Canadian Army

[Game pat]

I am trying to trace any information for my Great Uncle, Thomas Arthur Game, Born 1891 Newmarket, Cambridge, I have the following information

1st Depot Battalion lst B.C. Reg. C.E.F VANCOUVER B.C. his Regimental Number was 2021874, he was soon on route to the UK then France

I would like to know where he served, I do know from family that he was wounded, but this is all the information which I have, can anyone help with where in France they were?

Thanks Pat

[Scalyback]

http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/first-world-war-1914-1918-cef/Pages/canadian-expeditionary-force.aspx#d

[johnboy]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_infantry_battalions_in_the_Canadian_Expeditionary_Force

Not sure if it helps. Seems to show 1st Btn as Mounted Rifles?

[Waggoner]

His Attestation Paper is here - http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/first-world-war-1914-1918-cef/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=407772. His service file is being digitized and should be available some time soon. That will provide you with all the details you are looking for. Interesting that he enlisted through the British-Canadian Recruiting Mission.ll

All the best,

Gary

[Al C]

Pat,

The 1st Depot Bn British Columbia Reg't was organized under the command of Lt. Col. H. St. J. Montizambert as a recruiting and training unit in Vancouver, British Columbia authourization was published in Canadian General Order 89 dated 1 September 1917. The battalion did not serve at the front; men were sent in drafts of 250 - 1000 to Montreal, Quebec City or Halifax or Sydney, N. S. for transport to England. On arrival , they were TOS the 1st Canadian Reserve Battalion at Seaford from which they were usually sent to one of the, 7th, 29th, or 72nd battalions. Individual men might have transfered to any of a number of other units, so the only way to know for sure which unit a man served with at the front is to obtain his service file. Library and Archives Canada are in the process of digitizing service files and many are temporarily unavailable for copying. If you can wait the files will eventually be available online free of charge.

Thomas Game's attestation papers show he reported Feb 26, 1918; since he would have then undergone a mininimum of 6 weeks training, he could have sailed for England in one of the following drafts

1st Depot Bn BC Regt which sailed on Ajana 16/05/1918 ex Halifax arriving Liverpool 27/05/1918; plus 30 days quarantine, means the earliest available for transfer to F&F would be 30 June 1918 +/- a bit

Since you indicate he did reach F&F then these later possible sailings are improbable

1st Depot Bn BC Regt 82nd Draft which sailed on Atreus 14/08/1918 ex Sydney, Nova Scotia, arrival date and port unknown, but usual travel time of 10 days puts arrival not before 24 08/1918 so not available unitil the end of September

1st Depot Bn BC Regt 105th Draft whiich also sailed on Atreus 14/08/1918 ex Sydney arrival date and port unknown, but usual travel time of 10 days puts arrival not before 24 08/1918 so not available unitil the end of September; or finally

1st Depot Bn BC Regt 167th Draft which sailed on the City of Cairo 28/09/1918 ex Quebec arriving Devonport 09/10/1918, this one is very unlikely as they weren't out of quarantine until well into the last week of October, this particular sailing had many many victims of flu.

War Diaries for the 1st Depot Battalion BC Reg't can be found here at these pages
May 1918 p 8 - 13
Jun 1918 p 13 - 17
Jul 1918 p 21 - 24
Aug 1918 p 30 - 35
Sep 1918 p 12 - 18
Oct 1918 p 14 - 18
Nov 1918 p 21 - 26
Dec 1918 p 24 - 29
Jan 1919 p 27 - 28

As mentioned he would then have been TOS the 1st Canadian Reserve Battalion at Seaford.

The 1st Canadian Reserve Battalion was organized at Shorncliffe on 4 January 1917 under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel J. H. D. Hulme;
authorization was published in Canadians Routine Order 271 of 20 January 1917. It was formed by absorbing 30th Canadian Reserve Battalion and 158th Battalion. and reinforced 7th and 29th Battalions.

