Regimental History: "Billy's Own"

On 9 October 1915, the 49th boarded a channel steamer for the short trip to France. Corporal (later Lieutenant) Inar W. Anderson and his friends in "D" Company, who had spent the summer listening to the tales of recovering wounded from the 1st Division, were very excited. Indeed, as soon as they arrived in France, they began looking for signs of lice in their clothing as evidence that they were now real soldiers. Along with the 42nd from Montreal, a battalion that had trained alongside them at Shorncliffe and provided much of their sporting competition, the men of the 49th were the vanguard of the new 3rd Division. After two months getting used to the trenches, the two battalions were joined by the Royal Canadian Regiment, one of the pre-war permanent force regiments that had been doing garrison duty in Bermuda, and the PPCLI. The Patricias had been part of the British 27th Division and had lost about three quarters of their strength in the Ypres Salient in May. Offered replacement drafts mainly from McGill University, the PPCLI somewhat reluctantly agreed to transfer to the Canadian Corps.

The four battalions became the 7th Brigade just before Christmas and were placed under the command of Brigadier Archibald Cameron Macdonell, a former Mounted Policeman and veteran of the South African War. A tough old soldier of many eccentricities, "Batty Mack" became almost as popular with the 49th as Colonel Griesbach.

Until the rest of the 3rd Division was in place, the 49th got its introduction to trench warfare by spending time in the line with the experienced units of the 1st Division. Before the experience of the regiment during the three years it spent under fire can be understood, the strange world of the Western Front during the First World War must be examined in some detail.

Although battles, offensive or defensive, were obviously of central importance, they did not define the daily life of the trench soldier. Indeed, battles occupied relatively little of the time of the infantry battalion in the British army, of which the Canadian Corps formed a part. The routine of trench warfare during comparatively inactive periods depended upon the sector of the line occupied. Quiet areas existed where the ground was dry, the front lines were well separated, and neither side was anxious to disturb the status quo. Units that had been severely mauled could be sent to these sectors to recover, but Canadians only infrequently received such respites. By late 1915, they were already emerging as one of the elite forces of the British army and were usually to be found close to the centre of the action.

Out in front of the first trench line were barbed wire entanglements with carefully designed lanes to funnel attackers into areas covered by pre-sighted machine gun fire. Forward saps led out into no man's land to listening posts whose occupants could give warning of enemy attack.

About 50 or 60 metres behind the fire trench and connected to it by communication trenches was the support trench. This area was less exposed to enemy fire and usually had a number of larger dugouts to house essential services such as battalion and company headquarters, telephones, the medical officer, and stores. Another 50 or so metres back was the reserve trench. Canadian practice was that for each brigade sector, two battalions would be assigned to the fire and support trenches, one to the reserve trench and the fourth farther back in divisional reserve. This meant that, on average, in a given month, a battalion would spend about four days in the front line, four in support, eight in reserve, and the balance of the month out of the line "resting." The elaborate trench system required constant labour to keep it up even when enemy shelling did not destroy parts of it. Troops in the line or on reserve spent much of their time at night working to keep the trenches reasonably secure and livable. Daytime work was out of the question since it attracted enemy fire.

Not surprisingly, the 49th found that most of their introduction to the war consisted of providing working parties to assist the units in line. As described by "L.E.R." in the fourth issue of The Forty-Niner, this meant marching in the rain and darkness of the oncoming winter until the party reached the wagons with the planks, sandbags, and other materials needed for the work. These supplies were carried forward to the trenches and put to use under working conditions that were beyond difficult.

Imagine a country that man has done his worst to make muddy, couple this with abysmal darkness, caved-in trenches, and any device the reader's own imagination can supply, and then you have no idea what it is like. Add to this the bright star-lights [star shells] that only help accentuate the darkness, the ping-ping-ping of machine gun bullets as they fly by, and then you have a fair idea of what it might be like.

There was a certain amount of the normal kind of grumbling about this work; "Some of us, no doubt, wonder how a certain division got trenches dug or repaired, barbed-wire entanglements built, and any of the hundred and one 'jobs' done that are apparently so important a part of modern warfare, before 'Ours' arrived on the scene." Nonetheless, the members of the 49th accepted it as part of their war.

Undoubtedly, soldiers more easily accepted the discomforts of working parties after the first few 48-hour tours in the forward trenches. Even in quiet sectors, the strain of being in line was intense. Random enemy shelling, mortar rounds, and snipers took a constant toll; death or wounds could come at any moment without warning. In a three-day front line tour in March of 1916, during which neither side attempted any offensive or defensive moves, the 49th lost 8 dead and 31 wounded. Those who escaped death or injury lived, at best, a life of little or no sleep and cold food. Washing or changing clothes was out of the question and several days with wet feet could result in "trench foot," an affliction that could disable a soldier as surely as a shrapnel wound.

The only readily available front line comfort was the daily issue of rum (SRD-Service Rum Diluted in army parlance) that was served out after the dawn stand-to. Although not all Canadians approved-Sam Hughes was a passionate teetotaller who tried to keep the army dry and Prohibition was sweeping the country back home-but the soldiers saw the ration of liquor as a lifesaver.
Some of us turned that first rum ration down. Fewer of us turned it down twice; fewer still turned it down three times and almost none of us turned it down four times. So far as I know, none of us turned it down for a week. Shortly it was difficult to wait for rum ration time to come around. How that hot stuff did warm you up. You could feel it right from the tip of your tongue to the tip of your shoes.

When the brigade moved out of line and into rest, they were generally billeted with French civilians. If the soldiers were lucky, they were billeted in houses, but the less fortunate were often housed in barns. Rest meant a bath and relatively clean uniforms, "...not anything like as lousy as the ones we turned in," as one 49th diarist commented. It meant a few days relief from the threat of being shot, shelled, or gassed. Civilian food and wine was usually to be had in an estaminet. Concerts were organized at every opportunity, and even the occasional movie was shown. When the weather was good, sports would resume, usually against teams from the other regiments in the brigade. Baseball, football, and track and field were the favourite activities. The 49th won more of these contests than they lost, perhaps because the professional baseball player "Deacon" White was now a corporal in the regiment and available as a coach.

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