Terry Posted 24 October , 2004 Share Posted 24 October , 2004 For those Pals who also take part in the CEF Forum, forgive me but I thought I would mention a CEF pair to the members of this forum. I recently received the service file for 760126 Pte. Frank J. Humphrey, 7th Bn.,CEF, whose medal pair I had won on ebay some time ago. His story was fairly typical of those young men who had enlisted and served in 1914-18. He had enlisted in the 121st Bn. on 1 Dec.,1915 at New Westminster,BC, and had eventually reached the 7th Bn in the field. The key battle of his military life was Vimy Ridge. The 7th took an active part in the fighting. Currie's 1st Division was on the right of the line of the Canadian Corps and had been assigned the longest advance - 4,000 yards to the objective of Farbus Wood. Humphrey and his unit were in the first wave, and lost heavily (364 all ranks killed or wounded). Frank Humphrey was hit and fell into the mud. He had received wounds to both thighs and his left hand. He lay where he had fallen, eventually being found and in the words of the medical report, "Foot was buried in mud and water for 10 1/2 hours after he was wounded and before he was carried in." He had multiple small penetrating wounds and to make matters worse, had trench foot. Moved back to No.13 General Hospital at Boulogne, he was then transferred to England on 14 April, five days after the battle. Over the next months he gradually recovered, but he was eventually deemed to be unfit for further service. Humphrey returned to Canada in March,1918 and was discharged on 3 August of that year. The story of one private soldier - no medals for bravery, no daring escape, no service of special merit - just another young man doing his duty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 24 October , 2004 Share Posted 24 October , 2004 Ordinary medals , maybe, but no one can tell me this man wasn't a hero. I sincerely hope his remaining years were peaceful and fulfilling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Robertson Posted 24 October , 2004 Share Posted 24 October , 2004 An amazing generation. Thanks for sharing that Terry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenwoodman Posted 24 October , 2004 Share Posted 24 October , 2004 I don't think there's anything ordinary about them, Terry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harribobs Posted 24 October , 2004 Share Posted 24 October , 2004 well remembered Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john w. Posted 24 October , 2004 Share Posted 24 October , 2004 A good tale and one that cannot be seen by the two medals... there will be loads of them like that... all waiting to be heard John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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