Military History

Leonard is listed as being killed in action on 23rd November 1915 in trenches near Messines. The 4th Battalion war diary entries for the period 22nd to 24th November are transcribed and the entry of the 24th leads us to speculate that Leonard may have been killed by a sniper.

Trenches at Messines – 22 Nov 1915: In Brigade reserve, supplied Bde Guard 10 men & 2 N.C.O’s. Supplied 24 men for work with R.E.

Relieved 1^st Canadian Battalion in trenches C.1 to C.4. 1^st Coy left Wood Camp at 3.35pm. Relief complete at 5.40pm. Very quiet night. 3^rd Can Inf Bn on our left & 16^th Bn on our right.

Trenches at Messines – 23 Nov 1915: In right sub-section of trenches. A Coy in C.1; B Coy in C.2; C Coy in C.4 & D Coy in C.3. Garrison of 24 men and 1 officer supplied from D Coy. Garrison of 50 men and 1 Officer of Souvenier Farm supplied from C Coy.

Heavy mist. Quiet morning.

Trenches at Messines – 24 Nov 1915: Situation quiet. Considerably less sniping during last 24 hours. Between 8pm and 11.30pm the enemy fired short bursts of machine gun fire on our parapet.

Enemy appeared very jumpy, good many flares were sent up during night. Our artillery bombarded front line enemy trenches from 9am to 3.30pm. Enemy retaliation not strong.

Military History

George is listed as dying of wounds incurred in action on 11th April 1918. He was admitted to the 43rd Field Ambulance on 5 Apr 1918 with gunshot wound to the head and then evacutated to the 2nd Stationary Hospital at Abbeville. The 6th Battalion war diary entry for the 5th April 1918, the day George was wounded, is transcribed below.

N of Hangard – 05 Apr 1918: Artillery ? during the morning. The enemy advanced on our left from dug in and occupied quarry in V.18.c.

3pm: Enemy commenced an intense bombardment on the whole of our sector and Hangard and blew in the forward posts and advanced Hangard and our line north. The battalion HQ and 1 Coy of Bedfords lined the ridge V.21.d and V.22.e.

At 6.45pm a message was received from the Commandant of the blank space left asking for our cooperation in a counter attack by supporting their left flank and taking the Sunken Road in V.23.q. The advance commenced at 7.20pm 1 Coy of the Bedfords coming up as support. We advanced under a continual barrage on the enemy and succeeded om reaching within 20 yards of the Sunken Road. There we were held up by very heavy machine gun fire, the enemy having a Machine Gun on the left of our flank enfilading the road.

Took up a line short of the road and dug in. At 10pm we were relieved by the 20^th Australian Brigade. The Battalion sustained several casualties in the counter attack including the C.O. who was wounded and Major Stewart MC, second in command who was killed.

The Battalion then moved back to Gentelles to billets.

Military History

Ernest is listed as being killed in action of 4th October 1917. The 22nd Battalion war diary entry for that day is transcribed below.

Near Zonnebeke - 4 Oct 1917: After midnight conditions were quiet, and there was little shelling. Jumping off Bn. tapes had already been laid by 6th Field Coy. Engineers. HQ moved to D.28.a.30.45.

By 4.10 a.m. the assaulting waves were formed up on their tapes and advanced to attack in 4 waves on a front of 4 Companies.

At 5.35 a.m. enemy opened a heavy bombardment, and caused many casualties on J.O.T.

Our Barrage opened at 6 a.m. (Zero time).

In conjunction with 8th Battalion A.F., on our right and 25th Battalion A.I.F. on our left, the Battalion advanced to the attack on the frontage D.22.d.9.3. to D.22.d.8.3., its objective being the RED LINE.

The advancing waves almost at once encountered the enemy in force. Parties with fixed bayonets were met advancing. It soon became evident that we had anticipated an enemy attack. Considerable casualties were inflicted by our Lewis Gunners firing from the lip. From Battalion HQ our troops could be observed following the barrage.

At 7.25 a.m. the Battalion had captured the whole of the RED LINE, and consolidation was in progress.

The brunt of the fighting fell upon this Battalion, owing to the assembly of enemy troops for the attack. Enemy availed themselves of the time our protective barrage was stationary to withdraw such of his troops as were in advance of the BLUE LINE, and towards the rear. The number of prisoners captured by the Battalion, is difficult to estimate, as some parties were sent to the rear by routes outside the Brigade boundaries. A conservative estimate would be 200.

Mopping-up later resulted in the capture of 2 Battalion commanders and staff, and important Maps and Orders. The latter were sorted, and the most important sent to Brigade HQ by special D.O.

During consolidation the enemy commenced a heavy bombardment, which caused many casualties.

At 8.10 a.m. Battalion HQ was established at De Knoet Farm.

Our casualties were:
Killed: 68
Missing: 17
Wounded: 154

Enemy losses were severe, as our moppers-up bombed Pill-Boxes and occupants thereof were killed.