Canadian, British and American Armies at the Front and through No Man's Land.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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Preparatory to Entering Trenches

Trench Warfare; A Manual for Officers and Men, J.S. Smith, Second Lieutenant with the British Expeditionary Force, E.P. Dutton & Co., 1917.

Things to be taken note of before entering:

(a)     Check periscopes, wire cutters, field glasses, water carriers, stretchers, field dressings, emergency rations, smoke helmets, rifles, identity discs, sandbags, ammunition.

(b)     See that water bottles are filled.

(c)     Each officer to have an orderly.

(d)     Magazines to be charged and bayonets fixed and unfixed beforehand to insure proper working.

When taking over the trenches, the first thing to be done is:

(a)     Ascertain position of officers' dugouts.

(b)     Arrange telephones.

(c)     Check stores, tools, and reserve ammunition, and its position.

(d)     Obtain rough sketch of front and number of traverses to be manned.

(e)     See that entanglements in front of trnches are absolutely intact.

(f)     Arrange for water and ration parties and find out position of latrines.

Joseph Shuter Smith

(Joseph Shuter Smith was an American author born in Philadelphia in 1893. He spent his childhood in Alaska during the Gold Rush and spent his years before the Great War as a lumberjack, miner, surveyor and cowboy. In 1914, continuing his adventurous streak, he went to Canada and enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, declaring his birthplace to be Port Hope, Ontario (with next of kin in Oakland, California). Smith enlisted with the 29th Canadian Infantry Battalion at Vancouver. He served in France and Belgium as a soldier in the CEF and, after being commissioned in August, 1916, as an officer of the British Army with The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment). He resigned his Imperial commission after a year to return to the US and enlist in the American Army. Joseph Smith also wrote the memoir: Over There and Back in Three Uniforms; Being the Experiences of an American Boy in the Canadian, British and American Armies at the Front and through No Man's Land.

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CNE Military Camp, 1915. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 3588

Wife's Consent Not Needed

Militia Department Abolishes Bar to Enlistment—Niagara Camp Notified
Seven Thousand Men
Recruits Have Joined at the Rate of One Entire Battalion a Week

The Toronto World, 21 August 1915

The consent of wives of married men who enlist, or the parents of young men over 18 years of age, is not needed, according to the text of an official message received from the divisional headquarters at Niagara camp yesterday. This regulation is already in force at the recruiting depot. No one under 18 years of age will be allowed to join the Canadian Expeditionary Force in any capacity, and those who say they are 18 when they have not reached that age are liable to be charged with perjury.

Only single men will be accepted for service with the permanent forces of Canada.

Official orders are expected within a couple of days authorizing a new system of recruiting, where by each unit will have four recruiting sergeants, who will be paid by the recruiting depots.

In the last seven weeks Toronto has recruited no less than 7000, making the enlistment at the rate of one entire battalion per week. The number of men passing through the recruiting depot Thursday was 196, making the high water mark for the week, and insuring that a complete battalion will be secured this week.

The supply of uniforms for recent recruits has been delayed because they are all being made in Canada, according to a statement made by Major-General Lessard yesterday. He said that the Canadian manufacturers had been doing very well, considering the heavy demand they had been asked to meet. Everything possible was being done to expediete the manufacture of uniforms.

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Supplying an Army When in Field

Whole System Changed

The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash., 8 November, 1914

Although this article isn't specifically about the CEF, it has been tagged as such to keep it with other First World War material.

The Manchester (Eng.) Guardian says: The English Soldier, when he goes into action, carries with him … 250 rounds of ammunition. The ammunition is carried in the bandolier or pouch, with the exception of 10 rounds which are stored away in the magazine of the rifle, and to be used in an emergency. The men, with ammunition, carry a total weight of about 60 pounds each. The whole system of the English army supply has been greatly changed since the South African war.

The new chain of supply gives between one and two days 'iron' rations in the haversack, half a day's ration in the cook's wagon, and one ration and grocery in the train or supply column, making a total of two and a half to three and a half days' rations with the field units, as against five and a half days' supply under the old system. The quantity of supplies provided now is actually less. The new system is now on its trial, and it is believed that it will be found an improvement on the old, because, through the use of motor-lorries in the supply column, the radius of action has been increased and the delivery of supplies accelerated.

It has been proved in practice that the three-ton lorries, over average roads, can deliver their loads 47 miles away and return empty the same day. Their speed has worked out at 12 to 14 miles an hour and that of the 30-hundredweight vans used for the cavalry supplies at 16 to 20 miles.

