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Tag: 47th Battalion

47th Battalion (British Columbia) organized in February 1915 under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel W N Winsby. Mobilized at New Westminster and recruited in New Westminster, Vancouver and Victoria. Drafts of 5 officers, 250 other ranks, 4 officers, 244 other ranks and 5 officers, 249 other ranks sent to England on 17 June, 24 June and 1 October 1915. Embarked from Montreal 13 November 1915 aboard MISSANABIE and later disembarked England 22 November 1915 with a strength of 36 officers, 1115 other ranks. Disembarked in France 10 August 1916. 4th Canadian Division, 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade and later reinforced by 24th Canadian Reserve Battalion.

Lieutenant-Colonel Humphrey Webb
47th Battalion officer (Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Humphrey MC DSO at left) giving his men advice in trenches. MIKAN No. 3520001

Returned to England 28 April 1919. Disembarked in Canada 4 June 1919. Demobilized 6 June 1919. Disbanded by General Order 149 of 15 September 1920. “Weekly Chronicle of the 47th Battalion” published for one year, beginning on 3 July 1915. Published a photographic record, 1914 – 1915. Brass, pipe and bugle bands. “Brigade march of the 56th French”. Colours presented by people of New Westminster. Deposited in armouries in 1919. Perpetuated by The Westminster Regiment.

  • Private Maurice Salt in the Great War

    Private Maurice Salt in the Great War

    Private Maurice Salt born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England on 11 July 1890. A single farmer residing in Enderby, B.C. He had a brother, George Moultrie Salt, of Grondrod, B.C. (Private Moultrie Salt 524571 of the CAMC). Parents Gerald C and Agnes M Salt of Cadboro Bay. Three sisters, Geraldine Elizabeth Little, Mara B.C., Katherine Montgomery Strougler, Enderby B.C., and Sybil Mary Gosnell, Enderby B.C.

    Cadboro Bay Hotel, (1912-13)

    Pte Maurice Salt 628578 enlisted 10 June 1915 at Vernon, B.C. A very tall man at 6′ 2″ tall with medium complexion, grey eyes and light brown hair. On 9 November 1915, George Moultrie Salt signed up with the CAMC in Vernon, B.C. George stood as tall as his brother Maurice. George served with No. 1 Canadian Field Ambulance.

    MKAN No. 3522496
    Corporal George George Moultrie Salt MM
    .C. and N.C.O.s, 1st Field Ambulance. January 1919. MKAN No. 3522496

    England

    Pvt Salt sailed to England on 13 November 1915. Treated for Rubella, 18-28 February 1916 at Aldershot.

    Platoon of the 47th Battalion, M-276, England

    Sgt V L Richmond and H R Harrison 628026 witnessed his will on 7 May 1916. Another three months however before he would travel overseas.

    France

    Private Maurice Salt travelled overseas on 11 August 1916.

    Lieutenant-Colonel Humphrey Webb
    47th Battalion officer (Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Humphrey MC DSO at left) giving his men advice in trenches. MIKAN No. 3520001

    Killed in Action

    Maurice’s service file has no less than three dates of death. Killed in action 29 March 1917, or 3 April or 10 April 1917.

    Vault opened by the Germans in the Churchyard at Misery, in search of metal, 29 March 1917.

    War Diary: Enemy wrought much destruction in front line tenches with Trench Mortars, High Explosives, enfilading from direction of Levin. Killed in action 687188, 628578 (Salt), 628060, 790658. Thirteen men wounded.

    Villers Station Cemetery

    CoD: Killed in action in trenches east of Souchez, 29 March 1917. Buried at Villers Station Cemetery.

    Villers Station Cemetery, 24 April 2015, CEFRG.ca

    GRRF: Plot VI, Row G, Grave 13 Villers Station Cemetery. Cemetery register sent to family on 17 December 1925.

    Corporal George Moultrie Salt MM

    Maurice’s brother Corporal George Moultrie Salt MM died 1 October 1969 at Shaughnessy Hospital, Vancouver.

    Would be wonderful if someone on the ground near Villers could help this great-great-nephew of Private Maurice Salt.

    “My great great uncle is there. I don’t think anyone has ever visited his grave in a hundred years. His name is Maurice Salt and was 24-year-old when he was killed in Action on March 29, 1917. He volunteered for the Canadian Expeditionary Force and was enlisted June 10, 1915, in Vernon, BC. . He served with the 47th Battalion Regimental Number: 628578. Plot VI, Row G, Grave 13. If anyone lives near there I will pay you for a couple photos of his grave. Sadly I will never be able to go there due to illness.” – www.youtube.com/@quivalla

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