Grandpa's War

15 July 1915 - Pay day again

2005-07-15T22:00:00.000+12:00

Leslie Payne received his pay again at Dibgate on Thursday 15th July.

6 July 1915 - Leslie Payne promoted to Corporal at Shorncliffe

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Five days later, on 6th July, Leslie Payne was also promoted to the rank of Corporal - the official confirmation came through in Part II Daily Orders on the following day, the 7th, and accordingly his pay was raised by an extra 10c. per day. It was on these two days, according to the War Diaries, that Nos. 7 & 8 Companies were busy moving the 29th and 31st Battalions and their equipment from Dibgate Camp to Lydd.

1 July 1915 - Promotion for William Hogg & Bob Moodie

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Service records show William Hogg to have been promoted to the rank of Corporal on Thursday 1 July 1915 and, on the same day as he was discharged from hospital, the rank of Lance Corporal was confirmed for Bob Moodie.

11 June 1915 - Bob Moodie to the sick bay

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On this day, Bob Moodie reported sick and was diagnosed with measles. He was transferred to the Canadian Hospital at Moore's Barracks. After almost two weeks, he was transferred once again to the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Folkestone, where he remained until his discharge, presumably upon full recovery, on 1 July.

1 June 1915 - Bob Moodie assigns pay to his sister

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On Tuesday 1 June, according to his service records, Bob Moodie assigned $25 of his monthly pay to his sister Miss Jane M. Moodie, of Leiterellen Steps, near Glasgow.

June 1915 - First leave, and a trip home to Derby

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Some time in June, Leslie Payne must have been granted a few days' leave, as were many of the Canadian soldiers keen to see the bright lights of London or visit family. Unfortunately the leave was not noted in his service records, but I am fairly sure that he did take leave at this time for a couple of reasons.

The first of these relates to a postcard sized photograph (at left) of Leslie taken by the studio of E.M. Treble in Derby. In the head-and-shoulders portrait he does not have any corporal's stripes on his uniform, suggesting that it was taken prior to his promotion in early July. It is also possible that he just hadn't sewn the stripes on yet, although I think this is unlikely. The bandolier is different from the one he is shown wearing in the photos taken in St John, New Brunswick, suggesting that it was after their equipment had been replaced in England. The cap badge and collar dogs are of the "General Service" type, which mean that it certainly wasn't after he had transferred to the Canadian Machine Gun Corps, the following year.

Also, Leslie withdrew a large portion of his pay in June and July 1915 - a total of $82.50 - and the only other times during his service that he withdrew large amounts was immediately prior to going on leave. A later posting will show that Leslie assigned $25 of his monthly pay packet to his "sweetheart" Con (Constance May Hogg) at the beginning of August - it seems very likely that this took place soon after he had seen Con while on leave. Constance (shown in the portrait above) was an elder sister of William Percival Hogg, who had joined up on the same day as Leslie, and the Hogg family were obviously known to the Paynes in Derby. Their father, William James Hogg (1862-), was a land and estate agent in Litchurch, Derby, as was Leslie's father, Charles Vincent Payne (1868-1941).

25 May 1915 - Leslie Payne's Army Pay Book

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Leslie Payne's Army Pay Book contains several entries indicating when he was paid over the summer of 1915. Together with entries in the Pay Sheets included with his C.E.F. Service Records, I have pieced together the following account:

Date :: Location :: Event (Source)

Begin. May :: Sandling :: Paid (Army Pay Book)
25 May :: Dibgate :: Paid (Army Pay Book)
6 July :: Shorncliffe :: Paid (Army Pay Book)
- & Pro[moted] to Cpl. Auth. Part II O[rder] No 160. (Service Records)
7 July :: Shorncliffe :: Paid (Army Pay Book)
- & Confirmed in Rk. of Corpl. By O/C 2 D.T. Pt. II - 160 & Nom. Roll 3/8/15 (Service Records)
15 July :: Dibgate :: Paid (Army Pay Book)
30 July :: Otterpool :: Paid (Army Pay Book)
1st Aug :: - :: Assigned $25 of Pay to Constance Hogg, 48 Sackville Street (Service Records)
1st - 31st Aug :: Temp[oraril]y Employed as Armourer (Service Records)
1st - 30th Sep :: 3rd Class Work Pay. 7 days (Service Records)

24 to 29 May - Musketry course at Hythe ranges

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During the week starting 24th May, all four companies of the Train attended Musketry courses at the Hythe ranges, commencing with a parade at 7 am on Monday.

The School of Musketry was set up at Hythe in 1853 by the then British Commander-in-Chief, Lord Hardinge, and is still used to this day. A brief history of the Corps formed by Lord Harding at Hythe is given on this British Army web site.

Charles Ross Francis, in his Personal Experiences and Impressions of the Great European War, on "For King and Empire", gave the following account of his first week at the ranges, some five weeks after the 2nd Divisional Train had been there:

Monday, July 3
At 11 am today we marched down to the Hythe ranges to practice shooting. It is the first I had ever shot out of a rifle and I made a fairly good score considering (16 out of 20). We carry full packs and as the road is rather hilly it is quite a strenuous walk especially coming back which is more uphill. The Hythe ranges are supposed to be the best in this world. They are down by the beach so that we shoot towards the ocean. The ground is all shingle (pebbles) and while it is hard to walk on it is very good for wet weather.

Wednesday, July 5
We are continuing with the ranges. I have been coaching every day besides shooting, and while it is not hard work it is rather monotonous and some days very hot as we are now in the blazing sun without any cover. I am burnt as brown as an Indian.

Friday, July 7
We completed our course at the ranges this afternoon. The Battalion as a whole did fairly well but I was not able to keep my own score as I was too busy on the coaching. If possible I may be able to get it and will jot it down afterwards. We shot from ranges from 1 to 600 yards at targets like this,
1 - Bull = 4
2 - Inner = 3
3 - Magpie = 2
4 - Outer =1
For ranges to 1 and 2 hundred the targets are 6'x 6' and for the long distance 8'x8'.

Private Francis trained with the 90th Battalion, also from Winnipeg, which was subsequently broken up on the day that after the musketry course concluded, with the men being absorbed into other battalions.

Ernest Mosley Taylor, who served with the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles (C.M.R.) and was killed less than a year later, found the journey from their camp down to the ranges rather strenuous (in letter home which forms part of correspondence in the Taylor-Bury Collection):

8 August 1915
We have been having rather a strenuous time lately, and march down to Hythe every day to start. We start about 7 a.m., our lunch consisting of a jam sandwich and small piece of cheese. Hythe is about seven miles away, and we don't get back till five in the evening. Then I have a wash and clean up and get down to the rooms in time for supper at 7. This means that I have been doing about sixteen miles a day for the last week. I find I keep pretty fit on it though my feet are rather sore with the hard roads, and a rest today is welcome ... We are getting rather tired of having horses to look after. It tires on down so much and there does not seem to be any more prospect of riding them.

This postcard photo shows Canadian soldiers marching through the busy streets of Hythe, presumably on the way to, or on the way back from, the ranges.

Sources:
A Soldier's Diary - 1916 : My Personal Experiences and Impressions of the Great European War, by Private Charles Ross Francis, published on The Archive, For King and Empire : Canada's Soldiers in the Great War
Correspondence of Ernest Mosley Taylor dated 8 August 1915, in the Taylor-Bury Collection, publ. by the Canadian Letters & Images Project

22 May 1915 - Nos 5 & 6 Cos move to Newingreen Camp

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Numbers 5 and 6 Companies moved from West Sandling to a new, tented camp at Newingreen, not far away, commencing at 6 am. The war diary records favourably, "Excellent Camp; under canvas."

17 May 1915 - Transfer of Paymaster, Capt Sircom

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The War Diary records that Captain G.C. Sircom, Paymaster of the 2nd Div. Train, was transferred to the Pay & Record Office in London, effective from 13 May.

George C. Sircom was 24 years old, married and a student in Halifax, Nova Scotia, at the time of his enlistment at St John in February 1915. He had no previous military experience.

