25th (Nova Scotia Rifles) Battalion in the Great War

During the Great War, three Nova Scotian battalions saw combat in France and Belgium as distinct fighting units. The Royal Canadian Regiment, 85th (Nova Scotia Highlanders) and the 25th (Nova Scotia Rifles) Battalions. The third unit not as well known as its counterparts, despite the fact that it was the first Nova Scotian regiment to see action at the front.

Previous banking experience could quickly lift a private to three stripes and a sergeant’s rank. Sgt Clements one of those so promoted because of his previous employment at the Bank of Montreal in Yarmouth in February 1915. Promoted to quartermaster sergeant of ‘A’ Company. Following the war, as Captain Robert N Clements MC, he wrote the battalion history. MERRY HELL – The Story of the 25th Battalion (Nova Scotia Regiment).

The MacKenzie Battalion

25th (Nova Scotia Rifles) Battalion officially authorized on 7 November 1914 under the command of Lt. Col. G. A. Lecain of Roundhill, Annapolis County, who immediately organized a recruitment campaign.  Regimental headquarters established at the Halifax Armouries. With recruitment offices in Sydney, Amherst, New Glasgow, Truro and Yarmouth.  Organizational efforts hampered by a lack of suitable training facilities.  Nevertheless, the battalion achieved full strength (1000 men) by late December 1914. With an additional ten percent “reserve” in training at the Armouries.

The 25th’s official tartan MacKenzie of Seaforth, proudly worn by its pipe band, and its members referred to themselves as the “MacKenzie Battalion” throughout the war. 

Demographics

A total of 1,120 Officers and Other Ranks in the 25th Battalion Nominal Roll, 20 May 1915, SS SAXONIA, Halifax.

• 645 Canadian
• 250 British
• 86 Scottish
• 75 Newfoundlanders
• 26 Irish
• 16 American
• 12 Welsh
• 3 Australians
• 2 Channel Islands
• 2 South African
• 1 Russian (Michaels, Philip 67945)
• 1 Brazil (Bing, E. C. Cameron 68357)
• 1 Syrian (Bishara, Gabriel 67160)

Over 57% of the original unit Canadian born.

Nova Scotia Rifles in England

On May 20, 1915, its members boarded HMTS Saxonia, disembarking at Devonport, England nine days later. The one outstanding result of the trip from Halifax to Sandling the bond of friendship and understanding which developed between the 25th and 22nd battalion officers and men. In spite of differences in language and customs, they quickly came to know and respect each other. It was on the old Saxonia that the music and words of ‘Alouette’ made their first impact on the English-speaking troops. In the months and years which followed, the song spread throughout the whole Canadian Corps. It became an established part of the Great War musical record.

The men traveled by train to Westenhanger, Kent. At which point they marched to East Sandling Camp, Shorncliffe in the early hours of the morning. Trained at Shorncliffe for three and a half months, eight hours a day, along with regular four-hour “night operations” training.  

Nova Scotia Rifles in Belgium

On September 15, 1915, the 5th Brigade traveled from Folkestone to Boulogne, France. Moving by train the following day from Port de Brieques to St. Omer, France.  After a five-day march in their newly issued “Kitchener boots”, the 25th reached the front lines in Belgium.

On the night of September 22-23, 1915, the “Mackenzie Battalion” took up combat positions near Ypres, Belgium. Becoming the first Nova Scotian battalion to see combat in the war.  The regiment spent its first “tours” in trenches H and I of the Kemmel Sector of the Ypres Salient. A strategic piece of high ground that protruded into German lines.

During action on 25 September 1915, L/Cpl. John Archibald McLean sniping and succeeded in hitting two Germans. He was in the act of taking a third shot when he hit in the head, probably shot by a German sniper. He died two hours later. John the first man of the 25th Battalion to be killed in action. He was 32 years old.

Lance Corporal John Archibald McLean 67563 (sniper’s bullet) 25 September 1915 (LA LAITERIE MILITARY CEMETERY).

Major Edward Hilliam

Major Edward Hilliam from the 10th Battalion of the First Canadian Division, promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel, assumed command of the 25th Battalion in October 1915.

Of these four generals, the story of Edward Hilliam stands out as a testament to an individual of unwavering courage and leadership in the face of danger.  With his dedication to duty and country, he rose from the rank of a Trooper to a Brigadier General in the Canadian Army.

