60th Field Battery, 14th Brigade, 5th Canadian Divisional Artillery
“Oh, how we’ll appreciate freedom and liberty, if we ever get out of this thing.”
Gunner Bertram Howard Cox a positive force always looking for the beautiful things in life and the best side of people he met. He loved children and held his friends and family as the most important in his life. Not only a miracle Bert survived the war without being wounded, much less killed, also incredible he was able to virtually remove the years he spent in the mud ducking and dodging enemy fire from his life, and never looked back! Attributed to his ability and super-human determination to focus on the future and an iron strength will to make something of a life that so easily could have been cut short on the battlefield.
Gunner Bert Cox the quintessential example of a surviving soldier of the 5th Canadian Divisional Artillery. His story much like that of so many artillerymen who entered the Great War in September of 1917, e.g., the author’s grandfather A./Bbdr. Richard Francis Walshe of the 61st Field Battery. As a gunner under the late-great Major T.D.J. Ringwood, himself the quintessential Officer of the Canadian Artillery, Bert risked his life to recover the Major’s body at Death Corner, Rouvroy-en-Santerre in August 1918.
Early Life
Bertram Howard Cox born on the island of Barbados, British West Indies, 13 December 1894. After finishing high school he worked for the Canadian Bank of Commerce in Barbados.
Bert came to Canada in 1913 via Ellis Island, New York on the ship SS GIUANA. The ship left Barbados on May 10 and landed at New York on May 20. He was headed to his cousin Ada (or Ida) King at 37 Classic Ave Toronto, Ontario. Travelling with a friend Arthur E. Clarke, also headed to the same place.
Bert worked as a teller for The Canadian Bank of Commerce, first in Sherbrooke, Quebec and then in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Several of his fellow employees joined the war effort and Bert soon enlisted in the Canadian Army as a Gunner in Artillery, 59th Battery CFA. on 26 March 1916. He was 19 years old and unmarried.
Bert Cox served until 28 June 1919 and at that time Honorably Discharged at Toronto. He then emigrated to the United States, finding work in Detroit, Michigan. He became a United States citizen in approximately 1935.
Bert Cox Diary
The diary is a great example of the photographic memory of Gunner Bertram Howard Cox, who paid great attention to detail and was a whiz with figures. Remember, this was written not during, but immediately after the war in 1919 about his experiences from 1916 to 1918. Bert’s experience very much like every artilleryman in the CFA, particularly those serving in the 14th/15th Brigade, CFA.
1916
Enlistment
Gunner Bertram Howard Cox 327964 enlisted 25 March 1916, on a Saturday. Enlisted with 59th Battery, 15th Brigade, Canadian Field Artillery (CFA), Winnipeg, Manitoba. Resided with his mother, Mrs. Isabel Cox at 72 Donald Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Previous service with 53rd Regiment, Sherbrooke, Quebec. Bert, an extraordinary tall man for his time, standing 6′ 4″, with ruddy complexion, blue eyes, and brown hair.
On 27 March 1916, Gunner Bertram Howard Cox, thrown from horse first and only time. A Battery Dance held on 26 May 1916.
Petawawa Camp
Arrived in Petawawa, at our Bank of Commerce tent, 1 June 1916. Gunner Graham Campbell Bill Baillie 327925 (since shell-shocked), Gunner John Joseph McEachern 327975 (KIA), Gunner Andrew Rutherford Hewat 327924 (ill in England), Driver Donald James Moorman 327951 (now an officer R.F.A.), Gunner Robert Sim P. Jardine 327981 (Trench Mortar’s now wounded), Gunner Lorne Corneil McCallum 327972, Gunner Edgar Alexander Donald McLennan 327967 (KIA), self.
Panoramic photos of units taken in Petawawa Camp. The 15th Brigade at the time consisted of the HQ (Lt.-Col. Alexander Thomas Ogilvie), 59th Battery (Gunner Bertram Howard Cox), 60th Battery, 61st Battery (author’s grandfather Gunner Richard Francis Walshe 331905), 62nd Battery, and an Ammunition Column. These units arranged left to right in the photo. The original image a massive file, and possible to identify each and every member in the photo.