17 to 21 May 1915 - Training programme steps up & the horses arrive

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In the week commencing 17 May, the training appears from the War Diary entries to have been stepped up a notch. The Monday morning commenced with a muster parade at 8.45 am, and presumably the week's programme was outlined to the men. Over the next five days, the weather was generally miserable, but the men were lectured on the use of the Ross rifle and, when possible, worked on several fatigues. On Tuesday, a few men from each of Nos 5 and 6 Companies - perhaps NCOs - were sent for musketry training on the rifle ranges, which were located on the beaches near Hythe.

In addition, the horses which were to form the backbone of the transport fleet of the 2nd Div Train, and become an important part of the soldiers' everyday lives, began to arrive on Tuesday. The War Diary notes: "40 Draft & 24 Riding horses taken on Strength; good type."

15 May 1915 - Two promotions

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The War Diary reports two promotions from within the 2nd Divisional Train today:

Private-Farrier Frank Edgerton Mitchell (#1716, orig. #88) from No. 5 Company was promoted to Staff-Sergeant, effective from 25 April.

Sergeant George Leslie Duplessie (#1653, orig. #70) was also promoted to Staff-Sergeant, effective from 26 April.

Presumably the men were given the afternoon off, as usual. The following day was Sunday, and there were no parades, allowing plenty of time for relaxation.

14 May 1915 - A day of bad weather & more appointments

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The War Diary reports a day of bad weather, and notes that the "health of men in tents (at Dibgate) better than those in huts (at West Sandling)." Sergeant Walter Leonard Jones (#1688, orig. #168), also from No. 5 Company and originally a book-keeper from St John, was appointed as an orderly room clerk and paymaster-sergeant.

13 May 1915 - Capt Ruddick, Medical Officer

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The War Diary notes that on Thursday 13 May, Captain W.W. Ruddick, who had enlisted on 11 November 1914, and had been Medical Officer of the Train since their first months in Winnipeg - he signed the vaccination certifications on many of the soldiers' Medical Forms - also took charge of the Divisional Supply Column at Dibgate. This order was later (17 May) cancelled.

William Wallace Ruddick was a recent graduate as a physician from McGill University in Montreal (June 1914), but was originally from St Martin, New Brunswick, where he had served for two years as an officer with the 28th New Brunswick Dragoons. His father, Robert Carter Ruddick, also practised as a medical doctor in St Martin, St John parish, New Brunswick.

It is interesting to note that although there are images of two Attestation Papers for Ruddick on the LAC Soldiers of the First World War database, neither of these is his original AP. There is one AP filled in and signed at St John, New Brunswick on 26 Feb 1915, which was later rubber-stamped by the Pay & Record Office on 7 May 1915, and another which appears to have been completed in Montreal on 3 Jan 1919, after the end of the war.

The War Diary entry for that day also notes that Ruddick's batman, Private William Fred Fader (#50714 orig. #1659, not #678 as shown in the War Diary), originally with No. 5 Company, was "attached to No. 7 Company for rations, quarters and discipline." Presumably this was because Ruddick himself was now based in the tented camp at Dibgate, while No. 5 Company was still back at West Sandling. Fader was a cook before signing up, and therefore probably well suited to being a batman!

Sources:
1901 Census of Canada, Images from Library & Archives of Canada & Indexed by Automatedgenealogy.com
New Brunswick Vital Statistics from the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick
Canadian Medical News: Medical Colleges - McGill University Canadian Medical Association Journal 1914 July, Vol. 4(7): 644–650
Medical Council Examinations, Canadian Medical Association Journal 1914 November, Vol. 4(11): 978, publ. online by PubMedCentral

12 May 1915 - Route march & lectures

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Wednesday brought a recommencement of the training programme with a route march in the morning, followed by lectures on map reading, orderly room work, camp hygiene etc.

11 May 1915 - Parades, drill and inspections

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On Tuesday morning, the War Diary records, the Train paraded at Dibgate for Company drill, while those who had been selected to become farriers attended lectures from the Veterinary Officer, Captain W.H. Simon. Presumably the men and officers from the other two companies marched over from West Sandling to take part.

At 4 in the afternoon, the Train was inspected by Major-General J.M. Babington, C.B., C.M.G. on Sir John Moores' Plain. An experienced veteran of the Imperial Forces in the South African/Boer War, Babington had commanded the New Zealand Forces, and was regarded as an extremely competent thinking soldier and tactician. The image of Babington at left is from a series of cigarette cards of Boer War celebrities.

The two photos included below were very kindly sourced by Alan & Alison Smith from the Local Studies Library in Folkestone, to whom I am very grateful. Although not particularly clear, the images show troops drilling and exercising in the fields adjacent to Shorncliffe Barracks during the First World War. It is not possible to be certain, but it seems likely that they were Canadian.

H.C. Singer, in his History of the 31st (Alberta) Battalion, C.E.F. (Calgary, n.p., 1938, p. 22), has written:

Company and battalion drill and manoeuvres, trench digging, and similar work occupies most of the time. Courses of special instruction and bayonet fighting, grenade throwing, machine-gunnery, musketry, signalling and map reading were also inaugurated ...

Donald Fraser, who was at this stage in the 31st Battalion, wrote in The Journal of Private Fraser (ed. Reginald H. Roy, CEF Books, 1998, p. 23):

Friday, September 17, 1915: After a four months' training in Kent, England, where we had a very enjoyable time, first at Dibgate in the vicinity of Shorncliffe, then at Lydd where we had a rush shooting practice and finally at Otterpool where water was very scarce, we were considered fit and skilled in the art of warfare, ready to meet the hated Hun. When I think of it, our training was decidedly amateurish and impractical. It consisted mainly of route marches and alignment movements. Our musketry course amounted to nothing; we had only half an idea about the handling of bombs. We were perfectly ignorant regarding rifle grenades.

Sources:
History of Thirty-First Battalion, C.E.F., from its organization November, 1914, to its demobilization June, 1919, compiled by Major H.C. Singer & written by A.A. Peebles, publ. 1938 privately in Calgary. This is now available as a digital reproduction from Archive CD Books Canada.

The Journal of Private Fraser, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1918, ed. by Reginald H. Roy, publ. 1998 by CEF Books

10 May 1915 - A move to the sands of Dibgate Camp

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On the morning of Monday 10th May, the War Diary records a move of half the Train, including Nos. 7 and 8 Companies, out of the huts and to new accomodation at Dibgate Camp. At the new location, they were accomodated in tents; the camp was in an inferior location, very sandy and dirty, and the water supply was indequate. However, in spite of inclement weather for much of the time, their health was reported to be better than that of the soldiers in huts. Also on this day, Major W.A. Mitchell, originally from No. 8 Company, assumed overall command of both Nos. 7 & 8 Companies.

Brigadier General Alexander Ross, in his narrative included in Chapter Five of Major D.G. Scott-Calder's History of the 28th Battalion (reproduced on Robert Lindsay's excellent 28th North-West Battalion Headquarters web site), was not at all complimentary about the conditions at Dibgate:

Apart from the whole-hearted hospitality of the other Battalions of the 6th Brigade, there was little in the Dibgate Camp Area to make us feel. welcome and, as time went by, the first impressions of this locale did net improve. Fanned by every breeze that blew (and they were many and variable) the sandy soil showed a decided tendency to do everything except that for which it had been destined. It penetrated in large quantities the food, clothing and bedding, to say nothing of eyes, hair and mouths.

Lt. Wilbert H. Gilroy, a dental surgeon with the Canadian Dental Corps, was also billeted with the 6th Brigade at Dibgate in the summer of 1915. He was almost always bright and cheerful in his letters home, but his remarks about the sand indicated his strong displeasure:

The only objection to this place is that when it blows, as it is doing now, the sand is something awful.

Back at West Sandling, the Nos. 5 and 6 Companies were to remain in the huts for another fortnight. Private George Broome (440955, "A" Co., 32nd Battn.) was in the Third Canadian Division, which arrived in England in September 1915 as the Second Division left for France. He wrote the following to his mother in Melfort, Saskatchewan, from Risboro Barracks, Shorncliffe, which was not far from West Sandling, and the accomodation would have been very similar:

29th September 1915: We have had nice weather here till today and its raining cats & dogs. We are fixed up alright though. We are in huts. About 30 men live in each hut and have their beds and tables and chairs and crockery. The food is brought from the cook house and we eat right in our huts. They are pretty big although the name makes one think they are small.