The abilities of Edward Hilliam outlined by Sam Steele in his book entitled “Forty Years In Canada Reminiscences Of The Great North-West”. By stating “he was one of the best instructor that I have known, and his varied service in the 17^th Lancers and the N.W.M.P.”

Edward Hilliam (b. 1862) was born in England and served with the 14th Lancers in the British army. He immigrated to Canada in 1893 and served in the North West Mounted Police and in the South African Constabulary during the South African war. He was a fruit farmer in Kamloops, British Columbia, when he signed up to go overseas in 1914 as adjutant of the 5th Battalion.

8 October 1915

The Germans had succeeded in placing a heavy mine directly under one of the trenches held by the 25th. Where the mine blew under the 25th trench, half of one platoon simply disappeared. Blown to pieces and never seen again. Another twenty men nearby wounded more or less severely. On this occasion, hardly two weeks from their first entry into the trenches, the courage of these men proven beyond doubt.

Some distance back, off the side of the Kemmel-Ypres road in the beautiful military cemetery at La Clytte. There are graves of a number of the original 25th men who lost their lives in those first few dreary months in Flanders.

La Laiterie Military Cemetery

The cemetery, named from a dairy farm, begun in November 1914 and used until October 1918 by units holding this sector of the front.

Corporal Harold Wilfrid Bennett

The different plots, to a great extent, treated as regimental burial grounds. The majority of the graves in Plots II, III and X, for instance, those of the 26th, 25th and 24th Canadian Infantry Battalions, respectively. And all but one of the graves in Plot VIII those of the 5th Northumberland Fusiliers.

Corporal George Crawford Munro

On 25 April 1918, the cemetery fell into German hands, but retaken at the beginning of September. After the Armistice, graves brought into the cemetery from the battlefields north and north-east of Kemmel.

The Gardener Brothers

John Gardiner’s body recovered, but not that of his brother Joseph (YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL).

• Corporal H W Bennett 68128 (LA LAITERIE MILITARY CEMETERY)
• Pvt Stephen Carman Bird 67193 (YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL)
• Pvt Eaton 67343 (YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL)
• Pte John Gardiner 69299 (LA LAITERIE MILITARY CEMETERY)
• Pvt Joseph Gardiner 68340 (YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL)
• McDonald 67627 (YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL)
• William Ellis 67347 (YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL)
• Cpl G C Munro 68115 (LA LAITERIE MILITARY CEMETERY)
• Alexander Taylor 67268 (YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL)

Winter 1915-16

For most of the winter of 1915–16 one brigade forward support position at a group of buildings near the Kemmel-Ypres road known as Siege Farm. Shelter for the troops was provided in the barns and out-buildings.

For a time, some of the Locre accommodation was in canvas tents. Ten or twelve men with all their equipment in a regulation army tent not much better off than sardines in a can.

On the first trip back to Locre there was an organized bath parade. The bath house a hastily built rough board shack in two sections. The first, used as a changing room, provided space for twenty men to undress and hang their clothes on nails in the wall.

When completely bare the twenty men went into the wash room in pairs. Two men per tub with one piece of yellow laundry soap. The bath crew put two buckets of cold water and one of hot into each tub. Then the pairs stood in the tubs and scrubbed each other as best they could. After a time limit of three minutes the victims driven back to the dressing room. Tubs emptied to make way for the next lot.

Trench Foot

It soon became clear that effective action would need to be taken to protect the men from what became known as trench feet. In extreme cases after long periods without relief from the soaking-wet conditions, lack of blood circulation would result in something very much like gangrene. If not given attention, in time this could mean loss of one or more toes or even worse, loss of whole feet. To combat this hazard, a rigid trench routine established and maintained.

Once every day, in small groups, each man made to remove his boots and socks and massage his feet with whale oil from supplies brought into the trenches for that special purpose. No one permitted to dodge this smelly task. The officers, or in their absence, the senior NCOs personally stood by and forced each man to protect his feet in spite of any protest. An attempt to overcome the problem through trench issues of long-legged rubber waders fell through.

Albert Communal Cemetery Extension

Albert was held by French forces against the German advance on the Somme in September 1914. It passed into British hands in the summer of 1915; and the first fighting in July 1916, is known as the Battle of Albert, 1916. It was captured by the Germans on the 26th April 1918, and before its recapture by the 8th East Surreys on the following 22nd August (in the Battle of Albert, 1918,) it had been completely destroyed by artillery fire.

