2nd Battalion Canadian Infantry (Eastern Ontario Regiment)
During the afternoon of the 7th of June, 1917, a Thursday, the family and friends of the late Private Douglas Lucas gathered at St. Mary's for his funeral service, the solemn occasion being overseen by the Reverend Ernest Hasluck whose own son, Sidney, had been killed in the summer of 1915 at Gallipoli.
Three days previous life had ebbed from Douglas as he lay in a Red Cross hospital in Glasgow but the circumstances that had led to his arrival in this establishment are not known and, therefore, it can only be conjecture on my part to surmise that he died from wounds received in action on the Western Front. In the time between his death and burial his body was borne by train from Glasgow to (I assume) Salisbury, confirming the heartfelt desire of his family for their son to be laid to rest close to home and not be interred in a far off cemetery in Scotland.
What is not in doubt is that he was born in the village and at the time of the 1901 Census he was working as a hurdle maker after which, and prior to the outbreak of the Great War, he decided to pursue his fortune in the vast lands of Canada, probably settling in Quebec. I say this as the battalion in which he was to serve came into being at Valcartier, the formation process extending over the months of August and September 1914, with the majority of the men coming from Eastern Canada and their officers being drawn from the Militia units then in existence around Ottawa.
Thus, on September 22nd, 1914, the 2nd Battalion Canadian Infantry (Eastern Ontario Regiment) bade farewell to Quebec City, embarking on the S.S. Cassandra. Sailing in convoy the Cassandra arrived in The Sound off Plymouth in mid-October but due to the high level of activity in this Devonshire port disembarkation was held back until the 25th when instructions were received directing the battalion to Bustard Camp on Salisbury Plain.
I am not able to say whether Douglas Lucas was now back in England and less than 30 miles from his birthplace (though I believe it to be unlikely), but if he was then the winter of 1914-1915 would have been very familiar; cold and very wet with his training taking place in conditions that were not dissimilar to those being endured by the armies on the Western Front.
At the end of the first week in February 1915, the battalion entrained for Bristol and from the docks at Avonmouth boarded transports bound for St. Nazaire.
By the 17th of February, the 2nd Battalion were in billets west of Armentieres ready to occupy the line in this very critical sector of the front. The men had not long to wait; on the 19th they moved into the forward trenches and within 24-hours had suffered their first casualty when Private Richard Thomas Cardew was killed by shellfire. At 48, Private Cardew, even by the standards of the time, was well beyond the average age of men serving in the immediate battle area.
The next few years passed with the battalion's fate being a mirror image of what befell so many of the fighting units bogged down in their trenches and being called upon to fight the strength sapping campaigns that are now the history of the Great War. In the 2nd battle of Ypres fought in the most ghastly of conditions during April 1915, the 2nd Battalion lost over half its original strength and as the years passed so the numbers who joined in those innocent days of August and September 1914, dwindled away.
In several of my most recent profiles I have touched upon the outstanding courage of the Canadians during the Battle of Arras (9th-12th April, 1917) and their part in expelling the Germans from the strategically important Vimy Ridge. As events turned out the 2nd Battalion's involvement was mainly confined to a supporting role having been withdrawn from the forward trenches three days before the commencement of the battle though on the first day of the offensive the battalion was ordered to leave their rest area of Camblain l'Abbe, west of Vimy, and take up a holding position south of village of Thelus. Just forward of the village the 4th Battalion was engaged in fierce fighting, as were elements of the 3rd, 5th and 7th battalions and it was in general support of these units that the 2nd was to see out what remained of the battle. Towards the closing stages of the fight, the 2nd moved into woods near Farbus where it was expected the Germans might try to counter-attack but nothing came of this and on the 15th of April, the battalion retired to Mont-St-Eloy, a village west-south-west of Vimy.
