87th Canadian Infantry Battalion - La Coulotte

[Guest Alex Gair]

My Grandfather, Alexander Gair of the 87th Canadian Infantry Battalion died on June 9th, 1917 during the attack on La Coulotte.

In the letter that my grandmother received informing her of her husband's death, the Lieutenant Col. noted that he..."He met his death bravely and was a fine example of courage to the men near him. He was buried by his comrades in a little Cemetery behind the Field of Battle, and the place is suitably marked by a cross with his name on it."

I am looking for any information anyone may have surrounding this attack and perhaps the location of the Cemetery - I understand that it may have been subsequently destroyed - any help would be greatly appreciated.

Peter Belfry

driftingsnowflake@gmail.com

[Stebie9173]

The War Diaries of the Canadian units are available here:

http://www.collectionscanada.ca/archivianet/02015202_e.html

These are contemporary official diaries written by Battalion adjutants and sent up the line to higher authorities. They should give you an insight into what was happening to the battalion at the time.

This link is specifically for the 87th Battlion:

http://data4.collectionscanada.ca/netacgi/..._e.html&r=1&f=G

And the specific image for the 9-6-1917 (June 1917, Page7)

http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/e/e045/e001122377.jpg

It doesn't actually mention a lot happening, though.

The attack on La Coulotte seems to have been the previous day (the attack started on the 8th and continued through to the 9th, but the War Diary covers it on the 8th):

http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/e/e045/e001122375.jpg

http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/e/e045/e001122376.jpg

Hope this will help.

Steve.

[chris.wight]

Peter, welcome to the Forum.

Your best bet would be Col. A. Fortescue Duguid's book, "History of the Canadian Grenadier Guards, 1760-1964". Depending on where you are, it should be available for interlibrary loan.

Another option would be to look in Nicholson's History, available on-line in pdf format, link.

You could also post your question on the C.E.F. Study Group site, link.