Private Bertram Hamilton Crooks

Private Bertram Hamilton Crooks, 12 September 1916. Son of Samuel Edward and Elizabeth Crooks, of 194, Maynard St., Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The Extension used by fighting units and Field Ambulances from August 1915 to November 1916, and more particularly in and after September 1916, when Field Ambulances concentrated at Albert.

From November 1916, the 5th Casualty Clearing Station used Albert for two months. From March 1917, not used (except for four burials in March, 1918) until the end of August 1918, when Plot II made by the 18th Division.

Captain Horace Arthur Dickey

Captain Horace Arthur Dickey, 15 September 1916. Son of Mr. A. R. and Mrs. Myra Dickey; husband of Catherine Dickey, of Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

Captain John Cuthbert Stairs

Captain John Cuthbert Stairs, 15 September 1916. Son of George and Helen Stairs. Born at Halifax, Nova Scotia. John’s brother, Lt George Stairs, 14th Battalion, killed-in-action 24 April 1915 at Second Battle of Ypres (YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL).

Major James Edward Tupper

Major James Edward Tupper, 16 September 1916. Husband of Letitia May Tupper, of Bridgetown, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia.

Major Tupper served with the 69th Regiment of the Militia for 13 years prior to enlisting in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He listed his civilian occupation as farmer.

The 5th Brigade held roughly one third of the Second Division front in the centre, between the Fourth Brigade on its left and the Sixth Brigade on its right. Trenches identified by a combined lettering and numbering arrangement. For the balance of 1915 and early 1916 the 25th spent its front-line time holding the J, K, L and M sections.

Owen Bell Jones

Lt Owen Bell Jones sent to England (dismissed from H M Service for Whilst on Active Service – drunkenness, January 1916). He soon found himself transferred to the 42nd Battalion, and returned to France. Awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal as a Corporal in September 1916, where he was wounded (GSW thigh- compound fracture). Following a lengthy recovery and return to Canada in 1917, Jones would later come to the attention of the War Office for distinguished service in the Siberian Expedition 1918-1919.

The Battle of Bailleul

Note the actual Battle of Bailleul occurred during the Final German Spring Offensive of 1918. This ‘battle’ in 1916 between the AEF (Australian Expeditionary Force) and the CEF.

Soon after the withdrawal from the Dardanelles early in January 1916, rumours began to circulate concerning the movement of the Australian divisions to the western front in France and Belgium. Up to that time the Canadian general headquarters had been located at Bailleul. That to be handed over to the Anzacs with the future Canadian headquarters nearer to Ypres at Poperinge.

No record exists of the exact time and place where one Australian reported to have loudly proclaimed that he and his comrades had been brought to France to clean up what the Canadians had started and could not finish. The reported equally loudly voiced reply wanted to know why the Australians had not successfully finished the work at the Dardanelles before they came.

The Riot

After that the result was beyond any doubt. First it was fists and feet, then bottles and glasses. In a very short while any weapon readily available, including NCOs’ side arms, either used by the owners themselves or snatched from their scabbards by other combatants, involved in the fracas. The riot spread quickly throughout the whole centre of the town.

Next morning all further efforts to make the originally planned exchange halted. During the day, minor clashes continued but by that time military police and control elements had been reinforced and any fighting quickly subdued.

The casualty figures never made public but throughout the Canadian Corps first-hand accounts from individuals who had been directly involved gradually pieced together. These seemed to strongly suggest there had been some men from both sides actually killed. Probably another hundred had been taken to hospitals with severe injuries and all the remainder carried assorted bruises and contusions as a result of the evening’s activities.

St Eloi

In April 1916, the 25th assigned to defend the front lines in a sector referred to as the “St. Eloi craters”.  The battalion moved into several large depressions created in late March 1916 when British forces detonated several large mines planted beneath the German front lines.   The 25th occupied this precarious location in a rotation that lasted for almost six weeks.

The lack of properly constructed trenches left the men dangerously exposed as they were subjected to hostile fire on three sides.  German forces attacked one crater five times during one particular night, but the battalion successfully repelled each assault.  When finally relieved, the unit’s manpower had been reduced to the point where soldiers from other regiments were brought in to assist in evacuating wounded personnel.