In order to safely send reinforcements to the firing line to meet the wastage of war, to convoy food to the troops, to transport small-arms ammunition and shells for the guns and generally to provide for the requirements of an army in battle, a 'line of communications' from the base of operations to the firing line must be established. The wastage of war is calculated differently in the various armies. The average is fixed at 70 per cent of the army in the field during the first year of the campaign. In this period and on this rough basis the number of men passed along the lines of communication for a single division will be, roughly, 14,000 to maintain the formation at field strength. To feed this force the weight of supplies and forage which would have to pass along the line daily is represented by 110 tons, and requires for its transport 85 general service wagons, or 39 lorries. A further calculation of road space shows that the convoy would occupy over three-quarters of a mile of road, or half a mile if mechanical transport is employed. The gun ammunition to be maintained on the lines of communication as a reserve for a single division of troops weighs 376 tons, the rifle ammunition 173 tons, and machine gun ammunition nine tons, making a grand total of 538 tons which has to be kept always available to pass to the front. There is also the transport of the sick and wounded to be passed from the front to the hospital at the base.

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The Futility of the First World War

Trench Warfare, 1850–1950, Anthony Saunders, 2010

Although this article isn't specifically about the CEF, it has been tagged as such to keep it with other First World War material.

The popular view that the First World War epitomized the 'futility' of war, that it embodied the stupidity of obstinate generals who willfully sacrificed their men and that the horrors of trench warfare could have been avoided, is one that is very resistant to any evidence to the contrary. Indeed the notion that the First World War, the Great War, the war to End all Wars, was an aberration in which warfare descended into a kind of madness in which men were slaughtered in their thousands for a few square yards of ground is a view derived not so much from the actuality of what happened but from popularist versions of it fostered by memoirs published ten years after the war. Not least among those who claimed that the war had been generaled by the incompetent, but fought by heroes, was David Lloyd George, who fostered the view that so many deaths had not only been unnecessary but avoidable had the generals, Haig in particular, paid heed to his wise council. In the face of such 'evidence', it has always been very difficult to disprove such 'truths' as unnecessary sacrifice and futility. The anti-war sentiment is very much a British issue, however. The French, for example, do not hold such iews even though they suffered many more casualties than the British. The First World War was far from futile and the very antithesis of an aberration in military affairs.

There is no question that the First World War was unlike any previous war. Its scale and its intensity, the industrialized totality of the war and the four-year mutual stalemate that existed along the Western Front, the principal focus of the wart made the First World War unique in the history of warfare. However, unique does not equate with aberrant any more than stalemate equated with stasis. Indeed not only was the stalemate on the Western Front entirely predictable, although not while working to prevent each other from attaining that mobility, ensured that the Western Front was constantly changing. The dynamics of this process of change were complex but, by 1917, effective solutions to stalemate were being developed. By the spring of 1918, a new form of warfare had evolved. The nature of warfare was fundamentally altered by the need to overcome the stalemate of trench warfare on the Western Front. So profound were these changes that they formed the basis of the tactical doctrines employed in most armies across the world thereafter. It is a simple truth that this could not have occurred had the generals been quite so stupid and the fighting quite so pointless as the myth of the futility of the First World War dictates.

Predictable though the stalemate of the Western Front might have been, there is a gulf of difference between foreseeable and avoidable. While it is true that no army went to war in 1914 with the intention of remaining entrenched for four years, neither was any army trained to avoid this happening.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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The C.F.A. at the Somme

Contributed by Colonel G.W.L. Nicholson, CD, Ottawa, Canadian Army Journal, Vol. 18, No. 3, 1964.

The 13th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery, disembarked at Le Havre on September 14, 1915, and for the next twelve months manned their guns in the misery of the mud of the Ypres Salient, and fought at St. Eloi, Sanctuary Wood and Hooge. Early in September, 1916, they moved with the 2nd Canadian Division to the Somme. Their arrival there is described in GunFire, the history of the 4th Brigade, C.F.A.: During the last day's march into the Somme, Driver George Wisheart, 13th Battery, was leading driver of the leading gun of the leading Battery of the leading Brigade of the 2nd Canadian Divisional Artillery, and mighty proud old George was of that fact. The Battery was halted in a small village where a certain British Battalion was billeted; and where troops are billeted it is customary to find a Regimental Padre. Down the village street came the British Padre and, with the best of intentions, but nevertheless somewhat too dignified an air, enquired of George, "What Division are you, my man?" "Second Canadians, sorr!" George answered. "Ah yes! Where are you going, my man?" "To the Somme, sorr." "Ah indeed!", and glancing along the line of well kept horses, burnished brass, and shining leather, and taking us for new troops, the Padre further remarked: "I suppose you're going in to your baptism of fire?" Old George stiffened as he thought of the past twelve months up in the Salient, and with stinging voice replied: "Baptism is it, sorr? Not by a damn sight! It's our bloody golden wedding!"