Lt.-Col. Alexander Thomas Ogilvie
Married to Alice Ogilvie, he had three step-children, Audrey, Barbara and Gwyneth. Still with the 14th Brigade, CFA on demobilization, 1 March 1919. Died, Bermuda, B.W.I., 25 May 1935. The only commanding officer of the 15th lacking a biography.
Reverts in Ranks
Bombardier Bertram Howard Cox as of 1 June 1916. Reverts at own request, Gunner Bertram Howard Cox, 26 September 1916. Often troops would revert in ranks in order to proceed overseas. In this case, likely Bert missing his old pals, and he reverted to spend more time with his buddies.
On leave in Toronto with Gunner Alexander Brown Lawson Murray 327919, 26-30 August 1916. Gunner Murray a Traveler by trade (GSW left shoulder 9 June 1918; Mentioned in Despatches, London Gazette No. 31448; died 19 July 1968). Met my little C.P.R. friend onboard train returning to Petawawa. Then, on 8 September 1916, left Petawawa camp and entrained for Halifax. Then, on board S.S. CAMERONIA in Halifax Harbor, 11-13 September 1916.
Sailed for Liverpool aboard SS CAMERONIA, 13 September 1916. Arrived Liverpool and entrained for Witley Camp, 22 September 1916.
Only a week later, Bert on leave in London, 30 September – 6 October, 1916.
Gunner Bertram Howard Cox admitted 3 December 1916 to Connaught Hospital and transferred to Canadian Military Hospital, Bramshott, Bronchitis. Discharged 20 December 1916. Appointed A./Bbdr. with pay of rank, 31 December 1916, Witley Camp.
1917
From 8 to 15 January 1917, the 15th Brigade at Larkhill, Salisbury Plains for test shooting. Everyone in the Brigade took time at some point to visit Stonehenge.
Reorganization
On 22 January 917 the 59th Battery broken up. Left section goes to 60th Battery. Now 6 guns in Battery instead of 4. Unlike the infantry battalions of the CEF, the linage of the CFA extremely complicated. The composition of the batteries, brigades and divisional artillery going through many changes over the course of the Great War. For instance, the number of guns per battery originally set at six on the
organization of the CFA in August 1914, and changed to four in November after arrival in England, then in 1917 back to six gun batteries.
The 15th Brigade Canadian Field Artillery, consisted of the 60th, 61st, 62nd and 69th Batteries, and part of the 4th Canadian Divisional Artillery prior to March 1917. Then reorganized into the 5th Canadian Divisional Artillery, 14th Brigade, with the 60th, 61st, 66th Batteries, and the 51st Howitzer Battery.
At 3 a.m. on 24 March 1917, following an embolism of a fractured tibia (getting on limber foot slipped and caught), Gunner John Joseph McEachern 327975 dies. Son of James and Ellen McEachern of Souris, P.E.I. Buried in Witley (Milford) Cemetery.
The troops on a bit of a vacation, 28 June – 6 July 1917, camping at Petworth, West Sussex.
Dominion Day
On Dominion Day, 1 July 1917, Bert cycles with Driver Francis John Ardagh Seys 327955 and Driver Reginald William Seys 327956 to Arendel Little Hampton and Worthing. Then, from 4-9 August 1917, the Brigade moves to Midhurst, preparing to go overseas. On 19 August 1917, at 11 pm., left Witley for Southampton. Proceeded overseas, 21 August 1917.
France
Arrived at Le Havre, 21 August 1917 at 8 am. From 25 August to September 4, at Ames. Then, on September 4 marched 15 miles from Ames to Carency. In range of enemy guns for first time.
First Action
7 September 1917. In action for first time in Liévin. Detailed with others to pack ammunition. Lost until found by Lieutenant Richard Philip Bawden (KIA 10 August 1918, Captain Bawden buried Beaucourt British Cemetery). His grave on the left in the front row below.
Then on 13 September 1917 saved Corporal James ‘Jimmy’ O’Neill Allison’s 327888 life, by forgetting to give him a whistle. Arbitrary twists of fate spell the end for many soldiers in the Great War.
The author’s own grandfather narrowly escaping death when his friend Corporal Leo Clapstone 331803 of the “Lucky Battery”, (the 61st Field Battery), takes his place on the 18-pdr., 9 September 1918. Bert narrowly escapes death several times over the course of the Great War.
