CEFRG – Canadian Expeditionary Force Research Group 1914-1919
-
No.3 Canadian General Hospital (McGill) in the Great War
No.3 Canadian General Hospital (McGill) in the Great War describes the origins of the unit beginning in August 1914 with Herbert Stanley Birkett, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of McGill University. The Call to Arms (4 August 1914 – 5 May 1915) Origins of No.3 Canadian General Hospital When war declared in August, 1914,…
-
123rd Battalion (Royal Grenadiers) in the Great War
One-Two-Three A cemetery companion to “One-Two-Three – The Story of the 123rd Overseas Battalion, CEF” by Dan Mowat (ISBN: 192782205X). 123rd Battalion (Royal Grenadiers) although formed as an infantry battalion made its mark as a Pioneer Battalion. The officers and men of the 123rd became unsung heroes to the 3rd Canadian Division. Pioneer Battalions worked…
-
Alfred Théodore Joseph Bastien in the Great War
Hon Lt Lt Alfred Théodore Joseph Bastien born 1873 in Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium. While serving in the CEF with Canadian War Memorials Fund, employed as a war artist (at his own expense), and at one time attached to the 22nd Battalion (Royal 22e Régiment), painting several snipers of the “Van Doos” on the battlefield. Alfred Théodore…
-
No. 5 Canadian Field Ambulance in the Great War
Stretcher Bearers at the Double Napoleon said he couldn’t get along without his grognards. Like our grumblers, they groused – but carried on. A No. 5 Canadian Field Ambulance history which ignored our grousing would be incomplete. B. S., B. S., It sounds just like B. S. to me, to me;B. S., B. S., It…
-
Private Frederick Freeman Laing in the Great War
Child-Soldiers “I am here because someone must do it“ Somehow, Private Frederick Freeman Laing 478051 enlisted at Halifax on 25 February 1915. Exactly fourteen years, one month, and 24 days of age. He stood only 5′ 1 and 1/4″ tall and 100 pounds. Frederick growing fast, another examination (16 September 1916) had him at 5′…
-
Captain Alfred Clayburn Atkey in the Great War
Highest scoring two-seater pilot Top Ace of Efficiency and Effectiveness The son of Alfred and Annie Evelyn (Shaw) Atkey, Alfred Clayburn. Captain Alfred Clayburn Atkey born in Toronto, Ontario on 16 August 1894. Atkey’s family left Toronto to pioneer western Canada in 1906. From Minebow, Saskatchewan, Atkey returned to Toronto as a journalist for the Toronto…
-
Captain George Fraser Kerr VC in the Great War
One of Canada’s most highly decorated soldiers, Captain George Fraser Kerr, VC, MC & Bar, MM. With no previous military experience, he enlisted as a private in the 3rd Canadian Infantry Battalion, commissioned as an officer on Dominion Day 1917, and wounded twice in action. Early Life of Fraser Kerr George Fraser Kerr is a…
-
Lieutenant A Y Jackson in the Great War
Group of Seven In 1915, after the outbreak of the Great War, Private Alexander Young Jackson 457316 enlisted in the 60th Battalion, CEF and sent to Europe. Wounded in the Battle of Sanctuary Wood in June of 1916. While recovering in the hospital in Étaples in northern France, he met Lord Beaverbrook. Soon he was appointed an artist…
-
Major Andrew Edward McKeever in the Great War
King of the Two-seaters Major Andrew Edward McKeever DSO, MC & Bar the second highest ranking pilot in two-seater aircraft during the Great War. Son of William McKeever and Annabelle Mary Campbell ‘Bella’ McKeever (nee Henderson); younger brother of Lieutenant (Observer) James Campbell McKeever and older brother of Sapper Charles Moffat ‘Charlie’ McKeever 2161198. Hawkeye…
-
Sergeant Arthur Melvin in the Great War
On 28 March 2015, the late Richard Laughton of Malton, Ontario submitted his investigative report on Sergeant Arthur Melvin of the 31st Canadian Infantry Battalion to the CWGC. By his own admission, one of Mr Laughton’s simplest cases. Details of his findings amounted to less than one page. At the bottom of the same page,…
-
Y Farm Military Cemetery in the Great War
The cemetery named after a nearby farm, called by the Army “Y” (or Wye) Farm. Y Farm Military Cemetery, Bois-Grenier, Nord, begun in March 1915 and used by units holding this sector until February 1918. The cemetery signposted on the D222, at the junction of Rue de la Guennerie. The cemetery located on a single…