FORGOTTEN GHOSTS – Elaine Quigley

FORGOTTEN GHOSTS – Elaine Quigley
THE chance to have a very special experience came my way last November, when I was asked to go to France, to look
at the carvings/writings of Canadian soldiers who had been billeted in the caves outside Arras in Northern France,
before their attack on Vimy Ridge, a famous First World War battle that brought the bravery of the Canadian soldiers to
the attention of the world. 40,000 Canadian and British soldiers took part in this epic battle to take the ridge from
German control and there were over 10,000 casualties and more than 3,600 were killed.
That part of the country is riddled with caves and tunnels, accessed by steps carved in the rock, which went 40 feet
down into the caves and tunnels excavated centuries before, so that farmers could have a safe place for their families to
hide in times of danger and also so that the stone could be used for building and the dust for the fields. As far as is
known some caves date back five hundred years, but during the First World War the use that was made of them was
considerable. All the nations had an area of the souterrain as this was known, the French, Germans, British and
Canadians lived underground in an attempt to find a safe haven and hospitals were down there also.
Between four and five hundred Canadian and British soldiers spent their last days down there, eating, playing cards and
carving their names and battle honours for their lost comrades. Others just wrote their names on the wall, to ensure that
they were not forgotten and the hundreds of names throughout the caves, create an emotional reaction to those who
view them all these years later.
The regimental badges were very important to them, as it identified the purpose for which they fought, loyalty to their
comrades and their pride in being part of the regiment that gave them all their identity in battle.
There were also delicate carvings of women, counterpoints to the savagery of war and allowing the soldiers to let their
softer side balance the difficulties of having to be strong and brave under such difficult circumstances.
The incredibly skilled team from Yap Films had done a great deal of research into the lives of the Canadian soldiers
who left their marks on the walls of the caves and tunnels and there were many moving stories that emerged. As it
would take a volume to recount them all, I shall concentrate on just two, for which I have both writing and pictures.
A remarkable man, who left some beautiful carvings of cap badges, was stonemason Pte. Aleck James Ambler who also
left a memorial to a list of his friends. He was born in July 1884 in Kent and died in Surrey one day after his 90 th
birthday.
He was apprenticed under his father, Jimmie Ambler, in London,a master stonemason and worked on the Queen
Mother’s residence in London and also on monuments in Trafalgar Square and he obviously had inherited his
father's skill,as seen in the wonderful badge (above) that he carved on the cave wall.
In 1901 was living in London but emigrated to Canada in 1905 and was boarding with a family in Winnipeg
Manitoba in the 1906 census. He met Mary Ann Rosby, who was British in Canada and they married and took
up a land grant in Saskatchewan, 11 miles outside Foam Lake.
When he joined the Canadian army in January 1916, his civilian job was registered as a Stone cutter. He had
tried to enlist early on because he felt it was the right thing to do but required his wife’s permission and she
would not consent. As soon as that restriction was waived, he enlisted.
He bought his older son (James who was 3) a replica uniform and cane. The tradition at the time was that should
an officer pass by, the child would tuck the cane under his armpit and salute.
He trained with the 188th Battalion in 1916 and in Sept 1916 – transferred to 96th Battalion In doing so he was
sent to England aboard SS Laconia to train and then was transferred again to the 92nd Battalion (when he did the
carvings and list of names) and his next transfer was to the 13 th Battalion this time in the field. He was a sniper
with the battalion. He also purportedly could read the stars and would take small groups out on sorties. His
ability to calmly create his beautiful carvings must have been a source of encouragement to his companions, as
he seemed to be more occupied in his activities than being anxious and worried about the future.
In Dec 1916 he was wounded, but rejoined his unit the same day – an indomitable man as you'll see by his
writing below.
The picture that you see above was taken in 1917 where he is dressed as an infantry private. He thought it worth
letting his parents see his army equipment. Standard infantry equipment worn with leather jerkin, camp
comforter under the helmet and gloves. Gas mask is the Small Box Respirator. Flare pistol standard Verey type
without the later flared muzzle (the distribution of them among regular infantry is rare-not standard issue).
