Borden Battery
Registered user
Global user
Registered: 10-2005
Posts: 10
Karma: 0 (+0/-0)
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Private Richard William Mercer (911016), C.E.F
Research on Private Richard William Mercer (911016), C.E.F., Great War
Researching the background, movements, typical daily activities and battle actions of my late Grandfather (Pte. R. W. Mercer - 911016) in the Borden Motor Machine Gun Battery, later known as (C-Battery) of the 1st Canadian Motor Machine Gun Brigade from March 1917 until December 1918. In December 1918, he transferred to the 2nd Canadian Motor Machine Gun Brigade while undertaking occupation duties in the Bonn area of Germany until returning to Canada in May 1919.
At present I am documenting and transcribing battery and brigade war diaries of the 1st Canadian Motor Machine Brigade and the Borden Motor Machine Gun Battery within the Brigade. I have a secondary interest in the Yukon Battery within the Brigade.
The purpose of this query is to establish "new threads" of email contacts to both expand the personal research work. In return, I am prepared to freely share referenced material that I have accumulated. Wherever possible, I want referenced data. Respond if you have a direct interest or forward to a researcher involved in any of the following:
1) "B" Company (Coy). 196th Western Universities O.S. Battalion (O.S.), Canadian Expeditionary Force (C.E.F) formed at the University of Saskatchewan in April 1916. There were four (4) companies in the Battalion [U of Manitoba - A Coy., U of Sask. - B Coy., U of Alberta - C Coy. and UBC - D Coy]. I have a good copy of the B- Company photograph in front of the new tindal stone Admin. Building. This will be preserved and copied to share with interested parties. Seeking more info on this Company and the Battalion from its formation until disbanded in England into the 19th Reserve Battalion on 31 Dec. 1917;
2) Typical train schedules and any info on special troop trains across the Prairies in 1916 with a further interest in the movement of special troop trains to Halifax in late Oct and early Nov 1916;
3) More info on Camp Hughes (formerly Camp Sewell) near Brandon (Carberry), Manitoba (not to be confused with Camp Shilo). I have published photo album of most of the Battalions from 1916 including the 196th Battalion. I would specifically like to obtain details on the training regime with specific interest in the utilization of the battalion-sized trench system (still in existence) that was used for realistic situation training.);
4) Background info on in Military District 10 (Manitoba and NW Ontario) based out of Winnipeg for the 1914-1919 period. Both recruitment and demobilization activities;
5) Any details on the typical handling of troop trains at Halifax and details on a specific ship listed at S.S. Southland which transported the 196th Battalion from Halifax to Liverpool between 1-15 Nov 1916;
6) Movement and typical training activities, battalion training/war diary activities of the 196th Battalion in England during the 15 November to 31 December 1916 period;
7) Details on the operation of the Brighton Isolation Hospital in Nov-Dec 1916;
8.) At CAMP SEAFORD, SUSSEX, England, Private R. W. Mercer (911016) under Part 2 Orders was taken On Strength [TOS] by 19th Reserve Battalion by Major Rasmussen. I am interested in any detailed info on the training of the Canadian troops, the disbanding of the various recruitment battalions from western Canada and the activities of the 19th Reserve Battalion - especially between 1 January 1917 and 1 April 1917;
9) Private R. W. Mercer (911016) transferred from 19th Reserve Battalion to Machine Gun Depot by Major Rasmussen at SEAFORD, England. Seeking more information on the selection process of the Machine Gun Depot, confirmation it was also at Camp Seaford and Camp Crowbourgh, and specific details on the training regime at these bases. I have a copy of a 1951 Vickers Machine Gun training outline;
10) Details and information on the Machine Gun Depot/training school and typical training regimes at both Etaples and Canmiers, France between 1917-1918;
11) Research on brigade and battery movements, orders of battle and battle actions and 1CMMGB [specific interest in the Borden Battery] regarding: Battle of Hill 70, Battle of Passchendaele [October-November 1917], the actions of the 1st Canadian Motor Machine Gun Brigade at Villers-Bretonneaux (Ludendorff Offensive) with interactions with British/Australian units and the Last One Hundred Days progressing from the Battle of Amiens, the Drocourt-Queant Line, Canal du Nord and the Marquoin Line with Brutinels's Brigade - Canadian Independent Force and the final push to Valenciennes and Mons. In addition, the post-Armistice movement to the Rhine and occupational force duties until returning to Camp Seaford in the spring of 1919.