First Casualty
On 14 September 1917, Signaller Edgar Alexander McLennan 327967 killed by enemy shell.
McLennan buried at Villers Station Cemetery, Villers-au-Bois.
September 17. Gunner Harry Price 311918 and I caught in enemy barrage coming back from YMCA and had to remain in trench for an hour with Wolf and Driver Gordon Duncan McEachern 1260410.
Aerial Battles
On 1 October 1917, witnessed one of the most exciting aerial scraps of the war.
Staggering to think the world’s most famous airman often had an audience numbering in the millions.
On 15 October 1917, moved wagon lines to Fosse 10. Each battery had their positions for the guns, wagon lines (where the limbers are located), and horse lines (further back to protect the vulnerable horses).
From 17 October to 2 November 1917, Bert a runner at 13th Brigade Headquarters, when he managed to take two German prisoners. Awful trip to Alviston Castle.
Greene’s Group
On 25 October 1917, the group formed with men and officers of the 13th, 14th Brigades, CFA and the 5th C.D.A.C. Commanded by Major E.A. Greene, Lieutenant C.W. Weldon adjutant. From 2 to 10 November 1917, Bert a Gunner in Greene’s Group. Major E.A. Greene later returns to command the 61st Field Battery, and is mentioned again later during Demobilization.
On 2 November 1917, Bert’s battery goes into action in the St. Pierre corkscrew trench.
Working Party
On 12 November 1917, detailed for working party near Hill 70. Great experience. At the Wagon lines at Bethune, 1 December 1917.
Guns in action at Annequin. Terribly rainy cold night. Then on 22 December 1917, Wagon lines bombed at Bethune.
Then, on 23 December 23, moved back to Fosse 10. The following night, Bert on guard. Great bombardment all along the front at Midnight.
A Busting Time this Christmas
Christmas Day, 25 December 1917. Guns in action at Liévin. Bert a battery runner. His temper out of control after roaming around all day in field in full view of enemy trying to find Battery. Later a swell dinner at the Wagon lines.
On the last day of the year, Bert admitted to No. 12 Canadian Field Ambulance, P.U.O. (trench fever), discharged on 5 January 1918.
1918
Nearly shot 2 men passing a few yards in front of No. 1 gun, 10 January 1918. From 16-18 January 1918, No. 2 gun takes up 3 different positions. Gunner Bert Grey 328930 and I on guard at Fosse No. 3. Then on 20 January, action at Loos Happy Valley. First experience as lead driver on a very dark night. Build two gun pits. Then on 10 February 1918, the only occasion on which enemy gassed severely in day time.
In Brigade Reserve, 17-23 March 1918 in Hallicourt for some rest. Back in action on 26 March 1918 at Loos. (Same position) Wagon lines at Fosse 19.
La Targette British Cemetery
Then on 28 March 1918, the battery marches to a field near Rietz Corner, Le Targette.
La Targette British Cemetery, formerly known as Aux-Rietz Military Cemetery, was begun at the end of April 1917 and used by field ambulances and fighting units until September 1918. Nearly a third of the graves have an artillery connection; in March-April 1917, the artillery of the 2nd Canadian and 5th Divisions, and certain heavy artillery units, had their headquarters in a deep cave at Aux-Rietz.
Sixteen graves were brought into the cemetery from the immediate neighbourhood after the Armistice and a further 26 sets of Great War remains were added during the Second World War.
Easter Sunday
Easter Sunday, 1 April 1918. Guns in action at Vimy. Very cold night. Tried to sleep in shell hole at 5 am, but rained swamped Jimmy Allison and I out. The next day, right section moves forward to Farbus Wood. Rebuilt gun pit.
Then, on 7 April 1918, direct hit on No.2 gun pit by enemy shell. Which destroys my tunic, gas mask, boots, putties, steel helmet and gloves.
April 14. Action at Thélus Woods. Vimy. Wagon lines at Le Targette. Sam Eldon Allen 328935 joins the gang.
Then on 21 April 1918, attached to Anti-Tank gun crew, forward of Vimy Ridge in Vimy. With Lieutenant Chester Henry Mathewson, Gunner Murdo MacKenzie 1260373, Gunner Alfred George Stone 328925, self (Bert).