Nothing on the uniform to give me a clue as to his role. Webbing rigged for marching rather than the battlefield
although ammunition pouches are full.
The letter he wrote them on the back of a postcard, shows an upbeat approach with the rising lines and the total
joining of letters indicates his single minded approach. Once he has the bit between his teeth, he will not give in.
As noted above, he had to get his wife's agreement that he could join up and we can see that he probably 'wore
her down' as he was really keen to be involved.
In June 1917 in Lens.– a shrapnel wound entered left calf and exited Achilles tendon Gas gangrene ensued and
his son (of more below) remembers him wearing a special boot and always being in pain, but just getting on with
life and taking it in his stride. He was invalided back to England 2 July 1917. In March 1918, he was invalided
back to Canada and dispatched to convalescent home. He thereafter walked on his left toes with heel raised 6”
above the ground. He was scharged on 15 May 1919 in Regina, Canada, due to wounds.
He appears to have returned to Saskatchewan and received two more parcels of land as soldier grants in the same
area as his initial grant. Soldiers received 160 acres and had to comply with homestead regulations –cultivate at
least 30 acres and erect a house worth $300
He would move back to the UK during the depression with his family to take over the in-laws grocery store.
His son also Aleck, aged 83, was discovered by the Yap Film team living in Alberta, through researching his
father's army records and this proved an amazing source of information and a very moving experience for the
team, as Aleck jr. shared memories of his father and also his emotions on seeing and touching his carvings.
The only survivor of four children, he said that his father talked very little abut the war, people didn't do that sort
of thing in those days, but he told his son about the carvings which he said he did to pass the time away, though
he had no idea where they were. His father, as seen in his writing, was a tough, but generous man and his son
remembers his skill at baking and icing cakes, which he decorated awe-inspiringly and then took to the local
jeweller, to display in one of their glass cabinets so that they could sell raffle tickets, to raise money for the
scouts and other deserving groups.
Son, Aleck's visit to the caves was an amazing moment in his life, because he never imagined that he would ever
find them or see his father's work and as he talked to me when he came back up to the surface, he could hardly
believe what had happened and was very emotional. He had suffered a stroke in the not too distant past and the
Yap team were anxious that he should be safe when he went underground and had made provision. When I
spent a long time in the caves, I felt very tired when I returned to the surface, because though they were
spacious, the air didn't circulate to the extent that one is used to, as there is only a small entry opening at ground
level. However, all went very well and Aleck came back up so full of what he had seen that it probably kept him
focused and able to show the mettle that he had inherited from his father.
A LESS happy case was that of two brothers, William and Clarence Harvey. Their father was in the reserves and
told William that, as the oldest, he should enlist. Clare (as Clarence was known) was William's 'shadow' and
couldn't imagine life without him, so he ran away and enlisted in the same regiment
Sgt. William Thomas Harvey was born in October 1893 and was 23 at the time of enlisting. His younger brother
Clarence was born in May 1897 and was 19 when he ran away to join his brother.
We have many samples of William's writing below but this seems to be the only sample of Clarence's we have.
This appears to be Clarence's writing as he sends a card to his sister-in-law to be. Firstly the downward sloping
lines show that he tends to be easily downcast and we know that he wasn't a very robust young man, maybe that
is a reason for his dependence upon his brother. The layout is spontaneous rather than organised, the letters do
not flow well and the pressure is uneven. The personal pronoun is small and closed.
Compare this too the more controlled and balanced lines or his brother's writing,
We can see from William's writing that he was more confortable with the positive line direction and consistent
formation. As a sergeant he needed to take responsibility, but the high 't' bars which showed that he could, are
light pressured, which could be why he felt the weight of his responsibility for his brother.
We can get a picture of William's personality from the transcriptions below:
“West Sandling UK, 35 Batt C. Coy 6 Dec 1916
Hello Ella
Just a card to let you know that I am still living and getting around all right again. Hope this will find you well.
