Major Talbot Mercer Papineau MC in the Great War

The Soul of Canada

You know, Hughie? This is suicide.

The Greatest Prime Minister of Canada – not! Talbot Mercer Papineau MC had it all. Intelligent, charming, athletic, dashingly handsome, affluent, with a biting-sense of black humour; this fluently-bilingual Anglo/French-Canadian with a deep love for Canada destined to be the Greatest Prime Minister of Canada.

However, the Second Battle of Passchendaele ended a dream. It forever altered the path of Canada and Canadian Veterans. Where would our Veterans be today, if this Hero of the Great War became Prime Minister and set an example for those to follow?

Early Life of Talbot Mercer Papineau

Like his three brothers, Talbot was born 25 March 1883 at the family manor house in Montebello, Quebec. Then, on Thursday, June 28, he was named after his maternal grandfather, Talbot Mercer Rogers Papineau, and baptized Presbyterian, the religion of his parents. Great-grandson of Louis-Joseph Papineau.

In his early years, Talbot developed friendships with members of the Molson family, including Captain Percival Molson.

Rhodes Scholarship

In 1905 Papineau received one of the first Rhodes scholarships awarded to a Canadian. Then, he read law at Brasenose College, Oxford, achieved a second, and rowed stroke for the college eight.

Henri Bourrasa

After returning to Montreal in 1908, he set up a law practice and began a career in public life. A strong believer in free trade, also a member of the Montreal chapter of the Round Table, a forum on imperial federation. Like his cousin Henri Bourassa, founder of Le Devoir in 1910, Papineau began his interest in Quebec culture. Talbot wrote in October 1915, Especially, I want to see Canadian pride based on substantial achievements, and not on the supercilious and fallacious sense of self-satisfaction we have borrowed from England.

Appointed Lieutenant

When the Great War declared, Papineau was instantly commissioned a lieutenant. He proved to be both resourceful and mettlesome. Appointed Lieutenant, 12 August 1914.

The P.P.C.L.I. sailed 3 October 1914. Then, by 27 October 1914, the Regiment occupied a camp on Salisbury Plain, England.

France

Talbot Mercer Papineau joined unit in the field from Canadian Training Depot, 21 January 1915.

Raid at Saint-Eloi

Papineau received one of the first Military crosses of the war to be awarded to Canadians for his role as co-leader of a successful raid at Saint-Eloi (Sint-Elooi), Belgium, during the night of 27–28 Feb. 1915.

Talbot’s Military Cross citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry at St. Eloi on February 28th, 1915 when in charge of Bomb Throwers during attack on Enemy trenches. He shot two of the enemy himself and then ran along the German Sap throwing bombs therein.

Auth. L.G. 9131, d/13-4-15

Talbot Papineau Mercer MC also mentioned in dispatches two months after his M.C. gazetted. To be Temporary Captain, 15 March 1915.

Lieutenant Colonel Francis Douglas Farquhar DSO

21 March 1915. The death of Colonel Farquhar. Talbot wrote Lady Evelyn Farquhar the day after her husband was buried:

There is not a man in the Regiment who does not feel a great and personal loss. No other man in so short a time could have won so much respect and affection. As a Canadian I feel a national debt of gratitude to him.” An experienced English officer, Farquhar could have commanded a regular British unit but, in Talbot’s words, “accepted the task of creating, as well as commanding, a new and untried Canadian regiment.”

Talbot to Lady Evelyn Farquhar

Privates Sweeney, Coetzee, and O’Keefe

On 9 May 1915, Lieutenant Talbot Papineau Mercer MC along with two other officers and a company of the P.P.C.L.I. ordered to proceed to the Lille Gate in Ypres and occupy the Ramparts there. During the day, shelled and lost five men, including the graves of these three Privates of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.

Somehow, their graves managed to stay intact in the following years, and they still lie buried in Ypres Reservoir Cemetery today. Private Joseph Edward Sweeney, Private John Coetzee and Private Daniel O’Keefe all died of their wounds, 9 May 1915.

Beatrice Fox

Captain Talbot Papineau Mercer MC relinquished temporary rank of Captain, 28 July 1915. Then, in the summer of 1915, Talbot embarked on one of the most remarkable correspondences engendered by the war, with a young woman he had never met, a sculptor in Philadelphia named Beatrice Fox. As he later said, he was in search of a relationship that could be absolutely natural and free from the artificialities which surround so generally the intercourse between men and women.

Nearly all of his letters are preserved, along with those he wrote almost daily to his mother. In addition, his style is alive and assured, his observations acute, his accounts of his own feelings candid and unsparing, as is illustrated in a passage dated 5 Aug. 1915:

I hate this murderous business. I have seen so much death. . . . Never shall I shoot duck again, or draw a speckled trout to gasp in my basket – I would not wish to see the death of a spider.