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Cooperation of Infantry with Tanks.

Instructions Issued by German General Staff.

Military Notes on Training and Instruction, No. 1, U.S. Army, August 1918
(Translation of a German order).

I.     The task of the tanks is similar to that of the artillery accompanying the infantry, and comprises :

(a)     The engagement of hostile supporting points, machine guns and centres of resistance.

(b)     The support of the infantry during hostile counter attacks.

II.     One of the deciding factors to ensure success is a prompt exploiting on the part of the infantry of the effect produced by the tanks.

The position of the infantry, whether preceding, in line with, or in the rear of the tanks, will depend on the tactical situation.

For attacks with short objectives, the infantry and tanks will advance in close touch with one another. In the case of distant objectives, the speed of the tank prevents it from keeping pace with the infantry. This temporary delay must not cause the infantry to stop; it must continue to carry out its task with all possible rapidity, irrespective of the progress made by the tanks. Should the infantry be held up in front of a strong point, the tanks will immediately pass through the line of the infantry and will work their way forward to attack and destroy the point of resistance.

Positions which the artillery may not have been able to engage, for example, machine gun nests situated on reverse slopes or which have not been previously located (flanking emplacements which are suddenly encountered), must be put out of action by the prompt intervention of tanks. The infantry must follow immediately in rear of the latter; tanks themselves cannot maintain possession of a captured position.

For defence against counter attacks, the tanks will dash forward from the positions they occupy at the moment the counter attack is launched and will make for the parties of the enemy which may have succeeded in penetrating our lines. This is the best method of securing co-operation by the tanks in counter measures carried out by our infantry.

It is very important that infantry and tanks should maintain close touch and that their respective commanders should personally confer together during the battle.

The tank crew, if their tank is put out of action, will take part in the attack as an assault detachment, making use of their machine guns and carbines.

(Sd.) LUDENDORFF

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

Updated: Wednesday, 9 September 2015 12:02 AM EDT

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85th Canadian Infantry Battalion
(Nova Scotia Highlanders)

Platoon Competition

85th Canadian Infantry Battalion War Diary, February 1919, Appendix 4

I.     Platoon Organization (100 points total)

Divided in the following manner:—

II.     Dress, Personnel, Equipment, Arms, and S.A.A. (200 points total)

One or more points will be deducted for each of the following irregularities:—

(a)     Cap badge not properly braced on inside of cap.

(b)     Collar or shoulder badges not put on in the regulation manner or badges missing.

(c)     Buttons undone.

(d)     Kilt not put on straight.

(e)     Hose top — Improper amount of "turnover".

(f)     Flashes — incorrect position and incorrect length showing.

(g)     Puttees — improperly wound around leg; or ends of puttee not pointing to rear, or edge of puttee ragged or frayed.

(h)     Feathers — ragged edges.

(i)     Unmended or dirty tunic or kilt — 1 to 4 points.

(j)     Equipment does not fit snugly.

(k)     Cross straps not in proper relative position, i.e., right over left.

(l)     Short straps on ball pouches hanging loose or pouches not fastened.

(m)     "D" buckles on cross straps not in proper position.

(n)     Steel of bayonet and bayonet scabbard not burnished.

(o)     Ammunition, deficient or not polished. — 1 to 5 points.

(p)     Dirty brass — 1 to 5 points.

(q)     Dirty rifle — 1 to 5 points.

(r)     Deficient oil bottle or pull through — 1 to 3 points.

(s)     Hair not cut or unshaven — 1 to 5 points.

(t)     Boots not blackened or not laced properly — 1 to 3 points.

(u)     Other irregularities, not noted above — 1 to 5 points.

III.     Officers and N.C.O's. (75 points total)

Points will be deducted if words of command are not given clearly or if they are given too hurriedly; or if Officer or N.C.O. giving command stands in a "slouchy" attitude.

IV.     Drill. (495 points total)

A.     Fall in:— (50 points)

Regulation method as laid down in Battalion to be used. Points will be deducted for any irregularity.

