Following Grandfather's Footsteps

The Canadians were not involved in the disastrous first day of the Somme Battle, 01 Jul 1916, they were in the Ypres Salient, recovering from their heavy casualties suffered at the Battle of Mont Sorrel, 2-16 Jun 1916. My Grandfather was part of the draft of 150 replacement soldiers who augmented the understrength 58th Battalion.

There is a separate post on my Grandfather William Johnston, but to recap he lied about his age and joined up in Nov 1915 at the age of 16, so was 17 when he joined the 58th Battalion in Jun 1916. The unit was not in a major conflict until the 3 Canadian Divisions moved to the Somme to take part in the new offensive in Sep 1916 with the push to take Courcelette.

Many people think the battle of the Somme was a one-day action, due to the heavy losses. The British suffered nearly 60,000 casualties with 20,000 killed on 1 Jul. In fact, the battle lasted 4 months, only ended by the bad weather and impossible fighting conditions on 19 Nov. During this period, the British Commonwealth suffered 420,000 casualties, the French over 200,000 and the Germans at least 450,000. The Canadians suffered 24,000 casualties despite only joining the battle on 15 Sep.

Battle of the Somme Timelines

The Battle of Flers-Courcelette began on 15 September 1916, with the 2nd and 3rd Canadian Divisions participating in the attack. The Battle was part of the Somme offensive during the First World War and the first since 01 July. It resulted in thousands of battlefield casualties, but also signalled the start of new thinking in military tactics that would eventually solve the riddle of the Battle of Courcelette as well as the creeping artillery barrage.

Battle of Flers-Courcelette

The Canadians went into battle with the latest attempt to break the trench deadlock: the tank. Six “land cruisers,” as they were then called, entered into history’s first major tank battle at Courcelette (an additional tank was kept in reserve). Although slow, plodding and difficult to move, the large and imposing tanks were an effective psychological weapon against the Germans. Each tank was run by an officer and seven men. Also assigned to each tank were five infantrymen tasked with the removal of casualties ahead of the vehicle.

On 15 September, the Canadians launched an attack on German lines to capture the ruined remains of the small village of Courcelette. Rather than wait for their army’s artillery bombardment to end before charging across no man’s land and into enemy guns, the Canadians walked behind a “creeping” artillery barrage that steadily advanced across German lines — keeping enemy soldiers in their dugouts — until the Canadians were on top of enemy lines and ready to fight.

September 16 dawned clear and cool with a wind from the northwest. The unit expected an order to move that morning, but nothing happened until 12:10 P.M., when it moved to the Chalk Pit near Contalmaison to wait for instructions. The operation order came from 9th Brigade Headquarters at 4:30 P.M. and placed the battalion in support of an attack by the 52nd and 60th Battalions on a line through to the Zollern Redoubt. They were to go into the attack after the 7th Brigade captured the Zollern Graben trench. After the initial successes of the first day, the advance slowed as the men grew tired, the enemy brought in reserves, and the artillery support became less effective. An attack by the 7th Brigade failed to achieve its objective, and the 9th Brigade dug in on a line north of the Sunken Road, only a short distance outside the village of Courcelette. Prior to the proposed attack, the battalion had become lost in the tangled web of trenches, hindered by poor guiding and a lack of time to allow for proper reconnaissance.

War Diary Entry for 16 September

Clear - N.W.Wind - Cool. Up early, expecting a move. Moved off at 12-10 p.m. destination CHALK PITS, operation order received from Brigade at 4-34 p.m. Our task is to support the attack by the 52nd and 60th on the line. R.28.d.57. - R.28b.42 - R28.b.57 and through to the ZOLLERN REDOUBT.

This attack was consequent on the 7th Bde. capturing ZOLLERN GRABEN. This was not done, and the operation was not carried out, owing to insufficient time for reconnoitring and bad guiding, the Battalion was lost for a time but eventually got its bearings and dug into N. of SUNKEN ROAD. As consequence of heavy artillery pounding, casualties were considerable though not as bad as the two other Battalions. This was when Bill was wounded.

The following picture was taken during the Battle of Courcelette. Although there is no evidence, my sister Dale and I claim that the soldier on the right is Grandfather William Johnston. He was wounded in the left upper arm like the guy in the photo, so it must be him!

We were able to find their location and walk the track along their line. The blue line shows their front, and the GPS location was taken by me along the track, so we were in the exact position Bill would have been when he was wounded. A very emotional moment to be in the same location 107 years after the fact. Bill was wounded in the left upper arm. A few inches to the right and there would be no one to tell the story.

The view from that spot shows Courcelette where the 3 trees are sticking up. Regina Trench Cemetery is in the tree line on the left.

This is the track we walked that represented the Battalion location.

Walking the line was much less hazardous than it was back in the day. The only thing we had to contend with was a giant potato picker who wanted to walk the same path as me.

Walking the fields is an amazing experience. It is impossible to adequately photograph the ground, but the gently rolling fields show the vital importance of high ground, as the visibility is excellent, and makes it easy to defend a position as the attackers have to cover a great deal of exposed territory.

While walking the fields, my battlefield guide Vic strolled the plowed fields and found a few battle souvenirs.

He picked up a few items in a quick pass through the field, three shrapnel balls, and a fuse pipe from a shell.

All along the track there were shells picked up by the farmers as they plowed the field. There are teams of Explosive Ordnance Disposal personnel, who go around and collect the shells.

Shell with fuse pipe still attached.

After walking the fields, we went through Courcelette on our way to Regina Trench Cemetery. It took the Canadians another 2 months to capture Regina Trench.

Battalion Losses in the Battle of Courcelette to the end of the War

Status September October November War Totals

Killed 48 37 7 493

Wounded 180 165 15 2066

Shell Shock 18 5 3 90

Missing 19 110 4 264

Reinforcements 179 43 0 1425

The Courcelette British Cemetery is very close to the location that Bill was wounded, so we looked around to see if any of his comrades were killed the same day. There were 6 killed on 16 Sep, but they all have no known grave, and are commemorated on the Vimy Memorial.

Courcelette British Cemetery

There were 6 members of the 58th Battalion in the Courcelette British Cemetery all killed the 18 or 20 Sep.

I also visited Adanac Cemetery (Canada spelled backwards).

45 members of the 58th Battalion are buried here, all but one killed on 08 October in a failed attempt to take the Regina Trench.

A very tough (and not just because I set a battlefield tour step count), but rewarding day, to stand on the ground where my Grandfather had stood all those years ago.