Sunday, February 21, 1915
In Billets, Flêtre
The Battalion War Diarist wrote for this day: “Overhauling equipment.” [1]
THIS DAY IN RMR HISTORY: This day marked the Battalion’s first Sunday, and first church parade after arriving in France. Canon Frederick G. Scott officiated and his remarks were punctuated by the low throb of distant guns.
CANON FREDERICK G. SCOTT: “Canon Frederick G. Scott was senior chaplain in the First World War and an accomplished poet. The Canadian War Museum has bought the medals of Canon Frederick G. Scott, a First World War chaplain and poet, for $28,000. Jeffrey Hoare Auctions Inc., an auction house that specializes in military memorabilia, sold a set of 10 medals belonging to the war hero last Friday in St. Catharines, Ont. Among the medals are the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George and the Distinguished Conduct Medal. Lt.-Col. Scott was senior chaplain with the 1st Canadian Infantry Division, but he could not be kept safely in the rear while men were in the trenches. Instead he insisted on being in the thick of the action at Ypres, the Somme, Vimy Ridge and the Battle of Arras. The Anglican priest was mentioned four times in dispatches, according to the Ottawa-based war museum. He was wounded in 1918 and sent to England to recover. He died in 1944 at age 83. Born in Montreal, he was dubbed the “poet of the Laurentians,” for his poetry on nature, religious themes and the fellowship of men. In 1934 he published The Great War as I Saw It, a memoir of his experiences in the First World War. “Lt.-Col. Scott’s story is an important part of our national heritage,” said Mark O’Neill, director general of the Canadian War Museum, in a statement. “The story of this great Canadian and his contribution to our history deserves to be preserved in our national military museum.” The medal set was bought with the assistance of a special fund that allows the Canadian War Museum and the Canadian Museum of Civilization to acquire artifacts that might otherwise have been lost to Canada’s national heritage.” [3]
A new book chronicling Scott’s experiences at the Front in WW1 has recently been published. Written by Alan Hustak of Montreal, the book can be purchased here.
[1] War Diary, 14th Canadian Battalion, The Royal Montreal Regiment, Feb 21, 1915. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/e/e044/e001089694.jpg
[2] http://army.ca/forums/index.php?topic=95423.0
[3] CBC News, Monday, July 19, 2010 5:52 PM ET as quoted at http://army.ca/forums/index.php?topic=95423.0