Sources:
Wilbert H. Gilroy Collection, Correspondence & Photographs, publ. by the Canadian Letters & Images Project
George Albert Charles Broome Collection, Correspondence & Photographs, publ. by the Canadian Letters & Images Project
The History of the 28th (Northwest) Battalion, C.E.F. (October 1914 - June 1919), by Major D.G. Scott-Calder, E.D., originally published 1961 by The Regina Rifle Regiment, republished on the internet by Robert J. Lindsay on 28th (North-West) Battalion HQ © Copyright The Royal Regina Rifles Trust Fund

8 May 1915 - A weekend to relax

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The men were given Saturday afternoon off, and for many no time was wasted in exploring their surroundings. Many men obtained passes and made their way into Folkestone to experience the local nightlife, while others preferred to relax in camp and write letters home to their loved ones. Robert Hale of the 6th Brigade Canadian Field Artillery (C.F.A.) had arrived at Shorncliffe a couple of months earlier, and was based at Moore Barracks in mid-March. In his letters home to his sweetheart Alice, he was quick to reassure her that he was one of the latter group:

We have just been here one week and today is the first fine day. Yesterday we were inspected by the Garrison General, all the Canadian soldiers. He was well pleased with the show. The Canadians are a much smarter looking crowd than the regular troops round here but that is because the best of the British troops have gone to the front and they have had to take smaller men to make up the regiments ... Some of the boys have gone on leave so I am going to put in a pass myself soon ... Today is Saturday and we were dismissed at 10 o'clock for the day so we have a good time when we come to consider it ... We are situated on the top of a hill overlooking the sea and the country round here is very pretty. Folkstone is a nice town but at night it is in total darkness. You cannot see a light so we don't go far in case we loose our way. Your watch is invaluable to me here. There are only three of us carrying them. Well dear, I don't think much of the so-called pretty girls round here. I would not give ten cents for a car load of them. Some of the boys go out every night and pick up girls. I don't know what they see in them round here. I have been to town twice since I came here.

...but in a later letter (25 June), he gave more details of their leisure activities:

We have just got back from church and it is a beautiful day. I think I will go over for Jock this afternoon and then we will go for a walk in the country. I went to a roller skating rink last Wednesday with Pat. It was a fancy dress night. Pat had a dress of some kind and you should have seen him. It would have been better if there had been more girls. I guess there were about ten soldiers to every one girl. Their rink here is on the pier. It is nice to sit on the pier at night and watch the sea. I wish you were here for a while. It would be just lovely wouldn't it dear?

On 1 July, another letter with more details:

Some of the Canadian bands are going to play in one of the parks in town tonight. I think I will go down and hear them.

The Henry Gordon Helm Collection, made available online by the Canadian Letters & Images Project, includes some interesting photographic views of Folkestone and surroundings produced in the form of two letter cards sent by Gordon Helm to his wife from Shorncliffe in August 1916. The first letter card shows a series of views of the tented camps on St Martin's Plains.

View 1 - Airships over tented camp at Shorncliffe
View 2 - Tented camp, including horse lines, near Shorncliffe
View 3 View 4 View 5 View 6 - Tented camp

... while the second includes half a dozen pictures of views in and around Folkestone.

View 7 - Folkestone Leas & Shelter, including pier mentioned by Robert Hale (above)
View 8 - Folkestone, Lower Sandgate Road, along which men may have walked to town, and including another view of the pier
View 9 - Folkestone Beach
View 10 - Folkestone Leas, Bandstand

Source:
The Henry Gordon Helm Collection, a collection of photographs & postcards publ. by the Canadian Letters & Images Project
The Robert Hale Collection, Correspondence, publ. by the Canadian Letters & Images Project

6 May 1915 - Captain Cooper appointed S.O.

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The War Diary records that Captain Cooper - presumably the Capt. Gordon McNeill Cooper (later Major) mentioned in the List of Officers who arrived with the Train in late April - was appointed "S.O." on 6 May. Cooper was a former diamond merchant from London, Ontario, who had previously served for three years with the 16th Company Militia, C.A.S.C. I have been unable to find a reference to this abbreviation, but feel it may mean "Sanitary or Sanitation Officer."

Any comments or suggestions welcomed, and if confirmed, I will change the entry on the CEF Study Group Forum's List of CEF Abbreviations Used in Personnel Records & War Diaries.

The other entry in the War Diary for Thursday 6 May was:

All rations issued thru C.A.S.C. Training Depot.

The following extract from Wait for the Waggon, a History of the Canadian Army Service Corps, p. 101 (The Evolution of Supply and Transport, 1913-1918) described the formation and evolution of the C.A.S.C. Training Depot:

At the end of March 1915 a CASC Training Depot with a strength of 18 Officers and 158 other ranks left Canada for England, where it was located at Shorncliffe. In addition to carrying out training, it accomodated reinforcements arriving from Canada and casualties ready to return to active service. In July, when the CASC took over the supply of all Canadian troops in England, it was reorganized into a Training Company and an Operating Company on order to handle this work.

Drafts sent to France by the Training Depot went first to a Base Depot at Le Havre where they were taken on strength of an Army Service Corps Pool. If urgently required, they went directly from the Pool to operational units. Otherwise, they were sent from the Pool either to a Base Mechanical Transport Depot at Rouen, or to a Base Horse Transport and Supply Depot at Le Havre, both British units, where they received further training until required in the field. Thousands of MT Drivers, including many Canadians, were trained at the former Depot.

Later, two additional CASC Training Depots were opened in England at Bramshott and Witley. However, it was learned that this led to an undesirable diversity of training. They were closed in April 1918, leaving only Shorncliffe.

Sources:
Wait for the Waggon, The Story of the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps, by Arnold Warren, publ. 1961, by McClelland and Stewart Limited.

3 May 1915 - The first week of training in England

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Monday morning brought the men a taste of what their training was to be like in England, with a long route march in the morning and dismounted wagon drill and other activities in the afternoon. They were exhausted after the first day, only to find that the schedule was to be repeated each day for the rest of the week. On Tuesday, they also had a lecture on horses from Captain Simon, the Veterinary Officer. Friday morning brought a full inspection of all four C.A.S.C. companies by the General Officer Commanding (G.O.C.) the Canadians.

The training regime was certainly a step up from what they had experienced in Canada, but they acquitted themselves well. Louis Duff (28th Battalion, in Letters Home) reported, perhaps a little breathlessly:

We thought we were training pretty hard in Winnipeg but we are going at it even harder now. About another four weeks and they figure we will be fit for the firing line.

The following is an extract from the John Mould Diaries, as presented as part of an online exhibit by the Archives of Ontario:

... a walk a distance of twenty to thirty miles in one day. It came very hard on them the first week or two, quite a number of men falling sick with sore feet but they settled down to it after a while and can now march the distance and feel nothing of it, everyone being in good condition. The country here has seemed to work wonders and every man at the present time is fit for anything.

On Friday, all four companies were inspected by the G.O.C. at Sandling, and on the Saturday morning, "considerable time was devoted to physical training." The War Diary reports, "General health of men very good." They were given the remaining half-day off which, together, with the usual absence of parades on Sunday meant they had plenty of time for more recreational activities.

Sources:
John Mould Diaries, an online exhibit by the Archives of Ontario

30 April 1915 - West Sandling Camp, Shorncliffe

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The following day, a Friday, was spent "unpacking equipment, baggage &c." Presumably the men spent some time setting themselves up and exploring their new surroundings, while the officers met their counterparts in other units of the Canadian Second Division, settled in at the officers' mess, and started organizing activities for the first week of their stay. Wilbert C. Gilroy, an officer with the Canadian Dental Corps, arrived at Dibgate Camp near Shorncliffe in early June, also via the SS Carpathia, and recounts in a letter home that he was surprised to meet many of his old friends from Winnipeg in the officer's mess:

The old saying about the world being such a small place, still holds good. When I arrived at this out of the way place, I fully expected to be quite alone outside of the few I knew of our own crowd. But not so. As soon as we arrived I immediately began to see my old friends ... In fact I knew all the officers with exception of three or four which I know now. And it is the same all over the camp.

The 2nd Divisional Train now consisted of 26 officers and 459 men, organized into four Companies, Numbers 5 to 8, and the Headquarters. There were also three additional personnel attached from the Canadian Army Medical Corps (C.A.M.C.). Leslie Payne, George Willox, Bob Moodie and William Hogg would remain in this vicinity for most of the summer of 1915.

