In Flanders Fields – My Grandfather’s War Part 1 – Basic Training

By Joe Corrigan

My grandfather on my mother’s side was Charles Francis Joseph O’Connor of Whitby, Ontario. What I know of his involvement in the Great War I owe to the fact that my sister wrote to the National Archives of Canada in the summer of 1986 requesting a copy of his service record. She then copied these documents and sent them to our family along with a picture of Grandpa O’Connor in his uniform. I never got to know him because he spent the final 40 plus years of his life in hospital as a result of his brief service at the front. The only time I did get to see him before he died in the 1970’s he had lost the capacity to communicate. He was a conscript who entered service in May of 1918 and, on the 100th anniversary of his induction into the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF), I thought it would be interesting to follow his journey over the next seven months leading up to the armistice on November 11th. In order to put this period in my grandfather’s life in perspective, it is important to review the events of the time. May 1918 was a critical time for the Allies in general and Canada and the Canadian Expeditionary Force in particular. The urgency of the situation would have a direct impact on the rest of Charles O’Connor’s life.

The Bolshevik Revolution of November 1917 had led to Russia signing a separate peace with Germany. This in turn freed up hundreds of thousands of German troops to transfer to the Western Front tipping the balance of power in their favour. The Americans had formally declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917 (three days before the start of the Battle of Vimy Ridge) but they had a tremendous task to build up their army and they had few men and little equipment with which to do so. Their conscript army was starting to land in France in numbers by the spring of 1918 but their commander, General John Pershing, resisted pressure from his allies to commit American troops as reserves for the French and British armies. This desire to be a “national” army is understandable but, had the Americans insisted on this course of action, it is unlikely they would have been able to field a sizeable force on the battlefield until 1919. Given the urgency of the situation, that strategy would come too late as the German army would have been able to split the British and French armies (much the way they did at the start of World War II) and have gone on to capture Paris. The German offensive began in March of 1918 and it saw the allies thrown back. By the end of May the Germans were just 50 miles of the French capital. Close enough to shell the “city of lights” with their long range railway artillery. Once again, much as they had done in the fall of 1914, the allies held firm on the banks of the Marne River and the German offensive’s momentum was spent.

1917 had been a year that had seen the CEF gain a reputation as one of the finest offensive forces in the allied command on the Western Front but this was gained at a great cost. The victories at Vimy Ridge, Hill 70 and Passchendaele had been won at a cost of over 30,000 casualties, about one third of the CEF’s active strength. Enlistments were slowing to a trickle and the need for replacements had reached an urgent stage if the country’s four division strong Canadian Corps was to continue to exist. Early in the war, the Union Government of Prime Minister Robert Borden opted to introduce conscription, a measure that would divide the country for decades. It had come into effect on January 1, 1915 but of the 404,385 men subject to the act, 385,510 or roughly 95% had sought an exemption. Conscription had been opposed by farmers, unions, pacifists and a significant proportion of the French speaking population of Quebec who saw the war as one of British imperialism. This opposition lead to numerous protests culminating in a riot on Good Friday 1918 in which 15,000 protesters clashed with police and the army resulting in 100’s of injuries and 4 deaths. In the end, only 24,132 conscripts made it to the front lines by November 11, 1918, one of which was Private Charles O’Connor of the 15^th Battalion (48th Highlanders of Canada) CEF.

Pvt. Charles O'Connor

According to his service records, Charles O’Connor was born on May 9, 1894 and enrolled in the Canadian Expeditionary Force just days before his 24th birthday in Toronto on May 1st, 1918. His serial number was 809227. He was given the rank of private and was noted as belonging to the 1st Central Ontario Regiment. He was described as being 5’ 8” tall, having a dark complexion, blue eyes and black hair. His next of kin was listed as his mother, Julia O’Connor. He was noted as being single, a Roman Catholic and having worked as a “moulder” as his “Trade or calling”. He did his basic training at Camp Borden near Barrie, Ontario. Camp Borden had trenches dug to help acclimatize the new recruits to the realities of warfare on the western front. By the time my grandfather was sent to France in October of 1918, the era of trench warfare had long passed as the allied armies, in many cases with Canadian troops in the vanguard, were forcing the German army back along the entire western front.

Camp Borden

Camp Witley 

Pvt. Charles O’Connor finished his basic training and embarked for England on June 3rd, 1918. He arrived in the British Isles on June 21st, 1918 and, from what I can make out on his service record, was assigned to the 12th Reserve Battalion at Witley Common in Surrey, England for further combat training on July 3rd, 1918.  Camp Witley was a temporary army camp that was activated during both the First and Second World Wars. The camp was one of three facilities in the Aldershot Command area established by the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He would remain in Camp Witley until October of 1918 when he would be transferred to France.

Camp Witley Canteen

If you are interested in learning more about the Conscription Crisis and the contribution made by the 24,132 conscripts who, like my grandfather, took part in the fighting; the April – May issue of Canada’s History magazine has an excellent article entitled “1918 Year of the Conscript” by Patrick M. Dennis. You can also following the link below to “The Great War” YouTube channel’s episode on “Canada in the Great War”(https://youtu.be/eYmsRaT6L1Y).

Joe Corrigan was the Museum Manager at Lang Pioneer Village from February of 2003 until his retirement in May of 2018. He has been a lifelong student of history. His specific areas of interest are Canadian and world political, military and sports history with a particular focus on biographical works.