Roclincourt
From 2 to 23 May 1918, at Divion on rest. Playing lots of tennis and cricket.
Then, on May 24, action at Roclincourt Wagon lines at Anzin.
Highland Cemetery, Roclincourt
Roclincourt was just within the British lines before the Battles of Arras 1917; and it was from the village that the 51st (Highland) and 34th divisions advanced on the 9th April 1917. Highland Cemetery was made (under the name of Roclincourt Forward Cemetery No.1) when the battlefields were cleared after the 9th April 1917, and Plot I, Rows A. and C and Plot II, Rows A and D are almost exclusively occupied by the graves of the 51st Division.
Plot I, Row B and Plot II, Row C were made, after the Armistice, by the concentration of graves from the battlefields of Arras; Plot II, Row C contains graves of Canadian Field Artillery and Railway Troops brought from Fond-de-Vase British Cemetery, which was 1.6 kilometres East of MAROEUIL. There are now over 300 Great War casualties commemorated in this site.
June 5. Gunner Bert Grey 328930 GSW abdomen, right thigh, right forearm, fractured radius (entitled to wear 3 Blue Chevrons).
Another Close Call
Then on 9 June 1918, a shell lands in wagon lines a few minutes after Bert left for guns. Killed-in-Action David William Davies 42471, son of Joshua and Anne Davies, of 14, Jewel St., Barry Dock, Glam. Wounded Gunner Alexander Brown Lawson Murray 327919. Gamble brothers (Driver Edmund Gamble 328920 (died 24 July 1961), Driver Samuel Gamble 1042400 KIA 28 September 1918 (GSW abdomen, died of wounds at No. 30 C.C.S.), buried at Bucquoy Road Cemetery), GSW right leg to A./Bbdr. William ‘Bill’ Henry Browlee 328931, Gunner William Henry Passmore 334437, Gunner J. McRobbie 342212.
Lewis Gun
June…Wagon lines at Lewis Raid pulled off in field in railroad cutting. No. 2 gun sniping in cutting. Most terrific enemy bombardment of war experienced.
Two Lewis Guns assigned to each battery as of December 1917. Used primarily as an anti-aircraft weapon by the batteries.
Were Canadians Savages?
During the Great War, it has been written Canadians earned a reputation for their savagery. This may have been encouraged by the unfounded story of the Crucified Canadian. Whether true or not, war diaries and personal accounts do record when men entered the Ypres Salient for the first time, they were shown the spot where the alleged atrocity had taken place.
In the Second Battle of Ypres, Canada’s first engagement with German troops, a captured German soldier who understood English well, exclaimed, “You guys fight like hell.” The reputation endured right through the war when a German Colonel told Canadian POW Fred Hamilton, “I don’t care for the English, Scotch, French, Australians or Belgians but damn you Canadians, you take no prisoners and you kill our wounded.”
Even Sir Arthur Currie following the war took pride in the fact his troops prided themselves on killing the enemy wherever and whenever they could. Perhaps Canadian troops were more savage than soldiers of any other army. The reality though, is they could not have been the only savages on the Western Front, and they could only have been slightly more savage than the rest.
Prisoners of War
They were not prone to killing Prisoners of War. In fact, when Sir Arthur Currie took command of the Canadian Corps he gave strict orders not to be disobeyed – prisoners were to be treated humanely. Without exception, the images captured by the Canadian Official War Photographers demonstrate this fact. Of course, had any photo shown otherwise, they would have been censored. But, the existing photographs do not lie. Any surprise revealed by the German soldiers in the these images, is that they have found the Canadians not to be the unpredictable savages that they had been told.
The Secret Move
With the reputation of savagery, the German Army avoided the Canadian Corps as much as possible following the Second Battle of Ypres. During the Final German Spring Offensive of 1918, Germany attacked all along the Western Front, with one exception. You guessed it – everywhere except where they knew Canadians were in the line. Sir Arthur Currie forced to come up with a brilliant plan to get the Canadian Corps back in action.