On 8 March 1917, it moved to Seaford, and in addition to receiving reinforcements from Canada it absorbed the 24th Canadian Reserve Battalion on 20 May 1917 and the 16th Canadian Reserve Battalion and British Columbia Regimental Depot on 15 February 1918 by which time it reinforced the 47th and 72nd Battalions in addition to the 7th and 29th

War Diaries for the 1st Canadian Reserve Battalion are here

Thomas Game's Veterans death card is singularily uniformative.

His Death Certificate here does indicate he was buried in the Veterans Memorial Park, Surrey B.C. (now known as Victory Memorial Park) This cemetery is indexed on Find a Grave but he is not listed; so either the information on the Death Certificate is incorrect or the indexing incomplete or his remains moved in the interim.

Hope this helps

[Game pat]

His Attestation Paper is here - http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/first-world-war-1914-1918-cef/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=407772. His service file is being digitized and should be available some time soon. That will provide you with all the details you are looking for. Interesting that he enlisted through the British-Canadian Recruiting Mission.ll

All the best,

Gary

Hi Gary thanks for the info, question, why did you find it strange about British-Canadian Recruiting Mission.ll, I do know he was living in the USA.

Regards Pat

[Game pat]

pdf.pdf

Pat,

The 1st Depot Bn British Columbia Reg't was organized under the command of Lt. Col. H. St. J. Montizambert as a recruiting and training unit in Vancouver, British Columbia authourization was published in Canadian General Order 89 dated 1 September 1917. The battalion did not serve at the front; men were sent in drafts of 250 - 1000 to Montreal, Quebec City or Halifax or Sydney, N. S. for transport to England. On arrival , they were TOS the 1st Canadian Reserve Battalion at Seaford from which they were usually sent to one of the, 7th, 29th, or 72nd battalions. Individual men might have transfered to any of a number of other units, so the only way to know for sure which unit a man served with at the front is to obtain his service file. Library and Archives Canada are in the process of digitizing service files and many are temporarily unavailable for copying. If you can wait the files will eventually be available online free of charge.

Thomas Game's attestation papers show he reported Feb 26, 1918; since he would have then undergone a mininimum of 6 weeks training, he could have sailed for England in one of the following drafts

1st Depot Bn BC Regt which sailed on Ajana 16/05/1918 ex Halifax arriving Liverpool 27/05/1918; plus 30 days quarantine, means the earliest available for transfer to F&F would be 30 June 1918 +/- a bit

Since you indicate he did reach F&F then these later possible sailings are improbable

1st Depot Bn BC Regt 82nd Draft which sailed on Atreus 14/08/1918 ex Sydney, Nova Scotia, arrival date and port unknown, but usual travel time of 10 days puts arrival not before 24 08/1918 so not available unitil the end of September

1st Depot Bn BC Regt 105th Draft whiich also sailed on Atreus 14/08/1918 ex Sydney arrival date and port unknown, but usual travel time of 10 days puts arrival not before 24 08/1918 so not available unitil the end of September; or finally

1st Depot Bn BC Regt 167th Draft which sailed on the City of Cairo 28/09/1918 ex Quebec arriving Devonport 09/10/1918, this one is very unlikely as they weren't out of quarantine until well into the last week of October, this particular sailing had many many victims of flu.

War Diaries for the 1st Depot Battalion BC Reg't can be found here at these pages
May 1918 p 8 - 13
Jun 1918 p 13 - 17
Jul 1918 p 21 - 24
Aug 1918 p 30 - 35
Sep 1918 p 12 - 18
Oct 1918 p 14 - 18
Nov 1918 p 21 - 26
Dec 1918 p 24 - 29
Jan 1919 p 27 - 28

As mentioned he would then have been TOS the 1st Canadian Reserve Battalion at Seaford.

The 1st Canadian Reserve Battalion was organized at Shorncliffe on 4 January 1917 under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel J. H. D. Hulme;
authorization was published in Canadians Routine Order 271 of 20 January 1917. It was formed by absorbing 30th Canadian Reserve Battalion and 158th Battalion. and reinforced 7th and 29th Battalions.