The following is from notes made by my father C.B. Payne (CBP):

The 1" O.S. map of 1945 (Sheet 173) shows what I think is likely to be [Dibgate] camp, though it isn't named, about 1½ miles N.E. of Hythe Town centre. In September 1950 my parents & Bunnie spent a holiday at Folkestone and I joined them for a [weekend]. (By bus from Canterbury where I worked 28th August 1949 to 15th Nov 1950.) On 10th September Dad & I walked to Sandgate, on the road to Hythe, and I vaguely recall his mentioning having been at a camp nearby. Or do I imagine it?

Shorncliffe appears to have been a military base at least as far back as 1802, when General Sir John Moore ("the father of the Light Infantry") began to develop further his ideas for the training of infantry at that location. Germans troops were even trained there during the preparations for the Crimean Campaign. Otterpool was another training camp to the west of Shorncliffe, near Lympne. Shorncliffe and Dibgate became major training and embarkation camps for Canadian (C.E.F) soldiers during the First World War, and the base for the entire Canadian Second Division. By February 1915, there were 40,000 Canadian troops training in Shorncliffe, Hythe and Dibgate. Shorncliffe is still an army barracks, and was recently home to a Ghurka Regiment.

According to the War Diary, Saturday was "spent in cleaning of lines &c." presumably preparing their camp for long term occupation, for training, and for the arrival of the horses, which they would take charge of and train with over the next few weeks. On Sunday, however, there was no parade, and no onerous duties to perform; the men would perhaps have had a chance to relax and explore a bit further afield.

Harold W. McGill had the following to say about the situation of the camp at Shorncliffe, in a letter home:

Our camp is on a hill over looking the sea about four miles from Folkestone. The ships are passing up and down all day and on clear days we can make out the French coast quite distinctly. With field glasses we can see the towns and villages. We are about 50 minutes by flying machine from the scene of the fighting.

This illustrated that even though it would be another four and a half months before they got to France, they could never feel too detached from the war. Louis Duff of the 28th Battalion expressed similar sentiments in his own letters:

Our camp is seven miles west of Dover on a height overlooking the sea. We have two very pretty coast towns close by, Hythe west of us about an hours walk and Folkestone, a popular sea side resort, east of us a couple of miles. On a clear day the coast of France shows up very plainly. Submarines and Torpedo Boat Destroyers are patrolling the sea all the time. Aeroplanes and dirigible balloons are a common sight.

Source
The Wilbert H. Gilroy Collection, Correspondence & Photographs, publ. by the Canadian Letters & Images Project
War Diary of the 2nd Divisional Train, C.A.S.C., Apr 1915 - Jun 1916, Library & Archives of Canada microfilms Ref #T-10903 & #T-10904, transcribed by Brett Payne

29 Apr 1915 - England at last, and on to Shorncliffe

2005-04-29T22:00:00.000+12:00

The passage took twelve days and, according to the War Diaries, the ship tied up at Avonmouth Dock in the Bristol Channel sometime between 6 and 8 in the morning on Thursday 29th April. Avonmouth had been used by the First Canadian Division, under Lt.-Gen. Alderson when they sailed for France almost three months earlier, and was a major port employed in the massive troop movements required during the war. It had been chosen as a result of Germany's declaration of their intent of unrestricted submarine attacks on all shipping in the English Channel, which had effectively ruled out the use of Southampton. The men were given the order to disembark at 10 a.m., laden with heavy kit bags and other personal gear, and once off the ship were immediately marched to the nearby railway station, where they boarded a waiting troop train.

For many of the men who stepped off onto dry land that morning, this was a return to the home which they had left only a few years previously, having been part of the huge influx of immigrants arriving in Canada in the last decade or so. However, Leslie Payne and his friends would have been largely unfamiliar with this part of the country. Leslie and William were from the Midlands, while Bud and Bob hailed from further north in Scotland, and there would have been many others like them, in much the same boat, so to speak, as the roughly 15 percent of the 2nd Div Train who were Canadian-born.

They didn't have much time to store their belongings in the luggage lockers and settle into their seats before the train pulled out at 11.15 a.m. It rattled its way slowly eastwards across the countryside of southern England, eventually arriving at Shorncliffe Barracks, west of Folkestone on the south-east coast, at a quarter-to-five that afternoon.

The following extract from Canada in the Great World War, written in 1919, gives a good impression of the town and countryside which greeted the men:

And now a word about Shorncliffe Camp. It was in an ideal location on Sir John Moore's Plain, on a plateau overlooking the sea, and consisted of brick buildings of comparatively modern construction. It composed five unit lines known as Ross, Somerset, Napier, Moore, and Risborough Barracks, and was undoubtedly one of the finest permanent barracks in England. A mile to the east, on the opposite side of the valley, was the beautiful seaside resort of Folkestone, a town of considerable size and importance. To the west, about three miles distant, lay Hythe, familiar for its school of musketry and extensive ranges. Joining Folkestone, and extending almost as far along the shores as Hythe were Sandgate and Seabrook, in some places only the width of a single street, and frequently littered with shingle when a stormy sea dashed through the breakwaters and lapped the doorsteps of the dwellings huddled under the cliff. In prominent locations along the coast at this point were ancient martello towers, erected originally as a means of coast defence and now used by the troops as storehouses and observation posts ...

... In April, 1915, units earmarked for the 2nd Canadian Division commenced to arrive. Accommodation in the barracks was not available, although some of the earlier arrivals were temporarily allocated until tenting arrangements were made. The majority, however, occupied one or other of the hutted camps, the position of which it will be necessary briefly to outline.

From the south-west corner of the barrack area a road led west for approximately a mile, skirting the front of the camps known as St. Martin's Plain. Then clipping into a valley and curving through a hamlet, it emerged another mile west and entered East Sandling Camp. Bisecting this camp, it continued on another two miles to West Sandling Camp on the left, and still another mile to Westenhanger Race Course and Otter-pool Camps on the right and left respectively ...

... The huts occupied as headquarters were at the very commencement of the road on St. Martin's Plain; and Otterpool, the farthest camp away, was approximately six miles.

From the railway station at Shorncliffe the men were marched to a hutted camp at West Sandling. However, part of the "Train" got lost, and only arrived at the camp at 10 o'clock that night, exhausted. At least the huts had beds, and they are unlikely to have had much difficulty adjusting to their first night on solid land for almost two weeks.

Sources:
Formation of the 2nd & 3rd Divisions, in Canada in the Great World War, publ. 1919, and reproduced on Old And Sold Antiques Digest
Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914-1919, Official History of the Canadian Army in the Great War, by Colonel G.W.L. Nicholson, CD, publ. Army Historical Section, 1964, Available online from the Directorate of History & Heritage
War Diary of the 2nd Canadian Divisional Train, C.A.S.C., C.E.F., Library & Archives of Canada, Microfilm Ref. T-10903.
TheShipsList-L Rootsweb Mailing List Archives : Various Postings to this thread
History of the First Canadian Division, The Great War 1914-1918, by Joanna Legg & Graham Parker

26 Apr 1915 - Received Pay

2005-04-26T21:58:00.000+12:00

Leslie Payne's C.E.F. Pay Book shows him to have been paid on 26 April, while he was on board the Grampian.

More accounts of the Atlantic crossing

2005-04-18T20:15:00.000+12:00

This is a good opportunity to introduce readers to another blog currently being developed which relates the experiences of a CEF soldier, in the form of letters written to folk back at home. Dear Miss Griffis is published by the Glenbow Museum, and consists of the First World War Letters from Harold McGill to Emma Griffis, whom he later married. The letters are published on a weekly basis.

McGill enlisted with the 31st Battalion, and later served with the 5th Canadian Field Ambulance in France. His letter to Emma written from Shorncliffe in June 1915 gives a brief account of the journey from Montreal, Quebec to Devonport, near Plymouth on the SS Carpathia.

There was scarcely any rough weather on the ocean trip and I never missed a meal. The land lubbers fared better than the old travellers very few of the former being seasick. I never even felt a twinge, but then I was too busy most of the time to indulge in any such frivolities. We never got a glimpse of a submarine although we kept a sharp lookout. There were over 2200 troops aboard and the last part of the journey was run with lights all shut off at nights, or at least with portholes all blanketed. For the last two days we had two machine guns mounted on deck and 100 men on guard with loaded rifles.