Talbot Papineau Mercer

Once again, Lieutenant Talbot Papineau Mercer MC returns to the rank of captain. To be Temporary Captain 1 November 1915.

1916

Captain Talbot Papineau Mercer MC seconded for duty to Corps HQ and to be A.D.C. to G.O.C. to complete establishment, 23 February 1916. Finally, through the influence of Sir William Maxwell Aitken, head of the Canadian War Records Office, Papineau became a staff officer.

Letter Home

Captain Papineau’s letter to his cousin, M. Henri Bourassa (editor of “Le Devoir”)

In the Field, France, 21 March 1916

You and I are so called French-Canadians.

We belong to a race that began the conquest of this country long before the days of Wolfe. That race was in its turn conquered, but their personal liberties were not restricted. They were in fact increased. Ultimately as a minority in a great English-speaking community we have preserved our racial identity, and we have had freedom to speak or to worship as we wished.

I may not be, like yourself, “un pur sang”, for I am by birth even more English than French, but I am proud of my French ancestors, I love the French language, and I am as determined as you are that we shall have full liberty to remain French as long as we like. But if we are to preserve this liberty we must recognise that we do not belong entirely to ourselves, but to a mixed population, we must rather seek to find points of contact and of common interest than points of friction and separation. We must make concessions and certain sacrifices of our distinct individuality if we mean to live on amicable terms with our fellow-citizens or if we are to expect them to make similar concessions to us.

There, in this moment of crisis, was the greatest opportunity which could ever have presented itself for us to show unity of purpose and to prove to our English fellow-citizens that, whatever our respective histories may have been, we were actuated by a common love for our country and a mutual wish that in the future we should unite our distinctive talents and energies to create a proud and happy nation.

Talbot Papineau

Staff-Captain

To be Staff-Captain, Canadian Corps, 3 June 1916. Then, that June he was seconded to the staff of the War Records Office, based at the headquarters of the Canadian Corps in France. However, his duties included writing press communiqués and directing photographers and cinematographers.

At this time, he also continued to develop his political ideas. The issue in Canada after the war is going to be between Imperialism and Nationalism, he wrote to Beatrice Fox on 16 March 1916. My whole inclination is towards an independent Canada with all the attributes of sovereignty, including its responsibilities.

Propaganda of the Facts

Talbot’s former Commanding Officer, Lt-Col Agar Adamson of the P.P.C.L.I. wrote home to his wife about his misgivings upon finding Papineau in the front line trenches with a cinematographic camera.

Papineau turned up two days ago with a cinematographic camera and wanted us to pose for him. I suggested he take photographs of the graves of the fallen and ordered him out of the line as I did not think it fitting in the present critical situation that officers should be going about with a Punch and Judy Show.…My views are not shared by many Commanding Officers, who are only too anxious to advertise themselves and rehearse all kinds of stunts when they heard they were coming, such as reading maps, giving orders, pretending to be shot and carried off on stretchers. I only hope the camera gets smashed.

Lt-Col Agar Adamson writing home to his wife Mabel

Birth of a Nation

Papineau’s single contribution to public debate also dates from this period. As early as 1915 he had described the Second Battle of Ypres as “the birth-pangs of our nationality.” Alas, the glory of the 10th and 16th Battalions at Kitchener’s Wood is denied when revisionist history claims the Birth of the Nation occurred at Vimy. Papineau, and the German Army, know when Canadian’s earned their well-deserved reputation as the elite Shock Troops of the Great War.

Quebec

Yet within Canada, because of some Quebecer’s reluctance to participate, the war had become a bitterly divisive issue. Then, to Papineau’s anger, the principal voice opposed to the war that of his cousin Henri Bourassa. Papineau’s challenge took the form of an open letter to Bourassa, published first in the Montreal Gazette on 28 July 1916.

As I write, French and English Canadians are fighting and dying side by side,” said the most eloquent passage. “Is their sacrifice to go for nothing or will it not cement a foundation for a true Canadian nation, . . . independent in thought, independent in action, independent even in its political organization – but in spirit united for high international and humane purposes to the two Motherlands of England and France?”

Talbot to Henri Bourassa

The Growth of a Hero

Bourassa’s reply to Papineau was published a week later. Much of his argument was ironic and ad hominem, but he made some telling points. Opposed to the war because he was opposed to imperialism and its exploitation of people, he drew parallels between the sufferings of the Belgians at the hand of the Germans and those of Franco-Ontarians under Regulation 17.

“To preach Holy War for the ‘liberties of peoples’ overseas, and to oppress the national minorities within Canada is, in our opinion, nothing but odious hypocrisy.”