On 30 July 1918, the Canadian Corps began entraining at Aubigny for Amiens. The entire Canadian Corps. A logistic feat, completed not once, but twice during Canada’s Last Hundred Days. Lt.-Gen. Sir Arthur Currie exploiting to full-advantage the same attention to detail he learned from his former Commanding Officer, General Julian Byng, the master-planner of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
The Somme
The 14th Brigade, CFA, detrained at Salieu, then marched to Cachy on the Somme in the first few days of August 1918. Horse lines bombed. Then, on 3 August 1918, Bert detailed as loader for 1st trip to new position near Villiers-Bretonneaux. Ten teams with ammunition cut off from main body and lost. Got badly shelled. Finally found position at 2 am.
Two days later, on 5 August, packing more ammunition working on gun pit, and digging fox holes, shells all night. Returned to wagon lines at 7 am. On 7 August 1918, the front very quiet. The Germans still have no idea tomorrow will become the Darkest Day of the German Army in the Great War. Work all night preparing for the big show.
Canada’s Last Hundred Days
Greatest bombardment of the war opens up at 4:20 am, 8 August 1918. The Battle of Amiens. Very misty. Finest picture ever before my eyes. Enemy out of range at 8 am. Went up at noon to front line. Terrible site. Rest of day spent in checking over prisoners. At 6 pm. a move to Stanguard Wood.
The following day, Bert on O’Pip (Observation Post) at night. Bright moonlight. Enemy bombs all around. Gunner William Conrad Beckman 328973 accidently wounds himself (left eye, left knee). Beckham survives the Great War with two Blue Chevrons, and one Gold Casualty Stripe.
While 8 August 1918 remains the darkest day of the German Army, 10 August 1918 becomes the Darkest Day of the Canadian Field Artillery. The artillery is moving to catch up to the Infantry, marching to the field of Assembly. Great aerial activity. Major T.D.J. Ringwood killed in village of Rouvroy while making reconnaissance. Action in field to right Thoray.
Major Thomas Duncan John Ringwood
T.D.J. Ringwood at the outbreak of war, a Captain in the Canadian Field Artillery. Then, one of the few officers of the Canadian Regular Forces able to get to the front. However, in 1914, Ring occupied the important position of Chief Artillery Instructor to the Dominion. And, until resignation in 1916, practically every artillery officer in the new army of Canada passed through his hands. A total of over 1,600 men.
The Major covered in a previous post at CEFRG, Major Thomas Duncan John Ringwood in the Great War.
On 11 August 1918, Bert one of eight men to risk their lives to recover the Major’s body. Great difficulty. Enemy shells heavily. Very hot weather.
Rouvroy-en-Santerre
The Artillery Memorial in Rouvroy-en-Santerre located only a hundred meters from Death Corner where Major Ringwood killed.
Unknown if the memorial dedicated to Major Ringwood. It should be.
On 17 August 1918. Bert in action in a field trench, forward of Rouvroy-en-Santerre, 18 guns in line. Bert’s reference to 18 guns means all three batteries of the 14th Brigade acting in unison. Wagon lines at Beaufort-en-Santerre.
For the Canadian Corps, action in the Battle of Amiens draws to a close on 21 August. March back to Hangard Wood. And, back to where they came in, on 22 August the CFA entrain at Salieu, headed back to Aubigny. Another secret move. Where are the Canadians, and where did they go, foremost on the minds of every German commander.
Advance East of Arras
For the third time in the Great War, the Canadian Field Artillery involved in another record-breaking show. On August 25, rains heavily all evening. Leave field at 10 pm. March through Arras. Then, on 26 August 1918, Bert in position of readiness as “Opportunity Battery.” Very cold. The Second Battle of Arras opens up at 3 am while on line of march. Action at Orange Hill at 8 am. Fired 2,500 rounds of ammunition. Biggest days shoot of war.
By succeeding in destroying the very heart of the German defence system, the Canadian Corps, advancing with the British First Army under Horne, enabled the British Third Army under Byng, to make contact with the outposts of the formidable Hindenberg Line. The battle itself was another of Currie’s complex set-pieces, that of the Battle of the Scarpe and the Battle of the Drocourt-Quéant Line, both part of the overall Allied strategy which consisted of exhausting the enemy already retreating eastward.
The Battle of the Scarpe resulted in an Allied advance of no less than eight kilometres, while at Drocourt-Quéant, Canadian troops forced the Germans out of their vital defence system, advancing another six kilometres and taking up positions in front of their next obstacle, the Canal-du-Nord.