These sentiments were shared by Louis Duff of the 28th (North-West) Battalion from Moose Jaw, who wrote the following in letters to his uncle and aunt in Saskatchewan:

29th June 1915, Dibgate Camp, Shorncliffe: Just a line to let you know we arrived O.K. and am well. We had a glorious trip across the water, fine weather and comparatively calm sea. Only a few of the 2000 on board suffered from sea sickness, as for myself, I was really sorry the trip was so short, 10 days from Montreal to Plymouth

In an account of the history of the 117th Battalion (Gilbert's Galloper's : The Rise and Fall of the 117th Eastern Townships Battalion, C.E.F.) Craig Myers provides the following assessment of the feeling among the men on board during the crossing:

Letters home to loved ones share the soldiers' experiences while crossing the Atlantic. Some told of seasickness, cramped conditions, and boredom. However, the general theme of the letters was that the soldiers were happy and felt a certain esprit de corps within the 117th.

Sources:
Dear Miss Griffis, an ongoing blog publ. by the Glenbow Museum
Gilbert's Galloper's : The Rise and Fall of the 117th Eastern Townships Battalion, C.E.F., by Craig Myers on the Eastern Townships Heritage Web Magazine and the 117th Eastern Townships Overseas Battalion web site
World War I Letters of the Duff & Morrison families of Saskatchewan, on The Canadian Military Heritage Project web site

The journey across the Atlantic

2005-04-18T19:50:00.000+12:00

Unfortunately, there appear to be no exisiting War Diaries for the journey across the Atlantic written for the 2nd Divisional Train, which commence on 29 April 1915, after they had arrived in England. Whilst it is possible that they have subsequently been lost, it is far more likely that they were never written in the first place.

It is fortunate, however, that the appropriate War Diaries for the 27th Canadian Infantry Battalion were written, and have survived. The 27th were also part of the 2nd Canadian Division and, while they arrived at Shorncliffe a month after the 2nd Div. Train, one would expect the crossing to have followed a similar pattern, with the men having similar experiences and daily on-board routines. These War Diaries have been filmed and scanned by the Library & Archives of Canada, and are available, along with many others, on the ArchiviaNet web site. The actual images may be viewed by clicking on the links provided below:

The daily routine for the men to follow on board was as follows:

Time :: Duties

The first two or three days out on the open sea were understandably difficult, with many of the officers and men suffering from mal-de-mer or sea-sickness. It was made worse by some miserable weather with very choppy seas. The third day on board, when the diarist remarked that they had passed close to the Newfoundland fishing fleet, was characterised by rain, sleet and snow! By the fourth day, however, most had recovered and some semblance of routine had been established. They had also ironed out some teething problems with the cooking staff, which had found catering for the numbers in the confined quarters difficult to cope with. Another factor which helped enormously was an improvement in the weather, with calm, clear days and plenty of sunshine. Apart from regular daily physical exercise, then men attended lectures from their platoon commanders on training, defences, guard mounting, equipment, sanitation and First Aid. They also carried out lifeboat drills at 4.30 every afternoon and, as they got closer to their destination, firing parties were detailed as sharpshooters on lookout duty for submarines. Luckily no periscopes were sighted!

Not every minute on board was arduous. Some evenings there were performances by the brigade band in the YMCA, which had been opened in the 2nd Class Dining Room. Sundays were given over to a church service and general relaxation. Monday 24th May was Empire Day, and the troops were granted a holiday. A patriotic band concert and sporting events were held. Robert Lindsay has posted images of the programme of entertainment for the night of June 4th, 1915, which his grandfather attended when crossing with the 28th Battalion on the S.S. Northland.

On Day Eleven, when they had their first sight of England, a torpedo boat appeared, then escorted them into Devonport, following some two miles astern, where they were taken in tow to their moorage at the Admiralty Dock. The war diarist had the following comments to make about their enthusiastic welcome:

Brigadier issued orders that men were not to cheer on entering Port. This order was not obeyed. Imagine men keeping quiet when entering an English Port on Troopship and are cheered by all the Boats in the Harbor. Especially Canadians!

Jimmie Johnston, in his recollections of a similar journey across the Atlantic in September 1916 (Riding into War, 2004), talks about the advantages of volunteering for mess duty on board:

Before we left the harbour, they called for volunteers for mess orderlies for the trip. About a dozen of us volunteered and were fortunate in doing so, as we were given good staterooms, two to a room, and the privilege of going to the galley any time we cared to, to have something to eat. This was a real break, as I soon found out that if I started to get sick a few sour pickles would help my stomach a lot. All we had to do was carry the meals from the galley to the dining halls, which of course was bad enough when the sea was rough. We had no dishes to wash and no other duties, except on boat drill once or twice a day, which we all had to attend.

We had a few days of real rough weather, and these were the times we appreciated the stateroom, as most everyone was sleeping in hammocks, and one surely got all the benefits of the roughness in these. Oh yes, and the day we got off the boat we were paid thirteen dollars apiece for the extra work. Believe me, if we had known this when we had got on the boat there would have been a lot more volunteers as thirteen dollars was a lot of money to have landing in England.

Sources:
28th (Northwest) Battalion History by Robert Lindsay
Riding into War : The Memoir of a Horse Transport Driver, 1916-1919, by James Robert Johnston, The New Brunswick Military Heritage Series, Vol. 4, publ. 2004 by Goose Lane Editions & The New Brunswick Military Heritage Project, ISBN 0-86492-412-7
War Diary of the 27th Battalion, Library & Archives of Canada, ArchiviaNet web site

17 Apr 1915 - Off to England at last!

2005-04-17T15:16:00.000+12:00

At last, the men received the word they'd been impatiently waiting for, and on Saturday 17 April they embarked on board the R.M.T.S.S. Grampian, which had been tied up at the wharf in St. John harbour for the last couple of days, after dropping off a load of inbound passengers from England. They set sail on the following day, and would have had their first onboard church service that morning. The ship was a large one - some 10,000 tons - and there would have been many other 2nd Division troops on board as well, such as the 18th Battalion.

Image by David Kelly
© Copyright & Courtesy of World War I Document Archive - Ship Photo Gallery
Sources:
TheShipsList-L Rootsweb Mailing List Archives : Various Postings to this thread

... and some informal photos too

2005-04-13T23:00:00.000+12:00

The following two photographs were from my grandfather's collection, and appear to have been taken on the same occasion as the "official photographs" shown in the previous posting. The first (CLLP 2nd from left) shows a line of six soldiers on parade in uniform and with rifles, standing at attention on a sidewalk cleared of snow, in front of a substantial stone and brick building; Leslie Payne and at least one other appear to be wearing spurs. Using the official photos, I've been able to identify all of the five other men in the first photo, four with a good degree of certainty. Bob Moodie and William Hogg were, of course, Leslie's friends, and have been mentioned in earlier postings.

OFF TO THE WAR
From Left to Right: L.-Cpl. Robert "Bob" Valentine Moodie, Dr. Charles Leslie "Les" Lionel Payne, Dr. Benjamin Gerdes, Cpl. William Percival Hogg, Dr. John Purves Brown, Dr. Harry Williams Corner
The second photo (below) is more informal and shows Leslie alone, standing in the snow with riding crop but no rifle, in front of what appears to be the same building. The building looks to be at least four stories high. The photo is in the form of a post card, and is addressed on the reverse, "Lce/Corp L Payne, Reg. No. 1989 C.A.S.Co., Dibgate Camp, Nr. Hythe, Kent", although it does not appear to have gone through the mail. It seems unlikely that it was actually taken in Kent, as the chance of snow that far south in England by the time CLLP reached there in April is probably slim.

The following is from Gord Grossley:

"CLLP is wearing his puttees infantry-style. The tying tapes show as a thin lighter band of cloth around the upper calf ... Rank was worn on both arms during WW1, so he is still a Private. The men are all wearing breeches, as worn by mounted personnel, and the rifles carried are the Canadian Ross Mk III. The cap badges ... are the Canadian 'General Service' type, a bronze maple leaf with crown and 'CANADA' on a scroll below."