B.     Manual of Arms:— (220 points)

C.     

D.     Squad Drill:— (100 points)

Platoon will be formed up as a Squad.

E.     Section and Platoon Drill Including Casualty Drill (100 points)

Points will be deducted for:—

(a)     Lack of control by unit commander.

(b)     Any other irregularity.

Notes.

Platoon Commanders to have a written parade state with them. This will be handed over to the judges when the platoons "Fall In."

Platoons to be organized on a four (4) section basis.

Platoon Commander and Platoon Sergeant will each have a Platoon Roll Book. Each of the four Section Commanders will have a Section Roll Book.

Platoon Roll Books will contain the following information about each man in platoon:—

In "Remarks" the "Shows" man has been in with Battalion.

Section Roll Books will contain the following information for each man:—

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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Tank Notes — Use of Tanks in Germany.

Military Notes on Training and Instruction, No. 1, U.S. Army, August 1918 (From French Military Advisory Mission Bulletin).

The Germans are said to have stopped the tanks at Cambrai in the following way: The rifle and artillery fire compelled the infantry waves to remain in place; the advancing tanks were easily attacked with grenades (concentrated charges) and with small arms (S. R. M. bullets), once they were cut off, batteries also took part in their destruction.

As a result of this experience the Germans are said to have drawn the following conclusions on the subject of the organization and use of their tanks:

1.     Necessity of having more rapid tanks (a good many sources indicate speeds averaging 8 kilometers on hilly ground).

2.     The tanks advance in quincunxes, in zig-zags.

3.     The tanks are protected in the front and on the flanks by the infantry sturmtrupps marching on each side at 150 to 200 meter intervals.

4.     For training purposes there is a "Tankschule" in Germany and also vast manoeuvering grounds, one of which is in the neighborhood of Montmedy.

Description.

The tank is torpedo shaped. It weighs 10 tons and measures about 8 meters in length, 3 meters in width and about 2.5 meters in height. It resembles the British tanks, except in the matter of "bandages." The tank was completely protected by armored plating. The loop holes could be closed by means of shutters which, according to the prisoners, hermetically seal the openings against gas. The tank can turn rather easily.

Armament.

(a)     A rapid fire 5 cm. gun, on a pivot, with a periscopic sight. The gun has an angle of elevation of 60 degrees. An illuminating shell, which lights up the terrain in front for three minutes, is said to be used for night action. The gun also fires gas shells.

(b)     Four machine guns, one on each side, one in the front and one in the rear. The two last have an angle of elevation of 50 degrees.

(c)     Flame projectors, to be used in place of the machine guns in case of an obstinate resistance. The flame was projected a distance of 60 meters. It was produced by a mixture of tar and an exceedingly inflammable matter called "carbolineum," expelled by oxygen under high pressure.

Engine.

The 8-cylinder 250 horsepower engine was mounted in an interior compartment. A light producing dynamo was driven by the closed engine. The tank is said to be capable of 15 km. (?) per hour on flat terrain.

Personnel.

The personnel of a tank includes 2 drivers, 2 gunners, 4 machine gunners and 2 extra men, all under the orders of a junior engineer officer. The personnel all wear fire-proof clothing.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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Raids and Their Objects

"Stand To" A Diary of the Trenches, 1915-18, Captain F.C. Hitchcock, M.C., F.R.Hist.S., 1937

Although this article isn't specifically about the CEF, it has been tagged as such to keep it with other First World War material.

Up to this date, raids had been a great form of midnight activity employed by the British and Germans since the middle of 1916. Raids consisted of a brief attack with some special object on a section of the opposing trench, and were usually carried out by a small party of men under an officer. The character of these operations, the preparation of a passage through our own and the enemy's wire, the crossing of the open ground unseen, the penetration of the enemy's line, the hand-to-hand fighting in the darkness, and the uncertainty as to the strength of the opposing forces—gave peculiar scope to gallantry, dash, and quickness of decision by the troops engaged.

The objects of these expeditions can be described as fourfold:

I.     To gain prisoners and, therefore, to obtain information by identification.

II.     To inflict loss and lower the opponent's morale, a form of terrorism, and to kill as many of the enemy as possible, before beating a retreat; also to destroy his dug-outs and mine-shafts.

III.     To get junior regimental officers accustomed to handling men in the open and give them scope for using their initiative.

IV.     To blood all ranks into the offensive spirit and quicken their wits after months of stagnant trench warfare.

Such enterprises became a characteristic of trench routine.