August 29. Action in cutting. No. 3 gun knocked out.
Battle of the Drocourt-Quéant Line
September 2. Action near Jigsaw wood to left of Boux Notre Dame. Attack for Drocourt – Quaint line opens up at 5 am. Move forward at 8 am over battlefield of many dead and wounded to position at Dury. Witness many aerial fights. German airmen jumps from burning plane at height of 5,000 feet. Enemy shells us all day. Sam and I sleep in cubby hole together. An unpleasant night of gas. Enemy fighting. rear guard action many dead lying in field all around.
The victory at the D-Q Line, though unexpected, was another mark for the Canadian Corps very successful Hundred Days. Sir Arthur Currie believed the fighting during the Arras battles to be the most difficult the Corps had ever faced; however, the pace would not be slowed. Canadian losses for the D-Q Line fighting were 5 622 killed or wounded on 2 September alone.
On 7 September 1918, No. 2 gun knocked out. Crew return to wagon lines at Vis-en-Artois. Left section in action in Saudemont.
Black Day of the 60th Battery
17 September 1918. Enemy shell lands in wagon lines at Vis-en-Artois causing greatest one-day’s casualties on Battery. Killed: Gunner Robert Godfrey Hunter 328936 (Duisans British Cemetery), Gunner John Goodison Hill 306625 (Duisans British Cemetery) and Gunner John Henry Tribe 340960 dies of wounds (Terlincthun British Cemetery), 12 others wounded, 17 horses killed. Wagon lines move to Wancourt. I remain as guard all night. Dismal sight. All buried at Cherisy Military Cemetery on 18 September 1918.
Gun Pit
September 21. Move to Riencourt. Then, on 22 September 22 to Cagnicourt. Detailed as loader with pack horses to position at Inchy. Return to wagon lines with salvaged horse after 1st trip. Enemy shells heavily. On 26 September 1918, Bert work’s on gun pit all night.
Gun pits dug as an area to provide cover and protection for the men and guns. Camouflage necessary to hide from aerial observation. CEFRG has discovered many of these gun pits re-purposed today. Six 18-pdr. field guns of the 61st Field Battery at the location above on the first day of the Second Battle of Arras.
Battle of Cambrai
September 27. Battle of Cambrai opens up at 5:20 am. Enemy promply retaliates heavily on our positions. Cross the Canal du Nord at noon and take up position in field. Move to position in field to left Bourlon Village at midnight.
September 29. Take up position in field in front of Bourlon wood at 4 am. 5 pm. Move to position at Raillencourt. Dig in at side of wall.
Enemy shell kills Lieutenant Melvyn Campbell Allen Jones 2341412 and Lieutenant Kenneth Charles Stairs (Ontario Cemetery), and wounds Major Edward Burton Pontoon Armour and Lt. Alexander Bell Thompson while sleeping.
We live in burned out cellars in perfect luxury with a stove.
Major Edward Burton Pontoon Armour
Wounded (Shell Shock), 28 August 1915. Mentioned in Despatches, London Gazette No. 30706, 28 May 1918. Wounded at Cambrai, GSW left forearm, left side of head, 30 September 1918. Four operations on left hand. Discharged, medically unfit, 19 October 1919. Died 25 February 1945, buried at St. James Cemetery, Erindale, Ontario.
Battle of Cambrai
On 7 October 1918, Bert takes position in Epigny, in field left of Raillencourt. Then, a return to wagon lines in Bourlon on 9 October 1918, Cambrai taken.
On 11 October 1918, in position in Blecourt. The next day, in position at Eswars. A move to horse lines at Tilloy-en-Mofflaines on 13 October. Then, wagon lines at Ramilles on 14 October as Bud Edwards and Bert go back near Arras for canteen supply. Then on 19 October 1918, enemy evacuating so rapidly, he is lost and they stay for the night in field by Marquette. Spend rainy dad at Rouelx and move in evening to Escoudain on 20 October. The following day, take up gun positions and also wagon lines at Haveluy.
The Final Push
On 29 October 1918, move wagon lines in rear of slag heap, but are shelled and return immediately to Haveluy.