It seems likely, therefore, that the photographs were indeed taken at the same time as the official ones, probably in St. John, New Brunswick during the three weeks that they spent there before embarking for England, and subsequently sent to Leslie Payne in England.

13 Apr 1915 - Pay Day & an Official Photograph Session

2005-04-13T22:14:00.000+12:00

Leslie Payne's C.E.F. Pay Book shows him to have been paid on 13 April, while the 2nd Div. Train were still in St. John. It was around this time that official photographers arrived to take photos of the entire company. It is not clear exactly what date this took place, but the published photos show Leslie Payne still with a rank of "Dr" (Driver), so it may have been prior to his appointment to Lance Rank on the 5th. They appear to have been taken on the steps of large building, presumably somewhere in the vicinity of the army camp or barracks, although the remainder of the background has been in the images shown below. Click on any image to view a larger version of the same.

OFFICERS, No. 7 COMPANY, ARMY SERVICE CORPS
Lieut. E.O. Leadley, Lieut. R.A. Laird, Major H.J. Freeman, Lieut. J.R.C. Stanley, Lieut. R.W. Marshall, S.Sgt.-Maj. C.E. Rowe (W.O.)

NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS, No. 7 COMPANY, ARMY SERVICE CORPS
Top Row - S.-Sgt. A.E. Read, Coy. Q.M.-Sgt. S.H. Headland, S.-Sgt.-Maj. C.E. Rowe (W.O.), Coy. Sgt.-Maj. A.C. Pollett, S.-Sgt. W. James
2nd Row - S.-Sgt. W. Ball, Sgt. W.R. Lintott, S.-Sgt. H. Dowds, Sgt. H.G. Green, S.-Sgt. R. Simmons, Sgt. F. MacGregor

TRANSPORT SECTION 1, No. 7 COMPANY, ARMY SERVICE CORPS
Top Row - Dr. L. Payne, Dr. J. Newell, Dr. C. Gazen, Dr. H.A. Shoobert, Dr. B. Gerdes, L.-Cpl. R.V. Moodie, Pte. B.M. Pressley, Dr. A. Macdonald
2nd Row - Dr. F.C. Batting, Dr. G. Smith, Cpl. A. Burwell, Cpl. J. Tompkin, Cpl. A. Dickeson, Dr. T.O. Stow, Dr. T.L. Johns
3rd Row - Dr. W. Leavitt, L.-Cpl. P.W. Ninnes, Dr. O.J. Durnell, Dr. H. Cheffins, Dr. G. Chadney, Dr. E.W. Lowery
4th Row - Cpl. H. Worthington, Dr. S.E. Fairs, Dr. G.H. Day, Dr. E.L. Pennell, Dr. J. MacDougall, Dr. T. Boyce, Dr. E.A. Bullock, Trptr. J. Boswell
5th Row - Sgt. H.G. Green, Lieut. E.O. Leadley, Cpl. S.C. Bullock

TRANSPORT SECTION 2, No. 7 COMPANY, ARMY SERVICE CORPS
Top Row - Dr. M.H. Renahan, Cpl. W.P. Hogg, Dr. W.F. Behm, Dr. L.B. Reed, Dr. F.M. Booth, Dr. W.B.C. Woolett, Dr. J.A. Jennings, Dr. E.C. Bown
2nd Row - Dr. G. Chilton, Dr. W. Allan, Dr. D. McElroy, Dr. C.H. Salmons, Dr. H.M. Payne
3rd Row - Dr. C.A. Gardiner, Dr. G. McGlashen, Dr. H.W. Corner, Dr. T. Bennett, Dr. C. McLennan, Dr. J.P. Brown, Trptr. J. Boswell
5th Row - Sgt. W.R. Lintott, Lieut. R.W. Marshall, Cpl. S. Davies

SUPPLY SECTION No. 7 COMPANY, ARMY SERVICE CORPS
Top Row - Pte. G.R.L. Richards, Pte. A. Davis, Pte. W.B. O'Hare, Pte. A.N. Kerr
2nd Row - Pte. J.T. James, Pte. A.M. Woolett, Pte. W. Emery, Pte. G.H. Willox
Third Row - Sgt. F. McGregor, S.-Sgt. A.E. Reed, S.-Sgt. W. James
4th Row - Lieut. R.A. Laird, Lieut. J.C. Stanley
Sources:
Photographs by kind courtesy of Bruce Tascona

5 April 1915 - Formation of 2nd Divisional Train & No. 7 Company - Officers

2005-04-05T23:15:00.000+12:00

The Second Divisional Train appears to have been officially created in late March 1915, with Leslie and his friends being assigned to No. 7 Company upon their arrival in St. John. According to a later entry in the War Diary, Lieutenant-Colonel J.A. Shaw, S.S.O., left earlier for England with his batman, both from No. 5 Company, presumably to make preparations for the Train's arrival at Shorncliffe. John Arthur Shaw was born in Bowmanville, Ontario, and enlisted in Toronto on 26 January 1915, having served for four years in the Queen's Own Rifles (1891-1895) and a further 11 years in the C.A.S.C. (1904-1915). At the time of his enlistment he was working as an insurance broker.

The officer commanding No. 7 Company was Major H.J.B. Freeman. Originally born in Montreal on 28 July 1876, Hugh Joseph Baker Freeman was an accountant, and was living with his wife in Long Beach, California when he enlisted in the C.A.S.C. at Winnipeg on 11 November 1914. He had no previous military service.

The other officers with No. 7 Company were as follows:

Lieut. Edward Oswald Leadley was a married 30 year-old commission merchant in Winnipeg, although from Stratford, Ontario. He had no previous military experience, although he was an active militia member.

Lieut. Roland Arthur Laird was also from Ontario (Oshawa), and working as a clerk in Spokane, Washington at the time of his enlistment in the C.A.S.C. in Winnipeg. He was married, and had considerable previous military experience, including four years with the D.R.O.C., three years with the Rocky Mountain Rangers, 2 years 10 months with the 16th L.H. and another 2 years 10 months with the 72nd Regiment.

Lieut. John Richard Charles Stanley was born in Plumstead, Kent, England, and served for 12 years with the Imperial Army Service Corps prior to his emigration to Canada. He then served for four years in the Canadian Permanent Forces. At the time of his enlistement at Winnipeg on 11 November 1914, he was an active member of the 18th Militia Company, C.A.S.C., which formed the nucleus of the Winnipeg contingent of the 2nd Divisional Train. He was single, aged 37, and working as a clerk.

Lieutenant R.W. Marshall, who is pictured with the other officers of No. 7 Company in the official photograph taken in St John, New Brunswick, apparently did not proceed with the 2nd Divisional Train overseas, as he is not included in the list of officers for that unit which accompanies the War Diary for April 1915, being an account of the strength on disembarkation.

The Commanding Officer of the 2nd Divisional Train was Lieut.-Colonel Albert Edward Massie, who was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, but emigrated to New Brunswick with his parents in about 1880. His attestation paper states that when he enlisted at St John on 25 Febrary 1915, at the age of 46, he was married, working as a manager in St John, and had previously served for ten years in the 71st Infantry Regiment and a further twelve years in the Army Service Corps. The York County NB GenWeb site has a transcript of a newspaper obituary for Lt-Col Massie, unfortunately undated, which includes the following account of his military service:

Col. Massie had a long military career which began in Fredericton in the ranks of the 71st York Battalion [sic]. He was commissioned as an officer and later was captain and quartermaster of that unit. After removal to Saint John he was selected to organize and command the first unit of the Canadian Army Service Corps in New Brunswick. His success was so outstanding that he was promoted in that branch of the militia and in the early stages of the Great War was appointed to command the 2nd Divisional Train, C. E. F. and served with it in France. Col. Massie won the D.S.O. in active service, being three times mentioned in despatches.

Sources:
War Diaries of the First World War, from Library & Archives of Canada.
Soldiers of the First World War, online database of soldiers who served in in the Canadian Forces during WW1, by Library & Archives of Canada.
Photograph & Newspaper obituary for Col. A.E. Massie, transcribed by York County NB GenWeb

5 Apr 1915 - Leslie Payne appointed to rank of Lance Corporal

2005-04-05T22:03:00.000+12:00

Although the entries on Leslie Payne's Casualty Form/Active Service (B.103) commence with his arrival in England, the date of his appointment to "Lance Rank" has been filled in as 5 April 1915, which would have been while they were in St. John.

