4th Machine Gun Coy C.E.F.

[Guest gen_wizard]

Hi Pals,

A niece of my girlfriend is looking for imformation on the unit history of the 4th Machine gun Coy C.E.F. anything from 1915-July 1916. She is looking in particular for Charles Edward Hoyle who died 30th June 1916. According to the Unit war diary they were on Vickers trainning and building a bath for the men in the line. He is down for killed in action on this day but there is no mention of the Coy being in action on that day and no reported casualties. Is this unusal for it not to be mentioned? Could he of been attached to another Coy? Any help would be of great value to her.

Regards

Mike

[mordac]

Hi Mike:

You're right, the 4th Machine Gun Company's war diary is a little sparse. I checked a couple of the other Machine Gun Company diaries and they're not much better.

171127 Pte. Charles Edward Hoyle is listed as KIA, so you can discount an accidental death. The best bet is he died as a result of artillery fire. The only way to find out for sure is to order his service records from the National Archives of Canada and get a copy of his Circumstance of Death file.

As for Canadian Machine Gun histories, I'm only aware of three that were published:

The Canadian "Emma Gees" A History Of The Canadian Machine Gun Corps by C. S. Grafton (Borden Battery has posted a link to this book on the web here)

1st Canadian Motor Machine Gun Brigade Dad, the Motors And The Fifth Army Show by Alex Lynch

The Emma Gees by Herbert W. McBride

Garth

[Guest gen_wizard]

Hi Garath,

Thanks for your reply. I'm a little confused here, if they were building baths for the men in the front line how far would they be back from the front line? I thought all baths were well back from the front as in back at the billets where they rest.

I'll try to get hold of those books so that i can read up on the 4th Coy, they may shed some light on this mystery for me.

Can you email me you snail mail addy as i need to get something to you? My friend has got it all ready for you.

Regards

Mike

[Borden Battery]

Here is an excerpt from 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, which may provide you with some additional information:

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On the 14th [1916]the Canadian Corps played host to King George V and the Prince of

Wales. While the royal visitors looked on from Scherpenberg Hill, near Kemmel, 6-inch

howitzers of the Corps Heavy Artillery and field guns of the 2nd Divisional Artillery and a

Belgian unit under command of the 3rd Divisional Artillery bombarded the St. Eloi craters.

Four days later Canada's Minister of Militia and Defence, Sir Sam Hughes, visited Corps

Headquarters and the 3rd Division.

As units withdrew into reserve the emphasis was on more advanced training, with

new techniques being practised. Demonstrations in artillery-infantry cooperation showed

how closely the barrage could be followed without incurring unnecessary casualties. This

was the period when cooperation between the air and infantry at last reached a practical

stage. There were exercises with the Royal Flying Corps* based on the newly adopted

system of "contact patrol". The attacking infantry carried flares, mirrors and special

signalling panels, and as they advanced they signalled their positions to aircraft assigned

solely to tactical observation. The information thus received was then dropped at

formation headquarters or sent back by wireless.

A worthwhile administrative development about this time provided for a supply of

reinforcements to be held in close proximity to the fighting units, besides giving

reinforcements a less abrupt introduction into active operations. Hitherto replacements for

Canadian field units had arrived direct from the Base Depot at Le Havre. Early in August,

however, each division was allotted an "Entrenching Battalion"-an advanced reinforcement

unit to which infantry and engineer reinforcements were posted pending their assignment

to a battalion or field company. During their stay in the Entrenching Battalion personnel

were employed in the construction and repair of trenches and roads and in similar

maintenance duties. When the 4th Division reached the Corps area in mid-August it

followed the pattern set by the 1st Division in attaching its brigades to a division in the line

for seven days' training in trench warfare. There was special emphasis on instruction in

anti-gas measures, and each battalion of the 4th Division was put through a gas cloud.

After the Corps moved from Flanders to the Somme all formations and units

adopted identifying patches. A rectangular patch, sewn on the upper sleeve, denoted the

division by its colour-red for the 1st Division, dark blue for the 2nd, black (later changed to

French grey) for the 3rd and green for the 4th. It was surmounted by a smaller patch the

colour of which indicated the wearer's brigade (in order in each division, green, red, blue),

and the shape (circle, semi-circle, triangle or square) his battalion (first, second, third or

fourth) within the brigade. Divisional troops wore the divisional patch only or markings

peculiar to their particular service.

[GrandsonMichael]

Thanks for reviving this thread after 13 months!

Cheers,

Michael