Robert the Bruce

While serving in Belgium, the battalion purchased a two-week-old goat from a Belgian farmer for the grand sum of two francs.  Suitably named “Robert the Bruce” and trimmed in MacKenzie tartan, the animal served as battalion mascot for the duration of the war.

The goat was trained to prance in front of the battalion’s pipe band, eat cigarettes, drink beer, and demand its blanket at “lights out”.

Apparently, the animal repeatedly sold to Belgian farmers, only to be “retrieved” by the men under cover of darkness.

At war’s end, Robert the Bruce retired to a much deserved rest on the Baddeck, Nova Scotia farm of one of the battalion’s most decorated officers, Major Guy McLean Matheson, MC, MM, DSO.

The “Mackenzie Battalion” spent 339 days in the treacherous Belgian trenches, 164 of which involved front line duty.

Inspection by King George V

The King inspected the 25th and 26th Battalions on 16 August 1916 at Rheninghelst

Hilliam commanded the 25th Battalion from October 1915 to January 1917, then promoted to brigadier general commanding the Tenth Brigade from January to November 1917, when he retired.

Somme

Its reassignment to the Somme region of France in September 1916 may have come as a relief to the men, but this new locale proved to be just as treacherous as the muddy trenches of Belgium.  On September 15, 1916, the 25th participated in an attack on Courcelette, moving through the town, establishing and holding new forward positions for several days before being relieved.

In the early days of October 1916, the 25th Battalion took part in a series of attacks on Regina Trench, one of the most fortified German positions on the front lines.  The price of its Somme engagements was costly.  By the time the battalion left the area, less than 100 of the men who had initially arrived in France with the unit were still available for duty.

Shot at Dawn

Pvt Elsworth Edward Young served as an officer’s batman until, during the Battle of Courcelette, he was ordered into action. He failed to report for duty until later that evening, when the fighting was over. Went absent again and was arrested by military police some miles behind the front lines. He was dressed in the uniform of a corporal in an artillery unit and initially gave false details to the MPs when they questioned him.

Pte Young charged with desertion, found guilty, and executed on the morning of 29 October 1916, near Bully-Grenay (BULLY-GRENAY COMMUNAL CEMETERY, BRITISH EXTENSION). Pvt Elsworth Edward Young the ninth of 25 soldiers in the CEF Shot at Dawn,

Nova Scotia Rifles on the Vimy Front

The regiment relocated to Lens, where it was reconstituted with reinforcements and undertook training in preparation for a return to the front.

The 25th spent the autumn and winter of 1916 – 17 in the Lens sector, where its soldiers honed their skills as “trench raiders”.

Christmas 1916

Christmas Day – Enemy trenches raided. About 25 of the enemy accounted for including 7 captured. Our losses, 1 killed, 3 wounded. Sgt George Bernard Ingham killed in hun trench.

Quiet throughout the day until 2 pm when enemy bombardment very heavy for over an hour doing much damage to the front line trenches. Casualties 3 OR killed and 10 wounded.

Tranchee De Mecknes Cemetery, Aix-Noulette

The cemetery begun by French troops in May 1915. They named the trench, and consequently the cemetery, using the Arab name for the town of Mequinez in Morocco, from which they had come.

Sergeant William Otis Parker

The cemetery taken over by British units in February 1916, and besides its present name it was called at times Pioneer Point, Mechanics Trench and Corons d’Aix.

Private Rufus William Lightfoot

Private Alexander McRae

There are now 199 Commonwealth burials of the 1914-1918 war commemorated in this site, 3 being unidentified and a special memorial is erected to one soldier from the United Kingdom whose grave cannot now be found. There are 171 French and 2 unidentified German burials here.

Fresnoy and Arleux

Its personnel captured enemy positions at Fresnoy and Arleux, France in February 1917, suffering severe casualties in the attacks.

Several months later, the unit participated in the April 9, 1917 attack on Vimy Ridge, as well as the Second Battle of the Scarpe later that same month.

On August 15, 1917, it played a key role in the Battle of Hill 70, withstanding a ferocious German counter-attack after participating in an advance near Cite St. Laurent.

As part of the 5th Brigade, the battalion also took part in the final assault on the Belgian town of Passchendaele in November 1917.

Tyne Cot Cemetery

In 1917, British forces launched the Third Battle of Ypres, which raged from July to November. Forces from the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa fought to push the Germans off the low ridges that dominate the area. On 4 October 1917, during the phase known as the Battle of Passchendaele, the 3rd Australian Division captured a group of German Bunkers on the ridge below the village of Passchendaele.