1 Apr 1915 - Cpl Hogg assigned pay to his mother

2005-04-01T16:17:00.000+12:00

On 1 April, shortly after their arrival in St. John, William Hogg assigned $15 of his monthly pay to his mother, Louisa Hogg, of 48 Sackville Street, Derby.

Source:
Service Records for William Percival Hogg, Collection of Brett Payne, from Library & Archives of Canada

29 Mar 1915 - Arrival on the East Coast (St John NB)

2005-03-29T11:16:00.000+12:00

From Winnipeg, they headed on the long journey east through Ontario, skirting Lake Superior, then to Ottawa, Montreal, along the eastern bank of the St Lawrence, and finally south-east across New Brunswick to the eastern seabord port of St John. It's not clear how long the trip took, but by the time they arrived in St John, probably on Sunday 28th March, they would have been on board the train for several days. They were no doubt bored, dirty and keen to get their feet onto firm soil once more. On the Monday morning they joined the other C.A.S.C. contingent from Regina (Saskatchewan) and were formally taken on strength (T.O.S.) with the No. 2 Divisional Train, and assigned to No. 7 Company.

St John was the gathering point for embarkation to Europe of the Second Contingent.

24 Mar 1915 - Departure from Winnipeg

2005-03-24T10:00:00.000+12:00

Presumably they spent much of the next four and a half months "training and drilling" in and around Winnipeg. Then, on 24 March 1915, they received their final pay packet, shortly before their embarkation for the east coast. The departure was probably accompanied by a parade, such as that shown in the photo below, taking place in the streets of Winnipeg ca. 1915 ...

Photo © and courtesy of Timelinks & the Provincial Archives of Manitoba
... followed by the departure from the Union Station in Winnipeg.

Photo © and courtesy of Timelinks & the Provincial Archives of Manitoba

23 Feb 1915 - McFadden Barracks, Portage Avenue

2005-02-23T10:00:00.000+13:00

In a letter dated 23 February 1915 Leslie's uncle Charles Hallam Payne (1870-1960) - then living in Normanton, Derby - gave Leslie's address as "McFadden Barracks, Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada". I have been unable to find any other record of a McFadden Barracks in Winnipeg, so this may have been a mistake on Hallam's part.

10 Feb 1915 - Smallpox Vaccination

2005-02-10T10:00:00.000+13:00

The men received a vaccination, presumably for smallpox, today.

20 Jan 1915 - 3rd Anti-typhoid Innoculation

2005-01-20T10:00:00.000+13:00

The men received their third, and final, typhoid innoculation today.

10 Jan 1915 - 2nd Anti-typhoid Innoculation

2005-01-10T10:00:00.000+13:00

The men received their second anti-typhoid innoculation today.

Robert "Bob" Valentine Moodie - an introduction

2004-12-31T13:00:00.000+13:00

Robert Valentine Moodie - or Bob as he was known to his friends - was born on 14 February 1886 at Glasgow Scotland. As a young man he served for four years in the "Dunbartonshire M.I." [was this the 1st Dunbartonshire Rifle Volunteers?] before emigrating to Canada. When he enlisted in the C.A.S.C. on 11 November at Winnipeg, he was living at 596 Gertrude Avenue and working as a clerk. In his attestation paper he listed his next-of-kin as his mother, Mrs Moodie of Leiterellen Stepps, near Glasgow. He was 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighed 139 pounds, and had brown hair and brown eyes. He gave his religion as Presbyterian.

It is not clear whether Leslie and Bob knew each other before their enlistment, or whether they stayed in touch after the war. There is, however, a photograph of the latter in the Payne family collection, taken during the war, somewhere in France.

William Percival Hogg - an introduction

2004-12-31T12:30:00.000+13:00

William Percival Hogg was 22 years old when he joined up at Winnipeg in November 1914, the same age as Leslie Payne.

This was not the only thing they had in common - both were sons of land and estate agents and had grown up in Normanton, a southern suburb of Derby, in the county of Derbyshire. William was the sixth of nine children of William James Hogg and his wife Louisa nee Scholes. He was born on 21 August 1892 at Trent Vale, Staffordshire, but the family moved to Derby soon after his birth. Initially, they lived at 62 Normanton Road, but later moved to 48 Sackville Street.

It seems likely that William Hogg senior and Leslie's father, Charles Vincent Payne (1868-1941) knew each other well, and may have had business dealings. It is possible that Leslie and William Hogg junior went out to Canada together in about 1912. By late 1914 he was working, presumably in Winnipeg, as a steward. He was 6 feet tall, weighed 165 pounds, had brown hair and blue eyes, and described himself as "Church of England". He was immediately promoted to the rank of Corporal.

New Year's Eve 1914 - Bud Willox's story

2004-12-31T11:45:00.000+13:00

By New Year's Eve, the men had been training for six weeks and would have got to know each other fairly well. It is an appropriate opportunity, therefore, for me to introduce some of Leslie's friends, one of whom he remained in touch with for the rest of his life.

George Henderson Willox, or "Bud" as he was known by his friends in the army, was born on 24 January 1886 at Schoolhill Farm, Lonmay in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the youngest child of James Willox and Christian Henderson. As a young man he served with the Gordon Highlanders, both in Scotland and England - a photo dated 1904 shows him in the regimental tug-of-war team on Salisbury Plain, and another shows him in the pipe band in Scotland at around the same time.

George Willox, standing at 3rd from right
Gordon Highlanders tug-of-war team, Salisbury Plain, 1904
When George was 20 he emigrated to the United States, in order to join his elder brother John in Duluth, Minnesota, arriving at New York on board the S.S. Baltic from Liverpool on 5 April 1906. He gave his last place of residence as Fraserburgh, which is some distance north of Aberdeen. Amongst other occupations he worked on the railroad in Duluth, but none suited him and in about 1913 he moved north across the border to Winnipeg in Manitoba, and found employment in the grain business.

By the time of his enlistment in mid-November 1914, George Willox was working as an accountant and was an active militia member, presumably also the 18th Company. Strangely, he stated that he had no previous military service, which we know to be incorrect.

L/Cpl "Bud" Willox ca. 1915
Sources:
Anon - Cutting from "The Duluth Herald" newspaper, ca. Dec 1917, Courtesy of Dr. Hugh & Mrs. Jean Macartney
Anon - CEF Attestation Paper, Soldiers of the First World War, Library & Archives of Canada
Photographs, Willox family tree and historical information courtesy of Dr. Hugh & Mrs. Jean Macartney
Ellis Island Passenger Manifest Database

31 Dec 1914 - First Anti-Typhoid Innoculation

2004-12-31T10:00:00.000+13:00

On New Year's Eve, the men received the first of three anti-typhoid innoculations. On a medical history sheet compiled at around this time, Leslie Payne stated that he had previously been vaccinated in 1900, presumably against smallpox. Of course, his grandfather Henry Payne (1842-1907) had been Vaccination Officer for the Borough of Derby, and would have made sure that all members of the family received their jabs. The form also gives Leslie's weight as 183 lbs.

1 Dec 1914 - Second Equipment Issue

2004-12-01T11:00:00.000+13:00

On 1st December, three weeks after his enlistment, Leslie Payne and the other 61 new recruits received another allocation of clothing from the C.A.S.C. in Winnipeg.

Source:
List of "Kit Received at Winnipeg Dec 1.14 from CASC", Collection of Barbara Ellison

21 Nov 1914 - First Pay Day

2004-11-21T11:00:00.000+13:00

A day after the order had come through for the formation of the 2nd Divisional Train, the men were paid for the first time.

Source:
Table of "Pay Received from CASC", Collection of Barbara Ellison

20 Nov 1914 - Recruitment of 2nd Div Train

2004-11-20T10:00:00.000+13:00

In late November, the three C.A.S.C. units located in M.D.10, which comprised No. 11 & No. 18 Companies from Winnipeg, and No. 20 Company from Regina, Saskatchewan, were ordered to recruit a unit designed to operate as No. 3 Company of the 2nd Divisional Train. Captain H.J. Freeman, and Lieutenants E.O. Leadley, J.R.C. Stanley, R.A. Laird and J. Sharing became the officers of the unit. In the mean time, No. 18 Company moved its headquarters to the dairy building of the old agricultural college (later Tuxedo Barracks) for a couple of months.