The Soul of Canada

In the short term, Papineau won most of the honours. Overnight he became a national hero. He also gained a certain international reputation. Then, on 22 August 1916 the London Times reprinted his letter almost entirely, under the heading “The soul of Canada.” These cousins defined with eloquence the terms of a debate about the character of their country which could be reprinted virtually unchanged today.

Return to Regimental Duty

Talbot Papineau Mercer appointed General Staff Officer, 3rd Grade, HQ Canadian Army Corps, 25 November 1916. Appointed G.O.C. 3rd Grade, Canadian Army Corps, 17 December 1916. Relinquished appointment of G.S.W. 3rd Grade on returning to regimental duty.

Talbot Papineau Mercer appointed General Staff Officer, 3rd Grade, HQ Canadian Army Corps, 25 November 1916. Appointed G.O.C. 3rd Grade, Canadian Army Corps, 17 December 1916. Relinquished appointment of G.S.W. 3rd Grade on returning to regimental duty.

Talbot Papineau Mercer rejoined PPCLI from Canadian Corps HQ, 26 May 1917. To be Acting Major, P.P.C.L.I., whilst commanding a Company, 15 June 1917.

Percival Molson

Captain Percival Molson, 5 July 1917, Killed-in-Action. Talbot and at least one of his officers, Captain Rider Lancelot Haggard, died together, as Percy had died with his subaltern Lieutenant Donald MacLean.

Lieutenant Donald MacLean

Second Battle of Passchendaele

At 11:05 p.m. on 29 October 1917, Major Talbot Mercer Papineau related a message to HQ that all four Companies under his command were in their assembly positions. Several casualties sustained. At 01:00 a.m. on 30 October 1917, the R.C.R. reach their reserve position’s in DAD TRENCH. At 04:00 a.m., Major Hugh Wilderspin Niven DSO MC, Lieutenant J.M. Christie, three Scouts and three Runners proceed forward to establish an Advance Report Centre with Papineau at BELLEVUE SPUR.

The barrage opened at 05:50 a.m., and the advance commenced. Just before going over the top, Major Talbot Mercer Papineau spoke his last words to Major Hugh Wilderspin Niven:

You know, Hughie? This is suicide.

Major Talbot Mercer Papineau MC

Papineau immediately killed by an enemy shell as he exited the trench. The trench comrade who followed him also killed.

His name was Rider Lancelot Haggard, a captain bearing the name of a legendary knight, ten years his junior.

Menin Gate

How Papineau’s name came to be found on the Menin Gate is typical for many of the missing. Talbot’s body submerged in a sea of mud and found three weeks later by a first-day comrade, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles James Townsend Stewart (1874-1918). Nicknamed Charlie, Talbot knew him since training in Ottawa in August of 1914.

Charlie recognized Talbot’s corpse, by the particular way he had attached his puttees, and confirmed by the contents of his pockets. He planted a cross on Papineau’s makeshift grave. However, the resting place eventually destroyed by shellfire, and lost in the fog of war. Or was it really?

Poelcapelle British Cemetery

The CoG file for Major Talbot Papineau MC locates his body in Sheet 28.D.4.d.8.3 at a point west of Passchendaele (Bellevue Spur), close to ‘s Graventafelstraat, nearly 3 km SSE of Poelcapelle British Cemetery.

Some confusion noted over the Memorial Cross location for Talbot in Poelcapelle British Cemetery.

• Erected over Plot 24, Row C, Grave 19
• Erected over Plot 24, Row 6 (F), Grave 8

The GRRF file for Memorial Plot X, three years later, confirms more than once, Talbot is honoured by a location in Memorial Plot X.11, between Private D Hewlett 28558 of 1st Lancashire Fusiliers and Private G S Hewitt of 5th Cameron Highlanders.

Menin Gate Memorial Inscription

Talbot’s named inscribed on the Menin Gate Memorial on 21 August 1925. The map reference 20.V.20.b.7.7 located within Poelcapelle British Cemetery.

However, the very next month, 15 September 1925, he is still certified in Memorial Plot X.11 (“Believed to be buried in this cemetery”) at Poelcapelle British Cemetery.

Charles Stewart Almon Ritchie CC

Charles Stewart Almon Ritchie, CC, Canada’s legendary diplomat and diarist, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles James Townsend Stewart’s nephew. On p. 31 of My Grandfather’s House, Ritchie reminisces about his adored uncle and his visit to the Ritchie home in Nova Scotia while on leave:

He came to us straight from the trenches, and our settled home life must have seemed strange to him. His reality was elsewhere, and of that elsewhere he could tell us little. He did not talk of martial exploits, he had no words of hatred for the Hun, and what he did say sounded a wrong note in our ears. His stories of muddle and confusion in the High Command, his contempt for the redtabbed staff officers, were like tales told out of school. Above all, it was his jokes which shocked (“Ha ha, that’s when George got his head knocked off”), jokes that made broad comedy out of violent death, desperate jokes of fighting men that sounded meaninglessly callous to us.