After a time these raids became unpopular with regimental officers and the rank and file, for there grew up a feeling that sometimes these expeditions to the enemy trenches owed their origin to rivalry between organisations higher than battalions.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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Characteristics of the Various Types of Fighting Tanks.

Instructions for the Training of the Tank Corps in France, Reprint of a Pamphlet issued by Headquarters, Tank Corps, December 1, 1917, Bitish Army; [US} War Plans Division, July, 1918

(See Appendix A).

(a) Mark V. (Heavy). The characteristics of this type of tank are similar to those of the Mark IV., but its mobility is considerably greater, not only on account of the increased speed of the machine, but also on account of the greater ease with which it can be driven. The pace of the Mark IV. varied from half a mile to 4 miles an hour, according to the nature and condition of the ground. Its average rate of progress when fighting under favorable conditions was about 2 miles an hour. Although the actual speed of the Mark V. is not much greater than that of the Mark IV., this type of tank is so much easier to maneuver that the actual difference between its rate of progress in the field and that of the Mark IV. is really very considerable. It may be taken that in daylight the Mark V. can travel 1,300 yards across undulating country in the same time that the Mark IV. could travel 700 yards, and over hilly or broken country 1,800 yards as against 700 yards. By night the Mark V. can travel 1,800 yards across country in the same time as the Mark IV. could travel 700 yards.

The Mark V. can cross trenches from 9 to 10 feet wide, can surmount a perpendicular obstacle 4 feet high and move up and down a slope of 1 in 2. It cannot be depended upon to cross ground which tas been heavily shelled or is in a sodden condition. Wire, however, presents no obstacle to it, and it can pass with ease through thick hedges and woods if the trees are small.

The Mark V. is noisier than the Mark IV.and when in movement can be heard within a radius of 500 yards, unless the noise is covered. This can be done by artillery and machine gun fire or by low-flying aero planes.

The facility with which the Mark V. can be handled increases its defensive strength against artillery fire, because it can maneuvre more rapidly and thus not present so easy a target to the enemy's guns. Its fire power is considerably greater than that of the Mark IV. because the field of view obtained from it is more extensive.

It is essentially an offensive weapon and in defense every advantage should be taken of its mobility for counter attack.

(b) Mark V., One Star. This is a larger tank than the Mark V. and is slightly less mobile and easy to handle. It can be used to carry forward supplies and to bring back wounded. Ithas a greater trench-spanning power than the Mark V. As a weapon of offense, there fore, the Mark V., one star tank, should mainly be employed to attack the enemy's trenches.

(c) Medium "A" Tank (Whippet). The great mobility and radius of action of this type of tank makes it especially useful in open warfare. It is only armed with machine guns and its offensive power is consequently limited. It can be used to attack infantry and transport, but not as a tank destroyer.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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Platoon Commander Checklists (1917)

British Tactical Notes, Edited and Prepared at the War College, Washington, December, 1917

Questions a Platoon Commander Should Ask Himself Before An Attack

1.     Do I know exactly what objectives have been allotted (a) to my platoon, (b) to my company, (c) to my battalion? Have I a map showing them?

2.     Have I explained them to my N.C.O.s and men? And have I given my N.C.O.s a sketch plan of the platoon's objective?

3.     Do my N.C.O.s and men understand exactly what formation the platoon is adopting for this attack and the various duties each one of them has to perform? How am I using my Lewis gun?

4.     Do I know the bearings both of the left and of the right of my objective?

5.     Do I know, and do my N.C.O.s and men know, the names of the units on my flanks?

6.     Do I understand the barrage lines and timing of lifts in the artillery program?

7.     Have I impressed upon my men the great importance of keeping close up to our own barrage?

8.     Is my watch synchronized?

9.     Do I understand all orders sufficiently to be able to take command of the company if my company commander gets knocked out?

10.     Have. I told my platoon sergeant and N.C.O.s everything I can to enable them to carry on if I get knocked out?

11.     Are all my N.C.O.s and men properly equipped according to orders?

12.     Do I know who have (a) wire cutters, (b) Very pistols and lights?

13.     Have (a) bombs, (b) flares been issued to each man, and orders about their carriage and use properly explained?

14.     Do I know and does my orderly know (a) the best way to company headquarters now; (b) how to find my company commander during and after the attack; (c) where battalion headquarters is, and, if it is moving, at what stage and to what place?