In a letter dated February 1915, Leslie was shown as being from "McFadden Barracks, Winnipeg." However, no other record of such a place has been found, and it may well have been an error.

Sources:
Anon - The A.S.C. in M.D.10, Post-war typescript report, Courtesy of Bruce Tascona
Address on letter dated 23 Feb 1915, Collection of C.B. Payne

11 Nov 1914 - Leslie Payne in Winnipeg

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When Leslie enlisted in the CASC, he was working as a grocer's clerk at Eaton's Department Store, and had been living in Winnipeg for several months. His attestation paper shows that he was 22 years 7 months old and 6 ft 1 ins tall.

He had originally emigrated to Canada from his native Derbyshire, England in about 1912. In a letter written to his son on 17 Nov 1951 he said, "I left home for Canada when I was twenty."

Leslie Payne in Normanton, Derby, England, ca. 1910
Initially he worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in Saskatchewan, "planting trees in railway cuttings as snow breaks." By May 1913 he was working in Chaplin and then in February 1914, when his grandmother died back home in England, he was in Swift Current.

Leslie Payne & CPR railway wagon at Chaplin
Queen Victoria Day - 24 May 1913
Shortly after this, however, he must have moved to Winnipeg and joined Eatons Department store, living - almost certainly as a boarder - at 36c Broadway. His experience while in the employment of his uncle's off-licence and grocery shop in St. James Road, Derby would have stood him in good stead, both for the post at Eatons, and subsequently as a wagon driver with the CASC.

Eatons Department Store Receiving Goods
Winnipeg, ca. 1910
Sources:
Newspaper report of funeral of Henrietta Christina Payne, Feb 1914, Collection of C.B. Payne
Address in CLL Payne's Notebook, used c. 1914, Collection of C.B. Payne
C.B. Payne, Personal Communication

11 Nov 1914 - Militia Training & the Fort Garry Horse

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A document listing clothes supplied to Leslie Payne from the C.A.S.C. (now in the possession of his daughter) is dated 23 October 1914, two and a half weeks prior to his enlistment. This suggests he was already a member of one of the two exisiting militia companies - probably No. 18 Company, under Lieut. J.R.C. Stanley - before he signed his Attestation Paper (View Front and Back) on 11 November. In answer to the question, "Do you now belong to an Active Militia?" he answered, Yes, so he must have been training with them for a few weeks. The clothing issued was the new khaki serge, in contrast to the "resplendent blues" issued to the Winnipeg militia companies before the war.

No. 18 Company was at that time based in the St. James suburb of Winnipeg, an area containing a high percentage of men of British birth, who were far more likely to volunteer for service than those who had less contact with the "old country." Indeed, a later company historian wrote, "the martial spirit seemed to be more apparent in the men of St. James." Their headquarters, where they met for parades one evening a week, was at St. James Hall, Berry Street.

According to Leslie's son Bud Payne,

I remember Dad speaking of having been in the Fort Garry Horse before becoming a machine gunner … Fort Garry Gate features on the 20 cent [Canadian] definitive stamp issued 15 Jun 1938, and it's possible that sight of this prompted Dad to tell me.

In a history of the Winnipeg Militia Companies apparently written shortly after the end of the war, the following statement supports the suggestion that Leslie Payne was one of those who had some kind of attachment to the Fort Garry Horse:

Many of the young bloods who were disappointed because they had not been included in the [first] overseas contingent, transferred to the Garrys and the artillery, which had not yet entrained, or to infantry units with larger allotments which seemed to offer a better opportunity of getting over before the war was over.

Keith Wood of Kamloops, B.C., Canada, provided the following information:

The 34th F.G.H were a militia unit which became the 6th Battalion Canadian Infantry in the First Canadian Division … There was an organized mobilization plan in Canada, [but] once war was declared it was thrown out … by Sam Hughes, the then Minister of Militia. Militia units were diced and formed entirely new regiments. Traditions and years of service were buried to serve the new army. For the C.A.S.C. it was the same. So the 7th (Winnipeg) Company was formed from the two militia C.A.S.C. Companies and independent volunteers in Winnipeg in 1914 ... The cavalry in 1914 were seen as the elite force and every young man who could ride desired service in such a unit … as 90% of the CASC were horse-drawn at that time, [CLLP] would have been mounted.

Unfortunately, records of the Fort Garry Horse in the pre-war period are very limited. Gord Grossley, the archivist for the Fort Garry Horse Museum & Archives in Winnipeg, states:

I suspect that [CLLP] served in the 34th F.G.H. pre-war. In August 1914 the Garrys were not mobilised as Cavalry, but were given the opportunity to populate the 6th Battalion, C.E.F. as infantry. This did not appeal to many horsemen, so he may have bided his time until November, when positions in the Service Corps opened up. This allowed him to get overseas, and still remain 'mounted'.

Sources:
Anon - The A.S.C. in M.D.10, Post-war typescript report, Courtesy of Bruce Tascona
Anon - List of Clothing from C.A.S.C. Oct 23.14, Collection of Barbara Ellison
Anon - CEF Attestation Paper, Soldiers of the First World War, Library & Archives of Canada
Bud Payne - Personal Communication
Gord Crossley - Personal Communication

11 Nov 1914 - Enlistment at Winnipeg

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On Wednesday 11 November 1914, Leslie Payne and three of his friends enlisted in the No. 7 (Winnipeg) Company of the Canadian Army Service Corps in the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He was assigned the regimental number 515 and the rank of driver, while his friends William Percival Hogg (1892-), Robert "Bob" Valentine Moodie (1886-1956) and George Henderson "Bud" Willox (1886-1970) received the numbers 468, 470 and 529 respectively. This was a "Supply and Transport" company, which had been formed from the amalgamation of two existing Winnipeg militia C.A.S.C. companies, the 11th Company 6th Mounted Brigade and the 18th Company.

The photo below shows Leslie seated, with Bud Willox (at left) and Bob Moodie at the Campbell Studio, Winnipeg, and was probably taken at around the time that they joined up.

All four were young men - Bud was the oldest, at 28 - and while they may have been somewhat apprehensive, they would still have had some of the sense of adventure which brought them out to Canada from England and Scotland a few years earlier. However, reports of heavy casualties from the First Contingent, which had gone to Europe earlier that year, were being reported in the press, so they would not have been under the impression it was going to be something of a holiday camp. They were among a group of 62 men who signed up that day, none of whom would have had an inkling that the war would carry on for another four years, or that it would be even longer before they would return to Canada. Many, of course, would never return.

The recruitment poster shown here - an example displayed as part of the excellent Archives of Ontario online exhibit, Canadian Posters from the First World War - is typical of those that Leslie and his friends might have seen displayed on the streets of Winnipeg during the weeks prior to their enlistment. As the text accompanying the exhibit explains:

In the early days of the war the recruitment message was fairly passive, even jovial and appealed to the pride of the prospective volunteers. But, as the war progressed the posters became more forceful calling on men to do their duty and used appropriate imagery to reinforce the message.

Introduction

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Today is the 90th anniversary of the day that my grandfather enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force at Winnipeg, Manitoba. OK, I've cheated a little, as today is actually 8th March 2005, and I missed the boat by almost four months, but I hope the reader will forgive me. Over the next few weeks I hope to catch up and make good the omissions.

The series of notes will describe the results of my research into the history of Charles Leslie Lionel Payne's service in the CEF during the Great War. I'm hoping that the succession of diary entries will broadly follow the timeline of his service. It will therefore take some four years or so to complete, and is a somewhat experimental exercise. I'm sure there will be ample opportunity along the way to fill in with some background information about his childhood in Derbyshire, his adventures as a young man in Canada before the war, and perhaps even something of the rest of his life after demobilisation.

According to my father Bud, aunt Bunnie and cousin Graham, who all knew him far better than I did, he rarely spoke about the war, and thus passed on little about his experiences during that time. The primary objective for me is to make a record of as much as possible of what I've managed to discover in the course of my research over the last few years. I hope that the "journey" will be of interest to both members of my own family as well as others whose family members fought in World War One.

Brett Payne
Tauranga, New Zealand