Alex Strachan Diary?

[Daniel DUFOUR]

Regarding this well known quote, where can I find Alex Strachan’s diary? The reference below is the 43rd Batt. War Diary, which I found and downloaded. I browsed all October and November 1917 pages and found nowhere that famous quote… 

"It was really a miserable day, quite miserable. We were lying practically on the bed of the river which had been shelled all to pieces and it was just a marshy bog… our company headquarters got blown to pieces… before we started off… and the battle hadn't even begun."

Alex Strachan, 43rd Battalion, War diary of 43rd Battalion. RG 9, series III-D-3, vol. 4938, file 434

[Chesterboy]

11 minutes ago, Daniel DUFOUR said:

Regarding this well known quote, where can I find Alex Strachan’s diary? The reference below is the 43rd Batt. War Diary, which I found and downloaded. I browsed all October and November 1917 pages and found nowhere that famous quote… 

"It was really a miserable day, quite miserable. We were lying practically on the bed of the river which had been shelled all to pieces and it was just a marshy bog… our company headquarters got blown to pieces… before we started off… and the battle hadn't even begun."

Alex Strachan, 43rd Battalion, War diary of 43rd Battalion. RG 9, series III-D-3, vol. 4938, file 434

43rd Battalion of what unit 

 

english, welsh, Scottish, Irish, Australian, Canadian, 

[Michelle Young]

As the OP is in Canada, I assume it’s this man.

http://www.canadiangreatwarproject.com/searches/soldierDetail.asp?ID=156613

[corisande]

"Alex Strachan, 43rd Battalion, War diary of 43rd Battalion. RG 9, series III-D-3, vol. 4938, file 434 "

If you have read the War Diary and there is nothing there, I suspect it is all pseudo academic cut and paste, with lots of authors quoting the above reference without ever reading it

Certainly that reference (unfindable) is all I can find

[Daniel DUFOUR]

Thanks guys for your replies. Since the reference is posted on the official Canadian National Archives website, in the Passchendaele battle historical section, I believed the reference to be right. Yet it seems there is missing information somewhere…

[ss002d6252]

The reference reads like it would be to a unit war diary, whereas you'd expect a personal diary to be indexed differently.

Craig

[ss002d6252]

RG9 is the index they use for unit war diaries.

"...view the digitized war diaries for the CEF (RG9-D-III-3, finding aid 9-52)..."

Craig

[Daniel DUFOUR]

That’s what I found. This is why I downloaded the entire war diary of the 43rd battalion and browsed October and November 1917 pages. The diary has especially extensive and detailed narration regarding the battalion operations, including their strategies, those of the Enemy, what they learned from prisonniers, etc, Fascinating. I even saw one day an extract of a personal diary inside the war diary, which appeared unusual to me. However I did not see the reference to Strachan own diary. Since Passchendaele is one the most important battle from Canadian perspective I thought maybe a military historian well aware of Canadian WW1 history could help me find what I’m looking for. 

[ss002d6252]

45 minutes ago, Daniel DUFOUR said:

That’s what I found. This is why I downloaded the entire war diary of the 43rd battalion and browsed October and November 1917 pages. The diary has especially extensive and detailed narration regarding the battalion operations, including their strategies, those of the Enemy, what they learned from prisonniers, etc, Fascinating. I even saw one day an extract of a personal diary inside the war diary, which appeared unusual to me. However I did not see the reference to Strachan own diary. Since Passchendaele is one the most important battle from Canadian perspective I thought maybe a military historian well aware of Canadian WW1 history could help me find what I’m looking for. 

It might be worth contacting the archives to see if they've removed a diary for separate indexing.

Craig

[6RRF]

I've been digging on Google [dangerous I know] and eventually came up with a couple of hits.