One of these bunkers unusually large and used as an advanced dressing station after its capture. From 6 October 1917 to the end of March 1918, 343 graves made, on two sides of it, by the 50th (Northumbrian) and 33rd Divisions, and by two Canadian units. The cemetery in German hands again from 13 April to 28 September, when finally recaptured, with Passchendaele, by the Belgian Army.

Private John Boutilier 414348

Pvt Edward de Long Burns 733324

Private Herbert Hamilton Campbell 2099834

Sgt Thomas Grieve 407033

On 8 November 1917, the 25th Bn. relieved the 26th Bn in the frontline but suffered from heavy German shell fire. The German shell fire caused several casualties, especially among C Company.

Pvt Leonard Axel Larsson 470031

Pte Creighton Wellington Hatt 733115

Private Creighton Hatt served in the “C” Company 25th Bn. On 8 November 1917, the 25th Bn. relieved the 26th Bn in the frontline but suffered from heavy German shell fire. The German shell fire caused a several casualties, especially C Company suffered heavily. Pte. Hatt one of these casualties. His remains during the war buried at Tyne Cot Cemetery. In his ‘circumstances of death file’ it is mentioned that he was killed in action. Since he is buried in plot II at Tyne Cot Cemetery it is presumed that he was wounded and taken back to the Casualty Clearing Station at Tyne Cot were died of is wounds.

Pvt Frederick Hatt 734291

Pte William Otis Reece 734012

Son of Mr. and Mrs. Milford Reece, of New Ross, Lunenburg Co., Nova Scotia.

Pvt William Earl Stone 877625

Pvt Norman Bagnell Thorneycroft 878126

Son of Mrs. Mary Harris of Gabarus, Nova Scotia.

Pvt William Yarn 877261

Private Yarn reported at first as having been wounded then as having been killed in action (possibly hit twice) on 8 November 1917.

William the oldest child of Samuel Yarn, fisherman and seaman, and of Elizabeth (known to some as Lizzie) Yarn (née Spicer) of Rose Blanche, Newfoundland.

The Raiding Battalion

In March 1918, the 25th relocated once again to northern France. Where German forces launched a major “spring offensive”.  The battalion assigned to the Mercatel-Vetasse sector during the assault.  In its aftermath, the unit established a reputation as the “Master Raiders” of the Canadian Corps. Carrying out excursions into enemy outposts on each tour of front line duty. On occasion, its soldiers ventured as far as three-quarters of a mile into German lines. Earning the nickname the “raiding battalion” in recognition of their daring exploits.

Lieutenant Donald Alexander Livingston MM

Lt Livingston MM died 7 April 1918 (Wailly Orchard Cemetery).

Wailly Orchard Cemetery

The cemetery begun in May 1916 by the Liverpool battalions of the 55th (West Lancashire) Division. As a front line cemetery, screened from German observation by a high wall. Little used in 1917. In March-August 1918, considerably enlarged by the Canadian and other units defending the Third Army front.

Lieutenant George E Roche MM and Pvt Arthur Joyce killed-in-action 8 June 1918. George the son of George and Catherine Roche, of Bedford, Halifax Co., Nova Scotia. Formerly teller Royal Bank of Canada, Sydney, Nova Scotia.

Lt George E Roche MM

Lieutenant Edward Charles Cameron Bing

Lt Edward Charles Cameron Bing died 11 June 1918. Son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. Bing, of Muswell Hill, London, England; husband of Ada Bing, of Pollokshields, Glasgow, Scotland.

Lieutenant Edgar Smith Spurr MC

Lt Edgar Smith Spurr MC killed-in-action 14 June 1918. Son of George Edward and Margaret Ann Spurr, of Torbrook Mines, Annapolis Co. Husband of Ethel Heath Spurr, of Middleton, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia.

Twenty eight identified Nova Scotia Rifles buried at Wailly from April to June 1918. Twenty of these men fell in June.

Battle of Amiens

By late summer, a major Allied assault launched on German positions in northern France.  The 25th “in the line” at Amiens on August 8, participating in an attack that advanced a remarkable 12 miles in two days.  Relocated to Berneville, near Arras, its personnel fought in the advance that continued throughout the month.

After a brief two-day break in early September, the battalion returned to the front lines. Where it remained until after the fall of Cambrai on October 9, 1918.