In position in Herrin, 1 November 1918. James ‘Jim’ McNaughton Pottinger 1260377 killed, and 16 wounded at 11 pm. Bert awakened to go to gun position, to move guns to Le Sentinel about 500 yards to left.
November 3. Move to Anzin, guns take up position in Valenciennes. City is forward and dangerous. Temporary bridge spans canal which we cross.
Guns move to Saulve on 4 November 1918. Then on 6 November the guns move to Onnaing where we fire our last shots.
On 9 November march along the Mons-Valenciennes road and spend night in field at Quivrechain.
Thulin, Belgium
On 10 November 1918, move to Thulin, Belgium. Bert goes ahead of Battery to get his pass and starts out at 7 pm on his 14 day leave to Paris.
11 November 1918, the bloody war is over. Dreams of returning home are soon dashed. The Canadian Corps is headed to Germany. With a fortnight, the plan is finalized, and Bert along with the 5th Divisional Artillery, the 1st and 2nd Infantry Divisions, and select units of the Army Corps start their move, leaving the 3rd and 4th Canadian Divisions behind in Belgium and France. The Royal Newfoundland Regiment also participate in the March to the Rhine.
The German Frontier
Elements of the Canadian Corps began moving toward the German Frontier on 21 November 1918. Sir Arthur Currie crosses the German Frontier at Poteau, shortly after noon, on 4 December 1918. The March to the Rhine an epic undertaking by the British Second Army, and the subject of a future post on CEFRG.
The Canadian Corps proceeded in two columns, approximately 15 kilometers apart. The 1st Division to the north headed to Cologne, the 2nd Division to Bonn. These columns were nearly a week long. The 60th Battery passes the same frontier at Poteau, three days later on December 7. Bert catches up with his battery from leave, just before the frontier. Find Battery on line of March on my return at 10:30 am. Cross German frontier at 11:30 am. Billeted at Recht.
Saying goodbye to Belgium, the Canadian Corps no longer welcomed as liberators. Inhabitants for the most part, stay in their homes, looking out at the Canadians passing by. Following Sir Arthur Currie’s orders, the men are still battle-ready, and fierce. The men are extremely proud, owing much to their somewhat uncharismatic, yet brilliant leader.
Crossing the Rhine
The countryside is overwhelming beautiful, even in these dreary, wet days of December. Krinkelt is encountered on 8 December, followed by consecutive stays in Wildenburg, Kommern, Wielerwist, and the former German Army Barracks outside Cologne on 12 December 1918.
Bonn
The battery prepares for the big inspection, hoping to be chosen as lead battery in the column the next day when the Corps crosses the Rhine, which signifies the first day of the Allied Occupation of Germany, which does not end until exactly ten years later, on 13 December 1928. The Allied Occupation of Germany, and the Canadian Corps involvement also the subject of a future post at CEFRG. These two events, the March and the Occupation, have received very little acknowledgement from historians in the past 100 years.
Distance from Thulin, Belgium to Cologne, 409 kilometers (254 miles). Passing an Army through the Ardennes a major logistical feat, not considered possible during the Great War. A former brave, and decorated soldier of the German Army in the Great War would come to appreciate the possibility of doing the same (in reverse). The tactic was exploited to great advantage during the Blitzkrieg, and France fell in a matter of weeks during the Second World War.
On 13 December 1918, the 60th Battery crossed the Rhine River, and proceeded to barracks in Ostheim, on the east side of the Rhine.
The Allied Occupation of Germany
Canadian involvement in the Allied Occupation of Germany brief. Units began proceeding back to Belgium in January 1919, and very little of the Canadian Corps left in Germany by the end of February. Nevertheless, the occupation lasted a total of 3,652 days.
1919
Demobilization
While the 3rd and 4th Canadian Divisions already embarking to Canada from Liverpool and South Hampton, those involved in the Allied Occupation of Germany had to await their turn in Belgium and France. To occupy the troops, a Khaki School formed, and many sports and recreation events planned.
The year would become the deadliest for non-combat casualties. Influenza would claim many lives in the Canadian Corps, but only one would succumb to the virus in the 60th Battery. Approximately 100 deaths in the CFA attributable to the virus in 1919. Driver Arthur Titus Dickson 742547, buried in Belgrade Cemetery, 27 February 1919.