15.     Have I warned my men to shoot or bayonet anyone giving the order "Retire"?

16.     Have I told them that slightly wounded men must carry back their equipment, and that men must on no account weaken the line by taking back wounded?

17.     Do the stretcher bearers know their way to the advanced dressing station and the arrangements made for getting away wounded?

18.     Do I know what to do with prisoners?

19.     Have I detailed the patrol to be pushed out as soon, as the objective has been gained, and explained to it exactly what to do?

20.     Do my men understand the necessity of establishing touch with units on my flanks, or, if on gaining obur objective we are not in touch, of establishing blocks immediately?

21.     Do I understand that to consolidate a well-defined target exposes my men to heavy shelling afterwards? Have I thought out where and how it is best to consolidate the objective I am about to attack?

22.     Do all my men know which are up and which are down communication trenches?

23.     Do I know and have I explained to my N.O.O.s the ar­rangements for supply of water, S.A.A., bombs, sandbags, wire, etc.?

24.     Have I made all possible arrangements for any special work required from my platoon after the objective has been gained?

25.     What is the S.O.S. signal?

Questions a Platoon Commander Should Ask Himself When the Objective Has Been Gained

1.     Am I and my men where they were meant to be?

2.     Have I reported my position and the situation generally?

3.     Are flares being lit when called for by the contact aero­plane?

4.     Is my platoon reorganized to resist counter attack? 5.     Am I doing all I can to consolidate the position and am I consolidating in the best place?

6.     Am I in touch with units on my flanks? If not, are blocks being established as quickly as possible?

7.     Is the Lewis gun disposed to the best advantage? Does it cover a block?

8.     Has the patrol been pushed out as I arranged?

9.     Am I making the best use of my scouts and snipers?

10.     What is the enemy doing? Am I doing all in my power to find out, and to let my company commander have the informa­tion as quickly as possible?

11.     What special orders did I receive? Was I ordered to dig any part of a communication trench? If so, are the men told off for the work working at it?

12.     Can I put up anything as a guide to our position for the artillery?

13.     Do I appreciate that if my present position is unhealthy it is likely to be much worse if I try to withdraw?

14.     Do I understand that bold and energetic action makes for success?

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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Tactical Instructions

Instructions of the Conduct of Small Units, Translated from the French Edition of 1916, Edited at the Army War College, Washington, D.C., May, 1917

Although this article isn't specifically about the CEF, it has been tagged as such to keep it with other First World War material.

(Translators' Notice.) A comparison of the tactical instructions contained herein with the tactics in vogue at the outbreak of war, and with the Tactical Study of Laffargue, published to the French Army between the Battle of Neuville St. Vaast, May, 1915, and the Battle of Champagne, September, 1915, reveals a steady development of certain features of the attack. The Battle of Verdun brought into relief certain features of the defense which have likewise undergone great development. Among the more important, developments that should interest American students of modern tactics the following may be mentioned:

(a)     The resort to intrenchments and their accessories to an extent never before imagined.

(b)     The absolute necessity of perfect team work and efficient liaison between infantry and artillery in general and between indi­vidual units of each.

(c)     The extent to which the initiative in the liaison between infantry and artillery has been given to infantry commanders.

(d)     The use of material and personnel of liaison between all grades of commanders and their subordinates. (This latter was a feature of French training before the war, but the present instructions show considerable development. This subject has received practically no attention in the United States Army.)

(e)     The section of 50 to 60 men is the fighting unit, and its leaders, subalterns, or warrant officers must actually lead in action but not disclose their identity to the enemy.

(f)     The private soldier must be trained to assume leadership and responsibility.

(g)     The machine gun is a powerful weapon of attack, support, and defense and must go wherever infantry goes; it must be used in larger numbers than ever before (French infantry brigades now have 84 machine guns to 6,000 men); it must fight to the end; and it must be used to economize infantry.

(h)     The formation of infantry units, within range of artillery must in no case be in columns of fours. Depth is insisted on for purposes of control. Mingling of units is apparently inevitable. The use of successive lines of attack with distinct objectives, with each line in in turn in a succession of waves seems to be required.

(i)     Modern intrenchments can not be taken by infantry unless the attack is thoroughly prepared by artillery.

(j)     Grenades are a regular infantry weapon and grenadiers are a part of every company.

(k)     The advance under infantry fire is by section in good control of the leaders. The practice of filtering forward by individuals or in small groups is condemned, except where good cover or covered pathways may be used; but this formation can not be used in the open on account of loss of control.