The Final Push

On November 4th the 25th was moved by bus convoy to Anzin.

On the 6th it marched through Valenciennes to St Saulve. For that night the whole Fifth Brigade packed into a local seminary for shelter.

On November 9-10, 1918, the members of the 25th participated in what became its last combat action of the war. An attack on Elouges, a small mining town near Mons, Belgium.  The battalion scheduled to participate in an assault on Mons the following day.

During the afternoon and night of November 10th, while the Seventh and Fourth Brigades working their way into Mons, the Fifth holding about three miles away at Walmes, awaiting orders for the next move.

11 November 1918

Early on the morning of November 11th the confirmation came through: all hostilities would cease at 11:00 a.m.

Ordinary military routine had to be fully maintained. Guards and sentries held to their posts. All other duties carried on as usual, with the battalion held ready for instant response to possible orders to resume the advance. The realities were slow in reaching them. A few men got drunk but there was not very much strong drink of any kind quickly available. Here and there recently liberated civilians dug up hidden supplies of wine. Shared them with the first Canadian soldiers they met.

Mons remained in German hands from the Battle of Mons (23 August 1914) until the arrival of the Canadian Corps on 11 November 1918.

The communal cemetery was extended by the Germans on its north side and in this extension, now part of the town cemetery, were buried Russian, French, Italian, Romanian and Belgian soldiers, as well as German and Commonwealth. The 4th Canadian and 1st Casualty Clearing Stations, besides field ambulances, were posted in the town after the Armistice. They opened a new cemetery (MONS BRITISH CEMETERY) across the road from the East gate of the communal cemetery, but the graves made there were later removed to the communal cemetery.

Mons (Bergen) Communal Cemetery

Mons remained in German hands from the Battle of Mons (23 August 1914) until the arrival of the Canadian Corps on 11 November 1918. The communal cemetery extended by the Germans on its north side and in this extension. Now part of the town cemetery, were buried Russian, French, Italian, Romanian and Belgian soldiers, as well as German and Commonwealth.

Private Ernest Nathaniel Arnold

Pte E N Arnold 3182119 21 November 1918 (MONS (BERGEN) COMMUNAL CEMETERY).

The 4th Canadian and 1st Casualty Clearing Stations, besides field ambulances, posted in the town after the Armistice. They opened a new cemetery (MONS BRITISH CEMETERY) across the road from the East gate of the communal cemetery. But the graves made there later removed to the communal cemetery.

Private Guy Dillman

Pte G Dillman 3180713 died of Influenza at No. 1 C.C.S. on 23 November 1918 (MONS (BERGEN) COMMUNAL CEMETERY).

Private William Josiah Burrell

Private W J Burrell 3181293 also died of Influenza at No. 1 C.C.S. on 6 December 1918 (MONS (BERGEN) COMMUNAL CEMETERY).

March to the Rhine

Eight days later, the 25th began a lengthy march to the Rhine River as part of the Allied “army of occupation”.

The march which started from the Mons area on November 18th to cross the Rhine River to the outpost lines beyond Bonn meant another 250 miles on foot. The first fifty miles past Charleroi to Namur was not too tough. The road was fairly good and the weather was cool but dry. The 25th, marching as part of the Fifth Brigade, covered the distance comfortably in a week. Reaching Namur on November 25th.

After that the going got really bad. The weather changed, with day after day of cold early win ter rain. The roads got worse: either narrow hard stone cobble or sticky mud. Boots wore out with replacements next to impossible to obtain. It was all the army service corps could do to get enough food ahead. At times they could not even manage that, so the men went hungry and had to make the best of it.

The way lay through the hilly forest country of the Ardennes south-east toward Germany. On December 5th, eleven days after leaving Namur, the 25th crossed the German border at the village of Beho. Led by Robert the Bruce ahead of the pipe band playing ‘Blue Bonnets over the Border’. With an honour guard proudly carrying the Union Jack. The battalion marching at attention with bayonets fixed swung grandly past a small reviewing stand.

Bonn, Germany

Eight more days of weary marching, at times as far as twenty miles a day, brought the battalion to the west bank of the Rhine. The regiment crossed the German border at 10:08 am December 5, continuing to Bonn, where it crossed the Rhine at 10:47 am December 13, 1918.

It was pouring rain as General Currie took the salute from the reviewing stand. From the bridge they went forward to take up positions in the Cologne area outpost line at Siegburg-Waldorf.