As a measure of the ferocity of the actions in taking the ridge, the 2nd Battalion even in its reserve capacity had sustained well over a hundred casualties, 28 being fatal. Again, I cannot say if Douglas Lucas was a participant but if he was, and if he was amongst the 84 who were wounded, then his injuries were of a nature that at least gave rise to some hope for survival in that he was evacuated to a hospital in England, the procedures for which I outlined in my profile of Lance Corporal Thomas Latta, published in the April 2006 edition of The Downsman.
Postscript. In reporting the formation of the 2nd Battalion Canadian Infantry (Eastern Ontario Regiment) and a resume of its fortunes up to and including the Battle of Arras I acknowledge the work of Tom Arnold and his subsequent website titled, 'Soldier 214384 - France and Flanders'.
Private Richard Thomas Cardew, mentioned above, is buried in Ferme Buterne Military Cemetery, Houplines (Nord), France, some 2 kilometres east from the centre of Armentieres.
Concerning my profile, published in August 2006, in respect of Private William Rose of the 2nd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment, I am now able to report, through the courtesy of Adrian Weeks who contacted The Downsman's assistant editor Tony Gibb, additional information. William hailed from a large family headed by William Rose (born circa 1841 at Speen in Berkshire) and his wife Martha (nee Bull), their children being Phoebe, Martha, Beatrice, John, Edith and, lastly, William, their years of birth being 1872, 1874, 1879, 1883, 1885 and 1887 respectively. William, so Adrian reports, had a second Christian name 'Frank' and he was born in the village of Redlynch, Hampshire. However, by 1901, the family were living in Dean and it was to Edith Jane Weeks, also of Dean, that William Frank married in 1910. Their union produced a son, Samson, who was later to adopt his mother's maiden name, 'Weeks'.
continued from Dec06 issue Jan 1960 was to see a giant step forward in 1st Woodcutts fortunes. It was during our after Christmas party (attended by Skip James our then District Commissioner) that John Curd our Scoutmaster suddenly announced his resignation. You can imagine that just about killed our party spirit. Looking across the room Skip James spotted Gilbert Hardiman father of one of our scouts (Gilbert had been one of Skip James’ scouts in Wimborne before the second world war). Recognising him, with a loud roar, he announced, “Gilbert I have a job for you”.
During the evening after much discussion Bert was persuaded to take on the role recently vacated by Mr Curd. So was to begin a very happy and successful period not only for the group but for me also. Bert and I became firm friends and had a good working relationship without too many disagreements.
It was decided that year to hold our Summer camp in the Bridport area. Bert and myself set off on his motorbike and sidecar and eventually ended up at the end of a very narrow lane at a farm called Downhouse (owned by the National Trust). The tenant farmer took us across several fields eventually arriving at a field which sloped on either side with a nice flat area in the middle. The only source of water was from a concrete surrounded spring which had a liberal amount of cow dung around it - imagine what health & safety would say today. It was decided that this would be alright providing that we boiled all our water. On further exploration of the site imagine our delight when we discovered that we were adjacent to the cliff edge over which we would be able , with cut steps and ropes, to have direct access to the beach - health & safety. What health & safety? It was decided that this camp site would be ideal, so the beginning of the summer holidays saw us loading all our camping gear and ourselves onto Moreys gravel lorry.
On arrival at the farm we all disembarked and unloaded the camping gear off of the lorry and onto a trailer which the farmer then transported across to the camp site. We had one further problem Bert had been unwell for several days before our departure and so we had had to set off without him. I had to manage for three days on my own. Not a problem in itself, my camping skills being pretty good, but my cooking was lousy. Imagine my relief when on the Tuesday lunchtime Colin Card exclaimed, “Here comes Skipper!” All the lads rushed over to help him carry his camping gear - he had been pretty poorly losing about a stone in weight.