Belgrade Military Cemetery
Namur was attacked by the Germans on 20 August 1914; the forts were destroyed by heavy artillery, and at midnight on 23-24 the garrison was evacuated. The town then remained in German hands until the end of the war.
Belgrade Cemetery contains 249 Commonwealth burials of the Great War, most of them Influenza casualties dating from the ten months when casualty clearing stations were posted to Namur after the Armistice.
Influenza
The Spanish Influenza first appeared in a less malevolent form in the winter of 1917-18. This contradicts a conspiracy which suggests the epidemic originated in Kansas in the summer of 1918. Ludicrous and preposterous to suggest Kansas as the origin, when some soldiers already felled by the virus before 1918. The virus was borne by the Chinese Labour Corps (CLC), which had two paths to Europe.
The first of the CLC arrived in Europe after their route took them by Cape Horn. Shortly afterwards, the CLC also began to arrive via a trans-North-American route. Visiting non-battlefield cemeteries of the CWGC on the Western Front reveals a disproportional number of the CLC buried during 1919.
Les Baraques Military Cemetery
Among some of the most diverse headstones in any CWGC cemetery, is the grave of seven-year-old Joseph Leng at Les Baraques Military Cemetery, Sangatte. Joseph and his mother came to France to visit his father, Sapper Joseph Leng, who was stationed in Calais, still awaiting demobilization following the Armistice. While playing, young Joseph fell into the canal at Audricq on 2 October 1919 and unfortunately, efforts to revive him failed.
The Leng family successfully appealed to the CWGC to allow their son to be placed in the cemetery as a Victim of War – one of many such casualties buried in Les Baraques Military Cemetery, Sangatte. Many casualties are from the Spanish Flu epidemic. Most of the stories of other Victims of War remain untold.
Orp-le-Grand
Having had the flu was no guarantee of immunity. The author’s grandfather having the flu in the summer of 1918, along with many other men in the 61st Field Battery. A./Bbdr. Richard Francis Walshe 331905 near death in Orp-le-Grand during February/March 1919, having contracted the flu for the second time. A./Bbdr. R.F. Walshe upstairs in a bedroom, aided by the widow Mdme. Dupont, when the photo below captured on Lt. Virtue’s camera.
In it’s most virulent form the Spanish flu killed more people in one hundred twenty days than the Great War did in all of it’s four and a quarter years (20,000,000 dead). It went on to infect half of the world population. Estimates of flu deaths range from 20 to 50 million.
The 60th Battery proceeded to England, from Le Havre, 11 May 1919. Bert S.o.S. to Canada, from Witley, 11 June 1919.
Post War
Bert Cox served until 28 June 1919, and at that time Honorably Discharged at Toronto. He then emigrated to the United States, finding work in Detroit, Michigan. Bert married Carrie Davenport in 1921 in Birmingham, MI. They had one daughter, Molly (Cox) Schmidt. He became a United States citizen in approximately 1935.
Bert worked for the Buick Motor Company and later for a steel supplier to General Motors Corp. as a buyer for the Hall Steel Company of Flint, MI. He resided at 1502 Welch Blvd.
After retirement in 1965, Bert enjoyed his family, traveling back to Europe and Barbados, his garden and visiting a nursing home each week.
Pine Tree Cemetery
Bert rarely talked of his war experiences and suffered his whole life from back pain, whether imagined or real. Several times during his life, the ‘back problem’ kept him bed ridden for months. This could have been as a result of his days in the cold damp trenches, but it is not known. Bert did not belong to any veteran organizations or attend re-unions during his lifetime. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was not recognised in those days.
Bertram Howard Cox died in Flint, MI in May of 1981. He and his wife buried in Pine Tree Cemetery, Corunna, MI.
The Schmidt’s
The inspiration for the post from the family of Bertram Howard Cox. Very special thanks to Bert’s grandson’s, Steve and Frank Schmidt of Branson West, Missouri.
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One response to “Gunner Bertram Howard Cox in the Great War”
[…] of being in the right place at the right time, and escaped death on numerous occasions, like Gunner Bertram Howard Cox of the Canadian Field Artillery. Finally, only a week into Canada’s Last Hundred Days, the […]