The duties of occupation were fairly easy. Largely a matter of showing the flag and control of traffic between the occupied zones and the rest of Germany. The main benefit freedom from long route marches in pouring rain. With a chance to rest and catch up on much needed sleep.

Return to Belgium

After spending six weeks in Germany, the 25th returned to Belgium for a well-deserved rest.

The 25th, along with the other Fifth Brigade units, left the Bonn area on January 19th, 1919. It moved by train back to the town of Arvelais, about ten miles west of Namur. In spite of very rough train accommodation, it was a welcome change from the long route marches going into Germany a few weeks before. On return to Belgium it was assigned to garrison duty as part of the British army reserve.

Entertainment by various concert parties, particularly the famous Dumbells of the Third Division, helped to relieve the boredom of garrison duty during these dreary winter months of waiting. On March 3rd, about six weeks after moving back from Bonn to Arvelais, a divisional sports day held at Namur. The 25th had entries in a number of the events but without any outstanding success. The good news finally broke in April. Orders came through to prepare for early departure for England.

Charleroi Communal Cemetery

Charleroi the scene of fighting between 21 and 24 August 1914 and for the rest of the Great War a German military and administrative centre. The 270 Commonwealth servicemen of the Great War buried in the communal cemetery either died as prisoners of war, or after the Armistice. 

Private John Rood Dickson

Pte John Rood Dickson 469123 died at No. 20 C.C.S. on 26 February 1919 from broncho-pneumonia (CHARLEROI COMMUNAL CEMETERY). John the last soldier of the 25th Battalion buried on the Western Front in the Great War.

Return to England

On April 9, 1919, the “MacKenzie Battalion” departed Belgium for Havre, France, where it boarded the Prince Arthur, a vessel that traveled from Boston, Massachusetts to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia in the years prior to the war.

Auvelais contains a crossing over the River Sambre, which is where an Imperial German Army division commanded by General Erich Ludendorff broke through Charles Lanrezac’s Fifth French Army defenses during the Battle of Charleroi at the beginning of the Great War.

The neo-Romanesque Eglise Saint-Victor, built in 1911, stands in the centre of Auvelais. In the northern part of the town, north of the Sambre, is the Eglise Saint-Barbe.

The Nova Scotia Rifles arrived at Southampton the following day and proceeded to Witley Camp, Surrey. Where it encamped for one month.

Presentation of Colours

On a dull day at R Wing on the Parade Ground at Witley Camp, HRH The Prince of Wales arrived at 11 30 am on 7 May 1919.

The 5th Canadian Infantry Brigade, Corps, Divisional and Brigade Commanders present. There were several spectators in attendance.

Colours served as rallying points for army regiments in battle. Today, they are no longer carried in action but remain powerful symbols of a unit’s pride, honour, and devotion to the Sovereign and country.

The presentation a formal parade often presided over by a high-ranking official, such as the Governor General or Minister of Militia. A military chaplain would consecrate the Colours as part of the ceremony, sanctifying them and the duty of the unit’s members. 

Chaplain General

On presentation, Colours consecrated by the Chaplain General assisted by the unit chaplains. When the Chaplain General is unable to be present, he will personally designate a chaplain to officiate for him. Through this means, Colours sanctified and devoted to service as symbols of honour and duty. All members of the unit, regardless of classification, rededicate themselves to constancy in the maintenance of these qualities. Once consecrated, Colours closely guarded and they are honoured by the appropriate compliment while uncased.

In the modern Canadian Armed Forces, the presentation of new Colours still follows a strict tradition and protocol, often involving the Sovereign or the Governor General as their representative.

When Colours retired or become non-serviceable, they are “laid up” in a church or other guarded location, where they remain until they disintegrate naturally, a symbol of final rest and honour. 

Because of their symbolism and purpose, Colours belong to a separate class from other flags and not paraded with other flags in any Colour party.

SS OLYMPIC

Finally, on May 10, 1919, the men of the 25th began the final part of their journey home, boarding the SS Olympic at Southampton with the rest of the 5th Brigade’s battalions.  The battalion “mustered out” at Halifax on May 16, 1919 and officially disbanded on September 20, 1920.

Only two original officers and 96 soldiers remained with the battalion when it returned to Halifax in 1919.

Research

First World War Veterans of Guysborough County – Bruce F. MacDonald

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