(l)     The "nettoyage" is the work of searching out the captured fieldworks for lurking enemy who, coming out from their hiding places, have in many instances caused serious losses to the attacking troops who have swept over and beyond them.

(m)     It is to be noted that the assault by small units discussed in these instructions is entirely dependent upon accurate information concerning the enemy's trenches. This information in modern warfare is almost entirely obtained by aeroplane reconnaissance accompanied by aeroplane photographs, which are afterwards plotted on trench maps. Unless we are prepared to furnish such information no attack by units, large or small, can be properly planned.

(n)     Any successful attack is dependent upon a well-trained and properly organized and directed general staff, which can coordinate and harmonize all tactical dispositions.

Note.— lt is suggested that the development of machine guns, grenades, smoke and suffocating bombs, the "aeroplane de bom­bardment," etc., might well be applied to quelling troubles with our savage and semisavage dependents, with a great economy of infantry and cavalry.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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Life in the Trenches

The British Soldier: His Courage and Humour, Rev. E.J. Hardy, M.A., 1915

Although this article isn't specifically about the CEF, it has been tagged as such to keep it with other First World War material.

A Scottish Borderer described life in the trenches in the following extract from a letter: "To kill time we played banker with cigarette cards. We become rather like schoolboys over food. One of our mess had a small tin of biscuits sent through the post yesterday we all crowed over it just like youngsters. One's joys are of the primitive type; when, like our ancestors, we turn to live in the fields and woods again. A padre turned up yesterday, and at night (it was not safe to begin earlier) we held a service at which a great number of our men attended. We are a light-hearted lot and so are our officers. We dug out for them a kind of a subterranean mess-room where they took their meals. One fellow decorated it with a few cigarette cards and some pictures he had cut out of a French paper. Their grub was not exactly what they would get at the Cecil. A jollier and kinder lot of officers you would not meet in a day's march. One officer who was well stocked with cigarettes divided them among his men, and we were able to repay him for his kindness by digging him out from his mess-room. A number of shells tore up the turf, and the roof and sides collapsed like a castle built of cards, burying him and two others. They were in a nice pickle, but we got them out safe and sound. There are apple trees over our trench, and we have to wait till the Germans knock them down for us. You ought to see us scramble down our holes when we hear a shell coming."

The experience of ten days in the trenches was thus described:

"We dig ourselves deeper and deeper into the earth, till we are completely sheltered from above, coming out now and then, when things are quiet, to cook and eat, making any moves that may be necessary under cover of darkness. Ammunition, food, and drinking water are brought in by night; the wounded are sent away to the hospital.

We do not wash, we do not change our clothes we sleep at odd intervals whenever we can get the chance, and daily we get more accustomed to our lot. It is rather an odd existence. Little holes dug beneath the parapet just big enough to sit in are our homes, with straw and perhaps a sack or two for warmth. The cold is intense at night, and those good ladies who have made us woollen caps and comforters have earned our thanks; also, we are getting used to it. The coldest moments are those when there is an alarm of a night attack, and we spring from our sleep to stand shivering behind the parapet peering over the wall to see our enemies, and firing at the flashes of their rifles. It is exciting. Every time you put as much as your little finger over a trench there is a hail of bullets."

A regiment was in trenches under fire and returning it. Two privates noticed that the French interpreter was placed at a spot where the trench was not wide enough to enable him to make proper use of his rifle. "The Frenchman isn't comfortable," said one, and both left the trench, spade in hand, knowing well that they were serving the enemy as targets, dug out the trench in front of their French comrade, and returned with unbroken calm to their own places and their rifles.

There was a humorous attempt to be homelike. A sergeant-major by the name of Kenilworth put outside his bivouac "Kenilworth Lodge. Trades-men's entrance at the back. Beware of the dog." The dog was picked up at Rouen.

Other shelters were named Hotel Cecil, Ritz Hotel, Billet Doux, Villa De Dug Out, etc. Soldiers called the ordinary trenches, "Little wet homes in a sewer."

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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Tank Characteristics and Limitations

Instructions for the Training of the Tank Corps in France, Reprint of a Pamphlet issued by Headquarters, Tank Corps, December 1, 1917, Bitish Army; [US] War Plans Division, July, 1918

General Characteristics and Limitations of the Weapon.

Tanks are mechanically propelled armored vehicles which are designed to accompany the infantry in the attack and to assist, by means of their fire, weight and moral effect, in destroying the enemy's strong points and overcoming his resistance. In defense they can be employed in counter attack either independently or in co-operation with infantry and can be used to cover the infantry in rearguard action.