What a wonderful week’s camp we had. The weather was warm and sunny, lots of visits to the beach, a jolly good hike along the coastal path to Charmouth and along the beach to Lyme Regis, where we spent the rest of the day. We were all pretty tired by the time that it was decided to return to camp. Bert managed to persuade a couple of fishermen to take us by boat across to Charmouth where we caught a service bus to take us pretty much to the end of our journey. We all slept well that night and all to soon it was time to load everything onto the lorry again for our return home.
The rest of the year progressed as usual studying for and receiving our badges. In January of 1961 I received my Assistant Scout Masters Permit, in the spring of this year Mrs Hardiman (Akela) and Miss Cook (Baloo) started a cub pack which was very successful. I could go on and on about our adventures but I'm sure that it would soon become boring.
In 1964 I was made up to Scout Master and Bert became Group Scout Master and Chris Bagg became Assistant Scout Master. During our tenure the troop went from strength to strength winning the district Tent Pitching Competition, The District Camping Competition 6 times and in the county equivalent came second twice. The group committee beavered away raising funds which enabled us to do all of these things, I have to say a big thank you to all the local people who have always come up trumps in supporting all that we have done. Continued in Jun07 issue
When there is a major incident here at Woodcutts, the whole of the national environmental plan is at risk. In case the reader is not conversant with what is happening, in our green and pleasant land; (please note the semi-colon, the reader of the last edition of the Downsman will understand.) the subject of this article is milk deliveries. For the last few years, Phil has delivered our milk on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and at a civilized time of day, around mid morning. Now he has retired, our new supplier has changed to Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and before daylight at that. Doesn't he know that the dustman comes on a Tuesday? If he is late goodness knows what will happen, especially if the four people driving out to work and the postman are early. Total chaos is what we can expect! It makes one think whether we should drink black tea, eat cereals without milk or even have black decaffeinated tea and coffee. The system must be detoxed before it gets out of hand and boils over. Whatever will happen, if that nice man, Lionel Blair does decide to move here when he finishes as the manager of the national football squad? Supposedly, because of his green, environmental background, he and his family will ride bicycles anyway, and move up onto the grass verge when there is any volume of traffic. You see, we do have traffic problems, don't we? The summer rush is yet to come as well. If anyone has a solution to our problem could they write to No.10 Downing Street, we need to go right to the top. No, not the attics, the hierarchy of government.
Having got that off my chest, I must report that I am writing this before the January edition of the Downsman is out. (Please note the keenness Editor, it must be worth some Brownie points, mustn't it?)
20.01.07 A special date to mention, when a rather bedraggled Red Admiral was taking advantage of a bright sunny day and flew around the garden.
25.01.07 Another date to remember, a second Red Admiral on the wing, during a sunny spell but with temperatures close to freezing. The main difference being, that this one was very colourful and not at all tatty.
29.01.07 During the evening, after a much warmer day than of late, although still overcast, a Lesser Tortoiseshell butterfly made its way indoors, after being seen outdoors several hours before.
02.02.07 At 9.30am. On bright, sunny morning a Red Admiral in bright livery, flying actively around the front garden. - 12.50 pm. A very bright Red Admiral sunning itself on a sheet of corrugated iron. - 3.40 pm. Another smaller Red Admiral in flight. Colours were very pristine.
04.02.07 Yet another sighting of Red Admiral at Woodcutts, and a report of a sighting in village.
19.02.07 Bumble bees again on the Mahonia. But more exciting is that my sister, living in Westbury, phoned to say that she had celandines in flower, in her garden The past two weeks have been cloudy almost all the time, but with only a small amount of rain. Temperatures have been average to high for the time of year. This lack of sunshine seems to have stopped the activities of the Red Admirals, although bumble bees continue to visit the Mahonia in the front garden. From these observations, it can be assumed that the changing traffic conditions do not seem to affect the bumble bee, but that they do the Red Admiral.
21.02.07 Another Red Admiral on the wing in the garden on a lovely, warm, sunny day. The butterflies seen over the past few weeks, have varied in size and condition, of this I am absolutely sure, which suggests I have seen several different Red Admirals rather than the same one over and over again.
