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Remembered Today:

Lt. W F Scott, 47th Bn, Can. Inft


spinnaker

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Hey all,

this is a magnificent forum. I was wondering if somebody here could let me know how to access the following info from War Diaries in the National Archives of Canada

Reference: RG9 , Militia and Defence , Series III-D-3 , Volume 4861 , Reel T-1939

File : 164 , Access code: 20

Parts: 1=1918/08/01-1918/08/31 2=1918/09/01-1918/09/30

File Title: War diaries - 4th Canadian Division - General Staff

Outside Dates: 1918/08/01-1918/09/30

Finding Aid number: 9-52

I know that my Great-Great Uncle, Walter Frank Scott served with the 47th Bn., Canadian Infantry (Western Ontario Regt.), he died Aug 10, 1918 during the second battle of the Somme.

what im specificaly looking for, if possible, is how he died.

tia,

jbs

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Welcome to research business!.

From my experience there is good news and bad news about official records from the National Archives. The bad news is that it is unusual for the name of a particular other rank ( non-officer) to be mentioned, let alone for there to be a description of his death. If the soldier died in hospital, there may be some description in his medical file.

The good news is that you can often infer a reasonable narrative of a casualty by tracing the events of the unit. In your case, your best bet would be the War Diary of the 47th Battalion, and possibly the 10th Brigade (the formation one level up) for August 1918.

In fact, this would be the second day of the Battle of Amiens, so you will likely find narratives of the operation provided at the time by the battalion and brigade. There will likely be sketch maps showing the ground the 47th advanced over, and thus, where your man most likely became a casualty. Perhaps the narratives may give you a clue as to what type of resistance caused the most casualties. However, you likely will have to use your imagination somewhat.

I hope this helps. There are some genuine experts here who may give you other tips.

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Hi jbs:

As James has mentioned, the 47 Battalion was part of the 10th Infantry Brigade, 4th Canadian Division. August 8-11, 1918 was the Battle of Amiens.

On August 10 the 4th Canadian Division replaced the 1st and 2nd Divisions in the line (left sector) and the British 32nd Division replaced the 3rd Canadian Division in the line (right sector). The objective of the 47th Bn. was to attack north of the village of Fouquescourt and move in behind the village. The 47th began the attack at 10:30 AM.

The 10th Infantry Brigade had a difficult time getting through the wire and trenches of the old Somme defenses east of the Méharicourt- Rouvroy road. The elements of the 10th Brigade ran into heavy machine-gun fire from the villages of Maucourt and Fouquescourt which stopped the advances of the 44th and 46th Battalions. It wasn't until 12:30 PM that Maucourt fell and the push was made on Fouquescourt. With the support of the 179th Brigade Australian Field Artillery, the 44th battalion advanced (under heavy machine-gun fire) across open fields and entered the village of Fouquescourt. By 6:00 PM the 47th Battalion, also under heavy machine-gun fire, had advanced from the north and extended the 44th's line on the left. Both battalions dug in and secured the village.

The Germans shelled the village of Fouquescourt during the evening of August 10 and launched a series of counter-attacks that continued until dawn. Both the 44th and 47th Battalions repulsed all efforts to recapture the village.

Canadian losses for the four day Battle of Amiens were: 11,362 dead, wounded or missing. They advanced 22 km.

Attached is a map of the area with a reference to the 47th Bn. If you'd like a copy of the full map for the Battle of Amiens I can e-mail it to you.

Garth

post-1-1058257258.jpg

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Hi jsb:

Just a follow up.

The bad news: (1) The Canadian National Archives (NAC) doesn't have the war diary for the 47th Bn. online yet. You can keep checking here to see if they've scanned the diary and have put it online. Type in "47th" in the Unit Name box and "1918/08/$" in the Date box. They should have it ready by the end of this year or early next year. (2) The 47th Bn. didn't publish an official history after the war.

The good news: I've found a excerpt from the 44th Bn. official history for August 10, 1918. They were the battalion directly south of the 47th. and by the end of the day they linked up with the 47th at Fouquescourt. If you want, I can scan these two pages and e-mail them to you.

Garth

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Get a recent excellent book Amiens Dawn of Voctory

Hi Paul:

Thanks for the heads up on this book. Just ordered a copy from Amazon.ca. Here's a blurb from the Amazon web site:

Book Description

Amiens: Dawn of Victory is the first book to study this historic and decisive battle of WWI in minute detail. Using eyewitness accounts from dozens of survivors the authors take us into the trenches, the tanks, and the cockpits.

About the Author

James McWilliams and R. James Steel are avid military historians. They have collaborated on two previous books on Word War I -- The Suicide Battalion and Gas! The Battle for Ypres, 1915 -- as well as a unit history -- The Battery. R. James Steel is also the author of The Men Who Marched Away: Canada's Infantry in World War 1, 1914-1918.

Garth

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There are little known files held at the NA called "Circumstance Of Death Reports". These for the most part simply describe a casualty as KIA, HOWEVER in some instances it may reveal a fairly graphic description of how a soldier was killed. You may be quite amazed what this repost has to say about Lieut. Scott?

I have had many dozens searched at the NA, and came away with just about 40% with fantastic C of D reports!

(Example: "Lieut. Reynolds was killed whilst leading his comapany in the attack at Passchendaele. He was sniped through the head and killed instantly.")

This task will need to be undertaken by a researcher at the NA.

ALSO: Local newspapers for the home town that your relative was born, and or lived can be your best resource for information. My biggest 'hits' were from local newspapers on microfilm. They were known to publish photogrpahs, last letters, as well as detailed obit's etc., etc. You will have to establish where your man was born, and living while in Canada. (If he was Ontario born, let me know, as I have acess to the Ontario Archives in Toronto and could do a newspaper search for you).

Good luck.

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  • 17 years later...
On 17/07/2003 at 09:43, mordac said:

 

James McWilliams and R. James Steel are avid military historians. They have collaborated on two previous books on Word War I -- The Suicide Battalion and Gas! The Battle for Ypres, 1915 -- as well as a unit history -- The Battery. R. James Steel is also the author of The Men Who Marched Away: Canada's Infantry in World War 1, 1914-1918.

Garth

 

Very old post... Kindl has just suggested "Gas!" and "The Suicide Battalion" to me ... are they any good??? 

research Paper done and looking for some reading for the next Corona crisis of 2024 ... I'm busy reading the rest of my lists until then ... LOL 

 

M.

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