As the speed of tanks is developed and their machinery perfected it is possible that their tactical employment may develop and that their r6le may become more independent.

At the present time, however, the role of tanks is to act in close co-operation with the infantry both in attack and defense and it is this role of tanks which is mainly considered in the following pages.

(i)     The main characteristics of fighting tanks are their mobility, the security which they afford to their crews and their offensive power.

Mobility. Tanks, according to the type to which they belong, can move on the flat at a pace of 5 to 8 miles an hour; across country at a rate of 3 ¼ to 4 ½ miles an hour and in the night at an average pace of 2 to 3 miles an hour.

Tanks can cross all forms of wire entanglements. They crush down two paths in their passage through the wire, each of which is passable for infantry in single file. They can span a trench of considerable width, surmount an obstacle five feet high and climb slopes of 1 in 2.

Security. Tanks are proof against all bullets, shrapnel and most splinters a direct hit from any field gun, however, will usually put them out of action.

Offensive Power. Tanks can develop their fire power when in motion and consequently they are able to cover the advance of the infantry by a continuous fire. Heavy tanks are divided into two types male and female. The male carries 2 six-pounder guns and 4 machine guns, the female 6 machine guns. The medium tank carries 4 machine guns. The crews are armed with revolvers.

(ii)     The Mark V. tank can travel for 18 miles and the medium "A" tank (Whippet) for 35 miles without taking in a further supply of petrol. This increase in the staying power of tanks materially adds to their fighting value, but their employment in active operations is still somewhat limited owing to the following reasons:

(a)     The physical endurance of the crews cannot be counted upon after 12 hours in action.

(b)     Tanks cannot cross swamps, streams or deep sunken roads, nor can they make their way through thick woods.

(c) The field of view from tanks is somewhat restricted. Objectives should, therefore, be easily recognizable and the routes to them straight- forward.

(d) Tanks cannot be depended upon to go over country which has been heavily shelled, but their capabilities in this respect are being I constantly improved.

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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85th Battalion Educational Scheme (1918)

From the War Diary of the 85th Canadian Infantry Battalion (now perpetuated by the Cape Breton Highlanders).

War Diary, Nov., 1918.

Educational Scheme

85th Canadian Infantry Battalion
Nova Scotia Highlanders

On Friday 30-11-18, at 10.45 hours a class was organised of those who could neither read or write, a teacher appointed and instruction begun.

This class for beginners was the start of a programme for Educational and Vocational training within the Battalion until demobilization.

The order to begin such work was sent to Company Commanders after nominal rolls of those requiring such instruction were prepared. L/Cpl Henderson of the Band, an ex school teacher of long standing was the Instructor appointed.

The following letter was sent to Company Commanders:—

"The following are the proposed subjects to give instruction in:—

Subjects.

• Reading and Writing.
• English Grammar and Composition.
• Canadian and British History.
• Geography.
• Arithmetic.
• Evening Lectures on Subjects of General Interest.
• Agriculture
  • Farming
  • Gardening
  • Animal Husbandry
  • Field Husbandry
• Mining.
• Business Training.
• Book Keeping.
• Barbering.
• Draughting.

Company Commanders will submit by noon tomorrow, Nominal Roll of Officers, N.C.O.s and men in their Company competent to teach any of these subjects."

This outline was a general guide and allowed for any further additional subjects requested.

The 85th Battalion in France and Flanders

On Sunday, November 24th, Protestant and Church parades were held as usual. A special feature, was that, at both services, the objects of the Society of the Holy Name were presented and the pledge of this Society was largely signed by officers and men against profanity and obscene language. In the afternoon there was a conference of the Company Commanders with a view to ascertaining the wishes of all ranks regarding the scheme of demobilization, as to whether, so far as the 85th was concerned, it should be classed according to occupations, or as a unit. The subsequent decision was in favor of demobilization as a unit. This was just what might be expected with the Esprit Corps of the 85th. The conference also considered an educational scheme for the Battalion and other means of profitably occupying the attention of the men. A census was taken showing the civil occupation of each man and what occupation he expected to follow in the future, as a guide to map out courses of instruction. A class was immediately formed in the important subjects of reading and writing and handed over to Lance-Corporal Henderson of the Band, who was an ex School Teacher. Also every officer and man in the Battalion, who was capable of teaching any particular subject, was taken into the service. (p. 226)

Posted by regimentalrogue at 12:01 AM EDT

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