Canal Reserve Camp

[Guest Bill Price]

Can anyone help with the location of a reserve area called Canal Reserve Camp, and its geographical relation to Zillebeke? I am researching the last days of Charles Harold Mason, from our village (Naramata, British Columbia). Mason transfered from the 1st Canadian Pioneers to The Queens Royal West Surrey Regiment, reporting to the Queens on July 5th/17. Their war diaries for that date (see queensroyalsurries.org.uk) state that they moved into Canal Reserve Camp, followed by "H27.b.2.6". They were to replace the 25th Kings (Liverpool), somewhere east of Zillebeke, the next day. The diaries state that Mason was killed "on the road to the trenches" on the 6th.

I am not an experieced researcher, & have no access to resource material, so would appreciate any information on Canal Reserve Camp, or where Mason might have been at the time of his death.

As an incidental question, the War Graves Commission has Mason KIA on the 7th, while the diaries clearly notes him killed on the 6th. Is there some expalnation for this.

Thank you

.

[towisuk]

Welcome to the forum, I hope this may be of help Bill....

regards

Tom

All maps taken from the linesman package.......Red flag on the left Shows Canal reserve camp, Red flag on the right, Zillebeke....

Tom

[Guest Bill Price]

Appreciated, Tom, thank you. The larger map is too blurry to clearly identify locations/place names, but gives me a very good idea. A question for you (or anyone). If I assume that (a) Canal Reserve Camp was out of range of enemy guns, ( troop movement between Dikkebusch and Zllebeke would take about two hours, © the trenches would start immediately to the East of Zillebeke. If so, then when the Queens diaries state Mason was killed "on the road to the trenches" is it possible to speculate on the location/area of road/distance to Zillebeke within which Mason was killed? Put more simply, can one make a reasonable guess about where Mason most likely was when he was killed? Thanks

[towisuk]

Hi Bill, I've attached a portion of trench map dated 3/6/17 which is a month before your man was killed. What it doesn't show is the communication trenches, temporary roads etc up to the front line trenches, the Germans would have been shelling these on occasions to make it difficult for the re-supply/rotation of troops in the front line.

So if he was killed on his way up to the front my guess, and its only a guess, is that he was killed by shellfire.

As for the discrepancy in the dates, I'm sorry I can't help you with that one, there will be someone else here on the forum who may be able to give an answer to that query...

Tom