Well the boys are nearly all in France & the few of us that was left were transferred into this Batt. I stuck with
Clair. He has been sick a lot & they refused to let me go to Russia so that will be my address now for a while.
We are under canvas down here & it is a little cold at night but guess we can tuff it. Well I will soon be here a
month and only receive [sic] those two letter that missed me at Niagara. I have not heard from home at all.
With love to you from your husband. 657705 Sgt. W.H.”
However, there was a tragedy after this letter was written. The brothers were sent with their battalion to Vimy
Ridge and as we can see from the wording on the card, Clarence hadn't been well and as his health was never
really good, William was constantly concerned. As a sergeant he would have been a 'father' figure to his men,
but he had the added pressure of worrying about his younger brother. Had Clarence not run away to join the
regiment with William, the older sibling could have taken an objective, if genuinely caring view of his
responsibilities. As it was, the two brothers were injured on Vimy Ridge and Clarence died from his wounds.
After that, on 2 Jan 1917, William reverted to the rank of Private at his own request. It seems from what the team
found in their research, that he never really got over his brother's death and looking at the sense of responsibility
shown in his writing, he maybe somehow felt responsible for not being able to protect him.
We see in the card below, how closed and angry his writing has become.
Things still didn't get any better. He was wounded at Vimy in the right arm and sent to recuperate in England
where he had a plate inserted in his shoulder. I don't have all the writing, but here is a transcript of another.
“Woodcote Park, Epsom, Surrey 11 July 1917
Dear Wife,
Just a card to let you know I m still living but rather downhearted this morning. Just been through some medical
inspections & found out that I have not been doing as well as I though(t). The medical officers seem to be
puzzled so they are sending me away for another x-ray. They seem to think there is something in my shoulder yet
but I don’t want to have to go through another operation. I have had quite enough to suit me. I really don’t think
there is anything left in for the bullet. Went right through but I guess I will have to do as they say. In the army
one cannot speak for himself they won’t listen but I will drop you a line as soon as I ……….(page missing)..pass
for it. I should have liked to go to Ireland for they always seem to have a big day there. J Payette (Joseph
Payette #657656) has gone on his sick leave & I guess Will Scriver (William Henry Scriver #657392) is back to
the base by this time. Is pass will be run out any way. I have not had any word from him yet. I will write you a
letter soon & probably then I will know what they are going to do with me. So will say bye bye. With love to
you & babe from your loving husband XXXXX”
He returned to 1st Battalion in the field on 27 Nov 1917 and according to the family, he became a batman to
Colonel upon returning to France
On 21 March 1918 he was transferred to CMGC
Some contents of letters, but writing not available.
West Sandling
23 Jan 1917
4th Cdn Reserve Btn “H” Co
Dear Wife,
Just a card to let you know that I am well & in the best of
health. Hope this will find you the same. I have been looking
for a letter from you for the last few days but faile to get one.
Hope you are not ill for the last letter I had you told me you
had a sore throat. I hope it did not trouble you dear. We we
are all t through training & doing guards and picquet to kill
time. There was a draft of NCOs went yesterday but I was
Pte. Hoping to hear from you soon.
From you loving husband WJ Harvey” [PC20]
By Feb 1917 fighting with 1st battalion in France
“Somewhere in France, 27 Feb 1917”
Dear Wife,
Just a card to let you know my new address & in good health.
Hope this will find you & little babe well. There was a quite
a few of the old 162 Batt come over France ??? (rest
illegible)” [PC19]
From the cards, it appears he was married to Ella Moore and
had one child while overseas and they had a family of 9
children altogether.
Returned to the family land in McKellar (parents were British
immigrants and had settled on a free lot of land near
McKellar) and he operated a “fur farm” (silver foxes) next
to the main Harvey farm.
More writing from William.
This is a card from the 162nd
Canadian Regiment, to which the Harvey brothers belonged.
A lecture is planned that will cover a wider selection of handwritings and also include the
video made by Yap films at the AGM in November 2008.