12) The personal letters of Private Richard William Mercer (911016) of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, Borden Motor Machine Gun Battery of the 1st Canadian Motor Machine Gun Brigade.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~brett/cmgc/rwm_letters.html
13) The out of copyright book entitled "The Canadian Emma Gees" which documents the history of actions of Canadian machine gunners [Emma Gees] has been transcribed and placed on the same New Zealand based website. The objective of this exercise was to protect existing original books from loss or damage and to make the material available to researchers outside major centres.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~brett/cmgc/emmagees/mgcov.html
14) Any information pertaining to trench maps, barrage maps, movement maps, hospital and casualty clearing stations for the Canadian Expeditionary Force between 1916 and 1919.
15) Recommended Reading List on the Canadian Expeditionary Force
Marching to Armageddon - Canada and the Great War 1914-1919
Desmond Morton and J. L. Granatstein, Lester & Orpen Dennys, (1989)
- provides a good initial overview of the conflict from a CEF perspective
When Your Numbers Up - The Canadian Soldier in the First World War
Desmond Morton, Random House of Canada (1993)
- details training and life of a typical Canadian soldier
The Journal of Private Fraser - Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914-1918
CEF Books, Edited by Reginald Roy, (1998)
- excellent, observant, personal journal on one man's direct experiences
Barker VC - William Barker, Canada's Most Decorated War Hero
Wayne Ralph, Doubleday Canada (1997)
- Canada tends not to honour any war hero - Barker included
Vimy
Pierre Berton, McClelland and Steward, (1986)
- a classic, easy-read of one of the pivotal battles of the Canadian Corps
No Place to Run - The Canadian Corps and Gas Warfare in the First World War
Tim Cook, UBC Press (1999)
- documents poison gas by and on the CEF - will become a classic reference text
Shock Army of the British Empire - The Canadian Corps in the Last 100 Days
Shane B. Schreiber, Vanwell Publishing Ltd. (2004/1997)
- a well written account by an active Canadian military officer of the Corps and reasons for its success
Canada's Army, Waging War and Keeping the Peace
J. L. Granatstein, Univ. of Toronto Press (2002)
- sound overview of many conflicts including the Great War
Paris 1919
Margaret MacMillan, Random House, (2003)
- very well written with a great deal of information packed into it
Passchendaele - The Sacrificial Ground
Nigel Steel and Peter Hart, Cassel Military Paperbacks (2000)
- an extended series of personal accounts of the true horror of this battle
Official History of the Canadian Army in the First World War - Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919, Colonel G. W. L. Nicholson, C.D., Army Historical Section
[Note: Can be downloaded as a .pdf file and used for key-word searches. However, the pagination in the online document is different than the original document - therefore citations with page number references cannot be used.]
http://www.forces.gc.ca/hr/dhh/downloads/Official_Histories/CEF_e.PDF
The Canadian "Emma Gees - A History of the Canadian Machine Gun Corps
Lt.-Col. C. S. Grafton, The Canadian Machine Gun Corps Association, London, Ontario, 1938
- of specific interest to students of the Canadian Machine Gun Corps
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~b...c_contents.html
Library and Archives Canada
Online source of both personal attestation papers and growing database of CEF war diaries. One can do on-line research of both a specific soldier and access a growing digital database of scanned war diaries and appendices.
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/war-military/index-e.html
CEF Study Group website
This website is a spin-off of the informal "Canadian Pals" group that formed on the Great War Forum in England but dedicated to the research and study of the British Expeditionary Force. While the material on the site is still limited, this also presents the opportunity to contribute information and influence its development.
The website URL is as follows: http://www.cefresearch.com/phpBB2/index.php
|
