Deseronto Archives

On this day in 1917, Edmund Vincent McNeill was killed in action in the trenches west of Fresnoy in France. German forces retook the village of Fresnoy on May 8th during the Battle of Arras. The war diary of the 19th Battalion describes the attack and the unit’s withdrawal (page 1, page 2, page 3). On the day following the attack, the men of the four companies of the 19th Battalion were re-formed into two companies.

McNeill’s body was never found. He is commemorated on the Vimy memorial and in Deseronto.

William Pinn was killed in the same attack on Fresnoy as Richard Brant.

As was the case with Richard Brant, William’s body was not recovered after the attack. He is commemorated at Vimy and on Deseronto’s war memorial (as William Penn).

Richard Brant was killed on this day in 1917 at the Third Battle of the Scarpe in France. The extract below from the 2nd Battalion’s war diary shows the orders issued to the Battalion on May 1st, planning the attack on the village of Fresnoy in which Brant died.

Brant’s body was not recovered after the attack. He is commemorated at Vimy and on Deseronto’s war memorial.

George Mark Maracle (who enlisted under the name Hill) was killed on this day in 1917 in the trenches near Bois de la Ville during the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

His body was not recovered. He is remembered on the Vimy memorial and in Deseronto. A letter of condolence was sent to his mother, Annie Maracle, in Point Anne on June 14th, 1917.

On this day in 1917, David Green died of wounds received when he was serving with the 1st Battalion at the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

Green was buried in the Lapugnoy Military Cemetery in France.

He is also remembered on the Deseronto war memorial.

On this day in 1917 Frank Bardy was killed by shell fire at the Battle of Vimy Ridge, while serving with the 27th Battalion.

Frank’s grave was reported to be at Roclincourt, but it was not marked. He is remembered on the Vimy memorial.

 

On this day in 1917, Harold McAfee died of pneumonia at Queen Mary’s Royal Naval Hospital in Southend, Essex, England. The hospital was a wartime conversion of the Palace Hotel building in Southend.

McAfee was buried in the Sutton Road Cemetery in Southend.

The Chaplain of the York Road Wesleyan Methodist Church in Southend wrote a letter to Mrs McAfee, a copy of which was donated to the Deseronto Archives: 

March 16th, 1917

Dear Mrs. McAfee:-

I have this morning officiated at the interment of your son Harold, who as you will have been informed passed away on Sunday last at Queen Mary’s Hospital here. he was interred as a Methodist and hence I was able to see him in the Hospital and asked to conduct his funeral. I had a chat with him some two weeks ago, when he spoke to me of home and you. At that time his illness was not regarded as serious. The Anglican Chaplain who lives close to the hospital was called in on Sunday and I believe will be writing to you direct. But I understand that Harold received the Lord’s supper on Sunday, gratefully and humbly; and that he died trusting in his Saviour. All of us who are connected with the hospital feel very deeply for you and the rest of his family. One young Canadian soldier who told me he was Harold’s nephew and was present at the grave-side. From him you will also probably hear. All that could be done, was done for him, the hospital is a lovely place, and the nursing staff, kindness itself. The funeral was a military one, the body being carried on a gun carriage with the old flag over it, and a lovely wreath from the hospital. A body of troops followed and the salute was fired over the grave; and the last post sounded by the buglers. With deep sympathy believe me

Yours very sincerely

Arthur S. Lyne

Wesleyan Methodist Chaplain

He is also remembered on the Deseronto war memorial.

 

And on the cenotaph in Napanee.

James Nelson Barnhardt had enlisted in Midland on February 5th, 1916. He had been transferred to the 1st Battalion and was serving with them in France when he died as the result of being accidentally wounded:

“Died of Wounds” (Gunshot Wound Chest, Accidental)
Private Barnhardt was wounded by a bullet from the rifle of a comrade, who discharged his rifle accidentally while cleaning it. He was evacuated to No.22 Casualty Clearing Station where he died two days later.

Barnhardt was buried in the Bruay Communal Cemetery Extension.

He is also remembered on the Deseronto memorial.

On this day in 1917 Wheeler Maracle was reported missing and later presumed to have died in a military operation of the 50th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force at Vimy Ridge. The unit’s war diary describes the twenty-minute engagement and notes that five men were missing after the action.

VOLUME VII WAR DIARY 50th CANADIAN INFANTRY

VIMY RIDGE EAST OF SOUCHEZ
1917, 3 Feby

TIME SHOW COMMENCED
9PM. with intense bombardment on enemys front line
Raiding Parties reached enemys front line at 9.04PM.
Barrage lifted to enemys second line at 9.04PM.

RESULTS
Each party successful in their allotted task.
Estimated number of enemy killed & wounded 100
Number of prisoners brought in 7

CASUALTIES
1 officer (LIEUT W.L. COOK) missing believed killed. 4 other ranks missing believed killed. 1 other rank killed. 3 officers (LIEUTS A.S. MACULLOCH, A.M. SUTHERLAND and S.A. MOORE) wounded and 34 other ranks wounded

ENEMYS WORKS DESTROYED
Approximately 24 Dug outs, 8 Sniper posts, 5 Machine Gun emplacements, 2 Saps, 2 trench junctions and one mineshafts

INTELLIGENCE
During whole operation enemy shelled his own front line.
Identifications showed that the 16th & 17th Bavarians were opposing.

TOTAL DURATION OF OPERATIONS.
Twenty minutes

Wheeler’s body was not recovered: he is remembered on the Vimy Memorial and in Deseronto.

On this day in 1917 Ross Markle was killed during the Calonne trench raid near Bully-Grenay in France. The war diary of the 20th Battalion describes this operation, in which 27 men from the unit died: page 1; page 2; page 3; page 4.You can read more about this raid in this article by Andrew B. Godefroy. Ross Markle’s older brother, Andrew, survived the battle.

Ross was buried in the Maroc British Cemetery in Grenay.