On 8 March 1917, it moved to Seaford, and in addition to receiving reinforcements from Canada it absorbed the 24th Canadian Reserve Battalion on 20 May 1917 and the 16th Canadian Reserve Battalion and British Columbia Regimental Depot on 15 February 1918 by which time it reinforced the 47th and 72nd Battalions in addition to the 7th and 29th

War Diaries for the 1st Canadian Reserve Battalion are here

Thomas Game's Veterans death card is singularily uniformative.

His Death Certificate here does indicate he was buried in the Veterans Memorial Park, Surrey B.C. (now known as Victory Memorial Park) This cemetery is indexed on Find a Grave but he is not listed; so either the information on the Death Certificate is incorrect or the indexing incomplete or his remains moved in the interim.

Hope this helps

Wow, so much information, I have saved everything, strange, he had a brother and 3 sisters in Canada who he was in contact with before the war, but after the war he did not get in touch with anyone again they never new where he went. Past Time has had free access this week, I have added a link, he was definitely wounded in France but I really need his full service record to find where he was wounded etc. thanks so very much for all of your help, if you can give anything else from the attachment I would be grateful. Regards Pat

[Game pat]

THANKS TO ALL for the help given I have gained much

Regards Pat

pdf.pdf

[Al C]

Pat,

Your attachment appears to be a page from Nominal Roll and Record of Service section in Urquahart's History of the 16th Battalion (the Canadian Scottish) Canadian Expeditionary Force in the Great War

What it shows is that after arriving in England, Thomas A Game was sent to France to the 7th Battalion 13 September 1918 then apparently TOS the 16th Battalion on the Sept 21, 1918.

War Diaries for the 7th Canadian Infantry Bn for the period of his service are here The entry for Sept 13, 1918does show the arrival of 6 ORs, curiously the entry for the 14th shows a group of 112 ORs being returned to the CCRC(Canadian Corps Reinforcement Camp) per orders from the Canadian Section, GHQ 3rd Echelon, given through the 2nd Canadian Bde to which the 7th Battalion belonged. Perhaps he was returned to the CCRC with the group and subsequently posted to the 16th Bn.

The 2nd Bde War Diaries for Sept are here. The entry for Sept 13th does mention the arrival of 6 OR at the 7th Battalion, but the entry for Sept 14th makes no mention of the departure of 112 Ors on that date. The entry for Sept 10, 1918 does mention the arrival of 110 ORs at the 7th Bn

War Diaries for the Canadian Section GHQ 3rd Echelon are here

War Diaries for the Canadian Corps Reinforcement Camp are here

Neither show anything specific about these movements.

The 16th Battalion War Diaries are here

The entry for Sept 21, 1918 is on September's page 6 but makes no mention of the arrival of any ORs on that day. A quick check shows that there is a summary of ORs arrrving during the month (256) given on the last page but except for a group of 60 men arriving on September 6 no arrivals are shown on individual days.

Thomas was wounded on October 12 , 1918 during the 16th Battalion's part in the attack on Drocourt Queant Line. Apparently his wounds were severe enough to require his removal to England on Oct 21. Pages 5, 6 and 7 in the 16th Battalion October War Diary describe the events of the 11th and 12th and there is a detailed report beginning on October's page 17. Page 19 and following are the draft Operation Order (#53) covering the advance on Oct 12th.

The 16th Battalion was part of the 3rd Bde/ 1st Canadian Div. 3rd Bde War Diaries for Oct are here

Events for Oct 11th and 12th begin on page 9 a complete report of the operations from Oct 5th through the 12th is in appendix 18

Cheers

Edited 13 November , 2014 by Al C

[Game pat]

HI, thank you so very much for all of your help, I am going onto all the links which you have sent to me, you have given me so much information, it helps to know in which battle he was wounded, I hope I will eventually be able to obtain his service records, I was so very lucky with my Grandad,s (his brother)service record, as he was a regular serving from 1904 to 1923 his records were at Glasgow, and my great uncle died at Delville Wood his service records although slightly burned were available so I have been very lucky, I have received so much help from people on War Forum and for that I am extremely grateful.

Regards Pat