{"id":10908,"date":"2015-03-31T06:00:23","date_gmt":"2015-03-31T10:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.royalmontrealregiment.com\/?p=10908"},"modified":"2015-03-31T06:00:23","modified_gmt":"2015-03-31T10:00:23","slug":"royal-montreals-baptism-of-fire-in-1915-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/royal-montreals-baptism-of-fire-in-1915-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"ROYAL MONTREALS\u2019 BAPTISM OF FIRE IN 1915 – Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wednesday, March 31, 1915<\/i><\/p>\n

In billets,\u00a0Estaires<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Battalion War Diarist wrote for this day: \u201cTraining carried on.\u201d \u00a0<\/em>[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

PRIVATE C. D. B. WHITBY`S LETTER \u2013 PART\u00a02<\/strong><\/p>\n

ROYAL MONTREALS\u2019 BAPTISM OF FIRE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Graphic Description of Trench Fighting by Pte. Whitby of Gazette Staff –<\/em>
\nPraised by Gen. French – Battalion Has Already Seen Plenty of Heavy Fighting and Mud –<\/em>
\nCasualties Not Unduly Heavy<\/em><\/p>\n

THIS DAY IN RMR HISTORY:\u00a0Yesterday we posted the first half of a long letter from Private C. D. B. Whitby of the 14th at the front to his peace-time employer, The Gazette, of Montreal. In this letter he wrote of the battalion\u2019s first experiences in the trenches. Here is the second part of that same letter:<\/p>\n

\u201cCLOSE TO THE ENEMY \u2013\u00a0These two types of trenches do not differ, except in their distance from the enemy. That in which the Royal Montreal Regiment made its debut was in places 250 yards from the Germans, in others only 30, and we could hear the enemy whistling and singing. One enthusiastic Teuton would whistle \u2018Tipperary,\u2019 and shout across unseemly remarks in English.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Canadians\u2019 writes Pte. Whitby, \u2018were at once set to work, some on \u2018listening patrol,\u2019 which was nervous work under incessant German sniping, while others were carrying firewood, bricks, water, etc. All this by night, it being unhealthy to expose oneself by day.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018The British regiment to which the Montrealers were attached,\u2019 writes Pte. Whitby, \u2018was a famous one and had been in action since the beginning. Splendid fellows, quiet, thorough and business-like, willing to give advice, but no attempt to patronize newcomers and our relations were very cordial.\u2019<\/p>\n

The Royal Montreals then put in 24 hours in the trenches, a day of rest, and another 24 hours at the front, this time alone, and with no casualties. Then they were moved to relieve one of the most famous of British regiments with three days in the trenches, when they learned that \u2018Shrapnel takes a lot of getting used to,\u2019 being under heavy fire all the time, the men either hiding in dugouts or pressing as close as possible to the parapets and hoping for the best. Then came a rest, and another four days in the trenches.<\/p>\n

NOT MANY CASUALTIES \u2013\u00a0\u2018Casualties,\u2019 said Pte Whitby, \u2018are taboo, but they have not been unduly heavy, and the general health of the men is excellent. The R.M.R. has already won a high name out here for steadiness, discipline and efficiency. The grand advance will undoubtedly give Montreal good reasons to be proud of her regiment. Officers and men alike are in good spirits. Lt.-Col. Meighen, the C.O. is indefatigable, in and out of the trenches, looking after the welfare and efficiency of all ranks, and has their entire confidence and esteem. Lt.-Col. Burland is seldom out of the trenches and is always on the spot in an emergency.<\/p>\n

MANY VICS\u2019 VETERANS –\u00a0\u2018Other veterans of the 3rd Victoria Rifles who are helping make the R.M.R. the efficient fighting machine it is are Majors Galt McCombe and Alan Shaw. Lieut. S. Grant is commander of a platoon of old Vics. Company Sergt.-Major Art. Handcock, affectionately known as \u2018Pop\u2019 is rotund and genial as of yore. Co. Sergt.-Major Basil Price and Platoon Sergts. Harry and George Armstrong are all in good health, and working like Trojans. \u2018Dick\u2019 Hood, an old time Vic., has just been promoted Sergeant for excellent work in the field.<\/p>\n

PRAISED BY GEN. FRENCH –\u00a0Field Marshal Sir John French handed the Royal Montreals a bouquet the other day when inspecting the Regiment. He is a thick-set man of medium height, with a very florid face and snowy moustache. He looks and moves like a man in the pink of condition, and his enormous responsibility is apparently none too heavy for him. After looking the regiment over very carefully (frequently glancing at the men\u2019s boots) he said: \u2018If the Royal Montreal Regiment fights as well as it looks I am indeed sorry for the Germans.\u2019 The R.M.R. would hate to disappoint the General.\u201d [2]<\/p>\n

[1]\u00a0\u00a0 War Diary, 14th<\/sup> Canadian Battalion, The Royal Montreal Regiment<\/em>, March 31, 1915.\u00a0 Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa,\u00a0http:\/\/data2.collectionscanada.ca\/e\/e044\/e001089702.jpg<\/a><\/pre>\n
[2]\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cRoyal Montreals\u2019 Baptism of Fire,\u201d The Gazette<\/em>, Montreal, Quebec, Tuesday, March 30, 1915, pg. 4, col. 4.<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Wednesday, March 31, 1915 In billets,\u00a0Estaires The Battalion War Diarist wrote for this day: \u201cTraining carried on.\u201d \u00a0[1] PRIVATE C. D. B. WHITBY`S LETTER \u2013 PART\u00a02 ROYAL MONTREALS\u2019 BAPTISM OF<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-this-day-in-rmr-history"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10908\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}