Sergeant Alexander Strachan (canadiangreatwarproject.com)

Sergeant Alexander Strachan http://www.canadiangreatwarproject.com/graphics/lacDoc.gif

Regimental Number:	859510	Survived War:	Yes
Force:	Army	Regiment:	Canadian Infantry
Battalion:	43rd Battalion	Company:
Place of Birth:	Craigo,Forfarshire	Country:	Scotland
Next of Kin:	Edward Strachan,father. Portage Cottage,Montrose.	Address at Enlistment:	Wellwood,Man.
Date of Birth:	June 11, 1889	Trade or Calling:	Farmer
Marital Status:	Single	Prior Military Experience:	Yes
Place of Enlistment:	Winnipeg, Manitoba	Date of Enlistment:	December 15, 1915
Age at enlistment:	26	Height:
Chest:		Expansion:
Religion:	Unknown	Enlisted or Conscripted:	Enlisted
Saw service in:	Unknown
Cause of Death:	Survived	Battle Died/Wounded:
Date of Death:		Age at Death:
Buried at:	Unknown	Plot:
Commemorated:
Prisoner of war:	Not Specified	Interned:
Gender:	Male	Ethnic Origin:	Not Specified

Rank	Regiment	Unit	Company
Sergeant	Canadian Infantry	43rd Battalion
Private	Canadian Infantry	179th Battalion

 

He survived the war and the "diary" or rather autobiography was published  in about 1970

Strachan, Alexander Davidson A Wee Herd Laddie's Memories - Printed Privately, c. 1970

 

I haven't so far traced it on Google, but there's a mention of it by his greatgrandson [posting as cabertosser] on this site

'The Battle of Passchendaele' ... 100th Anniversary [Archive] - Alberta Outdoorsmen Forum

 

Stuart 

Edited 7 January , 2022 by 6RRF

[rolt968]

12 hours ago, 6RRF said:

I've been digging on Google [dangerous I know] and eventually came up with a couple of hits.

Sergeant Alexander Strachan (canadiangreatwarproject.com)

Sergeant Alexander Strachan http://www.canadiangreatwarproject.com/graphics/lacDoc.gif

Regimental Number:	859510	Survived War:	Yes
Force:	Army	Regiment:	Canadian Infantry
Battalion:	43rd Battalion	Company:
Place of Birth:	Craigo,Forfarshire	Country:	Scotland
Next of Kin:	Edward Strachan,father. Portage Cottage,Montrose.	Address at Enlistment:	Wellwood,Man.
Date of Birth:	June 11, 1889	Trade or Calling:	Farmer
Marital Status:	Single	Prior Military Experience:	Yes
Place of Enlistment:	Winnipeg, Manitoba	Date of Enlistment:	December 15, 1915
Age at enlistment:	26	Height:
Chest:		Expansion:
Religion:	Unknown	Enlisted or Conscripted:	Enlisted
Saw service in:	Unknown
Cause of Death:	Survived	Battle Died/Wounded:
Date of Death:		Age at Death:
Buried at:	Unknown	Plot:
Commemorated:
Prisoner of war:	Not Specified	Interned:
Gender:	Male	Ethnic Origin:	Not Specified

Rank	Regiment	Unit	Company
Sergeant	Canadian Infantry	43rd Battalion
Private	Canadian Infantry	179th Battalion

 

He survived the war and the "diary" or rather autobiography was published  in about 1970

Strachan, Alexander Davidson A Wee Herd Laddie's Memories - Printed Privately, c. 1970

The Library and Archives of Canada is the "Legal Deposit" library for Canada. In theory there should be a copy there - not in the archives but in th published works collection. I have done a quick check in the National Library of Scotland catalogue and don't see it but I will try a different search tomorrow; also the British Library catalogue.

I am researching Alexander Davidson Strachan's younger brother, Edward Mowat Strachan, Pte., 21205, 10 CEF, killed in action 3 June 1916 in the Ypres sector.

I will send you a PM (personal message) tomorrow.

RM

Edit: Strange coincidence. I am sure that this was Alexander Strachan's son:

https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/294812-canadian-soldiers-sons-middle-name-eloi/#comment-3074488

 

Edited 7 January , 2022 by rolt968

[Daniel DUFOUR]

Hey everyone, thanks for helping. The “posting as cabertosser” mentioned above led me to a FB page where I dropped a note. Waiting for a reply. Will keep you all posted.