Charles Ritchie

Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry

For the third time in the Great War, the P.P.C.L.I. decimated in the Ypres Salient. The Dirty Patricia’s suffered 363 killed, wounded or missing. One-quarter of the 600 men in the four Companies made the Ultimate Sacrifice.

Lieutenant Colonel Agar Adamson

Lt.-Col. Agar Adamson, G.O.C. of the P.P.C.L.I., would write to his wife Mabel at 9:00 p.m. on 31 October 1917.

I am still alright and hanging on. Our attack was successful but both it and holding, have been costly. Haggard, Papineau. Sullivan, Agar, Almon, Riddell, Williams, Morris, MacKenzie, killed.

Lt.-Col. Agar Adamson

• Major Talbot Papineau, killed in action, 30 October 1917. Age 34.
• Captain Henry Sullivan, died of wounds, 31 October 1917. Age 29. Menin Gate Memorial.
• Captain Rider Lancelot Haggard, killed in action, 30 October 1917. Age 24. VIII. A. 19. Passchendaele New British Cemetery..
• Captain William Hugoe Morris, killed in action, 30 October 1917. Age 23.
• Lieutenant Harold Edward Agar, killed in action, 30 October 1917. Age 26. 10. E. 22 Passchendaele New British Cemetery.
• Lt. John Egan Almon, killed in action, 30 October 1917. X. D. 3. Passchendaele New British Cemetery.
• Lt. James Ross Riddell, died of wounds, 30 October 1917. I. M. 11. Brandhoek New Military Cemetery No. 3.
• Lieutenant Mark Webber Williams, killed in action, 30 October 1917. Age 24. Menin Gate Memorial.
• Lieutenant Hugh McDonald MacKenzie, killed in action, 30 October 1917. Age 30. Menin Gate Memorial.

PTSD

In March 1918 Adamson turned over his command to Charles James Townshend Stewart in order to be with his ailing wife, who had spent the war years in London and behind the lines in Belgium, working with civilian refugees. She recovered quickly. But, sadly, Agar, who had been assigned to divisional headquarters, soon became one of war’s casualties. A delayed form of shell-shock, later known as PTSD, soured his judgment and his temperament.

Soon after the armistice, Adamson’s marriage disintegrated. He returned to Canada in March 1919, and spent much of the next decade visiting old friends in Ottawa and gambling in England.

Passchendaele New British Cemetery

The New British Cemetery made after the Armistice when graves brought in from the battlefields of Passchendaele and Langemarck. Almost all of the burials from the autumn of 1917.

The cemetery contains 2,101 burials and commemorations of the Great War. 1,600 of the graves unidentified with special memorials to seven casualties believed to be buried among them.

Special Memorials

Three of these special memorials honour Canadians. However, today, none of the special memorials recognize Major Talbot Mercer Papineau MC.

• Lieutenant William Douglas Aird, Canadian Machine Gun Corps, 26 October 1917. Son of Hugh and Florence E. Aird, of 810, Spadina Crescent, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
• Private Robert George McDougall 910973, Borden’s Motor Machine Gun Battery, 10 November 1917. Son of Mrs. R. McDougall, of Thessalon, Ontario.
• Lance Corporal Herbert Bickerdike 460909, 27th Battalion, 6 November 1917. Son of Moses and Mary Bickerdike, of 19, Hovingham Terrace, Harehills, Leeds, England.

Friendly Fire

Lance Corporal Bickerdike an unfortunate casualty of friendly fire.

Legacy of Talbot Mercer Papineau

The Great War led to a stronger, more self-reliant Canada with a broadened national outlook, as Papineau predicted. However, the Conscription Crisis of 1917 increased tension between English and French Canada. The creation of the Two Solitudes would have come as a crushing disappointment for Papineau.

In an early letter to Beatrice, Talbot appended lines from a poem by Octave Crémazie, the nineteenth century Quebec nationalist exiled, (or self-exiled) to France. The final lines:

Canada! quand sur ta rive . . .
Heureux qui peut passer sa vie
Toujours fidèle à te servir,
Et dans tes bras, mère chérie,
Peut rendre son dernier soupir.

Octave Crémazie

To Crémazie’s lines, Talbot Mercer Papineau added: I wonder if I shall be more fortunate than the unhappy author. He loved his Canada, but he did not love it more than I do.

Talbot Papineau In Film

Major Talbot Mercer Papineau portrayed by his fifth cousin, twice removed, then future Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s telefilm, The Great War. An account of Canada’s participation in the Great War, in which Papineau died during the Second Battle of Passchendaele.

The late Lieutenant-Colonel (Ret’d) Roman Jarymowycz, OMM, CD, Ph.D., and mentor of CEFRG, contributed to the CBC production.

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