26.02.07 Beautiful warm, sunny day, Red Admiral on the wing. In the last two days the hedgerows have become covered in celandines and white daisies.
03.03.07 Yet another sunny, mild day and yet another Red Admiral seen on the wing in the garden. Gooseberry bushes are in leaf, despite the traffic problems. One can only assume, that they are thriving on all the excess carbon dioxide that is the product of all the new traffic arrangements!
I apologise that I ended the last sentence with an exclamation mark; but you will have noticed, that so far I have omitted to use my ration of semi-colons. (Please see the article in the February edition of the Downsman for a fuller explanation, or not as the case may be.)
03.03.07 At last there is light at the end of the tunnel, with spring just around the corner. Evenings are drawing out, and we awaken to the dawn chorus once more. Flower beds and leaf buds are opening, while the slightly more than two month dominance of the snowdrops are over. They now have opposition from the glossy, yellow celandines, seen on so many places on the roadside, as well as the small white heads of the daisy, with the rather lordly heads of the dandelion showing above them.
A herd of deer almost thirty in number, pass by here each day in late afternoon, some quarter of a mile north-west of the house. They appear to be in no hurry, and love the winter cereals which are extremely forward this year; both to lie on and graze. Will the advancement of the crop and the promised wet and warm weather, create the ideal conditions for disease in these crops? I am glad that I no longer make decisions about the use of agrochemicals. It could create more and more difficulties for the organic farmers, who don't practice chemical control of disease.
Moving on to the end of the weekend generally, the days have been the warmest yet this year and grass is growing rampantly, many of the Sixpenny Handley villagers have had their lawnmowers out. This is not the case in our suburb of Woodcutts, presumably because we are that much further north, and therefore farther from the sun, hence the grass cutting is not so urgent. Or it may even be due to the greater altitude here. (Or should this mean we are nearer the sun in this case?) Whatever, we have not got our mowers out yet. It could be, that we just aren't as keen as the people to the south, or could it be pure idleness?
After church on Sunday I perambulated around the churchyard in wonderful sunshine, around mid-day. I was privileged to see four red admirals and two brimstone butterflies enjoying the early spring. Back at home I saw the first of the wild, white violets flowering under the hedge in the vegetable garden. These delicate little flowers do better here in Woodcutts, than anywhere else I know in the south of England. Later in the day I saw dark blue ones were in flower also.
Monday, March 12th. While leaning on the garden fence making important gardening, management decisions, I was attracted by grass movements under the hedge. I stayed quietly looking at the spot, still making management decisions, when a stoat appeared. He didn't seem worried about me, so I wasn't worried by his presence. He had a jolly good nose around, then started to climb up the wire netting barrier I use to keep the rabbits off the garden. He was so agile, so obviously in fine form; from the black tip of his tail, along his stretched, lithe, shiny hairy body to the finely shaped head and white teeth, which he showed as he appeared to grin at me. His coat was immaculate, brown above and uncharacteristically perfectly white underneath, as they are they are usually yellowish-white. He jumped down, investigated the bonfire and the heap of unsplit logs about six feet from me, then almost ran over my toes to cross to the other side of the garden. He appeared unhurried, very gentlemanly, in perfect condition and so, I there and then made a spontaneous, management decision that he could visit my garden as often as he liked, especially if he was to help with rabbit, rat and mole control. (How's that for organic gardening?)
Finally, to show that I don't spend all my time in my garden and that I am extremely well travelled, I must mention the work on the main Sixpenny Handley/Tollard Royal arterial road. For travellers along this road during the past few weeks, there has been the delightful sight of the thorn hedge, on the southern side of the thoroughfare, just beyond the centre of Woodcutts, undergoing a very professional makeover of hedge-laying.
It is great to see that the Rushmore Estate still believes in such activities and that there are craftsmen about who can still successfully complete such work. In this case it has been Don Taylor of Edmondsham.