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Topic: Brothers in arms (Read 215 times)
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Mike Blais
SSM (NATO Bar), CPSM, UN-Cyp, CD
Ultimate 2000+ Member
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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Brothers in arms
By MALCOLM YOUNG
Of the 628,736 Canadians who served in the military in the First World War, 66,573 died as a result of their service, including three sons of James Black Young and Evangeline Young of Truro. Two of the sons, David and Clifford, died in action in France and are buried in that country. Harry was killed while on duty during the Halifax Explosion.
The death of any child in war is a great tragedy, but for parents to lose their three youngest sons in a 13-month time period from May 1917 to June 1918, as did the Youngs, must have been a devastating blow. These three young men had a common bond as brothers, as citizen soldiers, and ultimately as men who died in the service of their country.
Clifford Frank Young was born in 1897. After service in the pre-war militia, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) on June 16, 1916, at Halifax. Presumably because of his militia training and an urgent need for replacements, he sailed on the SS Olympic arriving at South Caesars Camp Folkstone, England, July 6.
Clifford and his brother David, who had already enlisted, met in England, as recorded in a letter from Clifford to their older brother Alex. Clifford said he had unsuccessfully attempted a transfer to David’s regiment, the 106th Battalion Nova Scotia Rifles.
Clifford was posted to France with the RCR in August and went into the trenches in early October. He was attached to the 7th Light Trench Mortar Battery at the end of November, a unit integral to the RCR. Clifford remained with the 7th until he was wounded on May 19, 1917. His service records state that Clifford was moved to 7 Casualty Clearing Station, where he was described as "dangerously wounded – multiple gun shot wounds." He succumbed to his wounds the same day, at the age of 20.
The RCR war diary of May 19, 1917, records a day of trench repair and other activity, but the death of only one "other rank" (OR). The names of other ranks were not recorded in unit war diaries, as were those of commissioned ranks; however, the single casualty of the day must have been Clifford. He is buried in Noeux-Les-Mines Communal Cemetery. His mother is reported as saying, "If God saw fit to call him, he sleeps as soundly in his foreign grave as if his grave was in his hometown where friends could weep over him."
Harry Young was born in 1900 and his enrolment papers cannot be found in the archives, so the details of his entry into service are not known. Upon completion of his basic training, Harry became a member of the Composite Battalion housed at Wellington Barracks, Halifax.
He was killed at the age of 17 during the Halifax Explosion of Dec. 6, 1917, while on duty at Pier 8, which is less than a half-mile from the location of the collision between the Belgian relief ship SS Imo and the munitions carrier SS Mont Blanc.
A Truro newspaper dated Dec. 11 records Harry’s death as the loss of the second son of James and Evangeline Young, and reports that "Mr. James Young had just returned from the city and tho in deep grief himself, nobly states his sorrow appeared to be trifling in comparison to the deeply stricken ones he saw around him in the city." The report goes on: "We all sympathize with this highly respected Truro family. They have more than done their bit in this terrible war, and of their two sons it can be said:
When Britain in her perilous need
Called all her children to her side,
To stem the onrushing German tide,
They heard the call and, answering, gave
Their fair, young, blameless lives - and died -
The good, the beautiful, the brave."
Sadly, the death of their youngest child was not to be the last wartime casualty for the family of James and Evangeline Young. Harry was interred in Robie Street Cemetery in Truro on Dec. 12, 1917, in the family plot where his parents were later buried.
David Young was born in 1893 and enlisted in Halifax in the 106th Battalion Nova Scotia Rifles in November of 1915. He had previously served two years in the 76th Colchester and Hants Rifles of the pre-war Canadian Militia.
On Jan. 1, 1916, David married Gertrude Maclean of Truro, daughter of George and Amelia MacLean who lived on Water Street, which later changed its name to Bayview Street.
He sailed on July 15 aboard the SS Empress of Britain and within a month he was admitted to Moore Barracks hospital, having contracted the measles. David was released on Sept. 11; he returned to the 106th but a month later, was transferred to the 40th Reserve Battalion when the 106th was disbanded.
In the meantime, Gertrude had delivered a baby on 0ct. 6, 1916, Rose Amelia. Rose was named after her grandmother, who would in a few years play a major role in Rose’s life as her guardian. Rose lost her mother Gertrude to the influenza epidemic of 1919 and David was never to see his daughter.
At the end of November, David was transferred to a frontline battalion in France, the 25th Battalion Nova Scotia Rifles, where he remained until he was killed in action on June 13, 1918.
Having served in the field from December 1916, David was awarded the Good Conduct Badge in November 1917 and was given two weeks leave in England, arriving back at the 25th three days before Christmas 1917. David’s return to the trenches after the deaths of Clifford and Harry must have caused great anxiety to his wife and family. Whether this was ever expressed in letters to David is not known, as none have survived; but the burden on them must have been very great. No details of his service from the time of his return until his death have survived.
The 25th’s war diary contains a Battalion Operation Order No.176, dated 12/6/18. The 25th Battalion was tasked to destroy a German garrison in a night operation in an area called the "Maze," near the village of Neuville-Vitasse, five kilometres southeast of the city of Arras. The raiding party consisted of six officers and 140 ORs under the command of Capt. G.W. Anderson. The raid was a complete success; prisoners were taken and 50 to 60 enemies were killed. The 25th suffered the loss of one officer and one OR, and 22 ORs were slightly wounded. Two days after the raid, the 25th was relieved by the 27th Battalion.
The "other rank" killed on June 13 was David Young. His death as the only OR killed in the operation mirrored the death of his brother Clifford, who had been the only casualty of the day for the RCR on May 19, 1917. David’s death, at age 25, after having served in the trenches for a year and a half, and coming two days before the battalion was relieved and within five months of the end of the war, and as the third son of the Young family to die in the conflict, must be viewed as a great tragedy. David is buried in Wailly Orchard Cemetery, six kilometres southwest of Arras in the Department of the Pas-de-Calais, France.
While their regiments served on different fronts throughout the war, both Clifford and David served at the Battle of Vimy Ridge, Clifford with the RCR 1st Brigade 3 Cdn Division, and David with the 25th Battalion, 2 Brigade and 2 Cdn Division.
On Sunday, Sept. 26, 1926, the war memorial on Prince Street, Truro, was unveiled. The local paper noted that the "Releaser of the Memorial Cords was Mrs. James Young, who laid a wreath of flowers from her own garden in memory of her sons Clifford, Harry and David, whose names are recorded there."
Lt.-Col. Malcolm Young, CD, is the great-nephew of the soldiers in this story and is commanding officer of the North Saskatchewan Regiment and the Royal Regina Rifles.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
Pro Patria
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ranrad
Ron [Andy] Andrews
Ultimate 2000+ Member
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Very good read here Mike, thanks again.. and ,may we ALWAYS REMEMBER..ALL OF THEM< PAST, PRESENT , AND FUTURE....ranrad
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RCAF,CAF, converted RCR?,1RCR 74-77 CD: SSM (Nato);CPSM,;UN-Cyp.; UN- Golan
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