The Battalion were part of the 6th Canadian Brigade, 2nd Canadian Division who sailed in May 1915 and arrived in England shortly afterward. It completed training at Shorncliffe and crossed to France between the 15th - 18th September 1915. Thereafter the Division fought in many of the major actions of the war. William sailed aboard the S.S. "Baltic" from Halifax in 1915. William was Killed in Action in the advance from Pozieres to Courcelette during the Somme Offensive. The Battle of Flers-Courcelette, 15th - 22nd September 1916 : This was a large-scale general renewal of the offensive after the weeks of attritional fighting for the third German system at Pozieres, High Wood, Delville Wood, Guillemont and Ginchy. It is historically noteworthy for being the first time that tanks were used in battle. Few in number, mechanically unreliable and as yet without proven tactics for their best use, the small numbers of tanks that actually went into action had an important positive effect. High Wood and Delville Wood were finally cleared and a deep advance was made to Flers and towards Combles. The Canadian Corps entered the Somme fighting for the first time. This was part of the Battles of the Somme, 1st July - 18th November 1916 : A Franco-British offensive that was undertaken after Allied strategic conferences in late 1915, but which changed its nature due to the German attack against the French in the epic Battle of Verdun, which lasted from late February to November. Huge British losses on the first day and a series of fiercely contested steps that became attritional in nature. For all armies on the Western Front it was becoming what the Germans would call "materialschlacht" : a war not of morale, will or even manpower, but of sheer industrial material might. The 15th September 1916 saw the first-ever use of tanks in the step known as the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. The British army in France is now approaching its maximum strength in numbers but is still developing in terms of tactics, technology, command and control. William previously served for 3 years with the 10th Battalion Royal Scots (Cyclists) (Territorials). William's name on the Vimy Memorial kindly donated by Mick McCann at the British War Graves website who supply photos FREE OF CHARGE
here. See photos of William remembered in the Canadian WW1 Book of Remembrance, on the Glenboig War Memorial, William's Attestation papers x 2, another photo of William, his CWGC Grave Registration, his name on the Vimy Memorial x 2, his Service Records x 16 and the Canadian Infantry Cap Badge.
