# 21 Sep 1916 - 2nd Bn CEF gets hit - 19 KIA



## 54/102 CEF (11 Nov 2012)

Today is Nov 11, received an email from a lady searching for location of the demise of her relative on 21 Sep 1916

She wrote 

Thomas Geoffrey Martin was a member of the 54th Battalion and I am trying to research where the Battalion was on Sept. 21st, 1916, the day he went missing. He had actually been posted to the 2nd Bn of the 1st Cdn Inf Bde.

So - with my trusty "LINESMAN" mapping program from www.greatwardigital.com in hand - here is what I came up with 

To locate where he was operating we looked for military orders from his Brigade (the 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade) which lead us to where
his unit took over the from the 3rd Battalion which is referred to in their war diary.

Orders moving the 3rd Bn to  a location on 17 Sep 1916 that the 2nd Bn took over a few nights later http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/e/e042/e001032733.jpg

He was killed near Courcellete France - extract from the 2nd Battalion War Diary here http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/e/e043/e001074887.jpg

Note that it mentions shelling being very heavy - ie - he never saw what killed him - probably a German Artillery gun from up to 20 miles
to the north.

Images for this story 
Bonnie 1 - shows you the box his unit was operating in centered to the left of Courcellete France which is North East of Albert France about 5 miles Why they were there is bound to the Battle of the Somme that started on July 1 - Google Battle of the Somme for General Information

The box you see is where his unit would have been looking at the Germans - the diagonal line is the front line and the locations of the
points are referred to with the notations for the latitude and longitude. You could take this info (I can send it in an email) and
put it into a GPS and walk the exact box or diagonal line.

Bonnie 3
An image from Google Earth with the data overlaid so you see where he was - he is on the left side of the 2 red lines

Bonnie 4 
Shows Albert France SW of Courcellete - action was near the beat up Sugar factory 

Bonnie 5
Shows you he was south of the Vimy Battle area (as its a famous landmark) and the orange line shows you the distance from Vimy to
Courcellete is about 22 miles

His friends who also met an untimely end that day 


CARMICHAEL	JAMES McNEIL	J M		9/21/1916	Private	VIMY MEMORIAL	

COLLINGWOOD	HAROLD	H	27	9/21/1916	Private	VIMY MEMORIAL		SON OF WALTER AND MARY ANN COLLINGWOOD, OF 11011, 83RD ST., EDMONTON, ALBERTA.

COURT	ERNEST LEONARD	E L	22	9/21/1916	Private	SERRE ROAD CEMETERY No.2	XLI. M. 10.	SON OF ANNIE COURT, OF QUEEN CAMEL, SOMERSET, AND THE LATE EDWARD COURT.

COURTNELL	FREDERICK	F	36	9/21/1916	Private	VIMY MEMORIAL		SERVED IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN.

DIXON	JOHN	J	44	9/21/1916	Private	VIMY MEMORIAL		SON OF MR. AND MRS. JOHN DIXON, OF SYDNEY MINES; HUSBAND OF KATIE A. DIXON, OF 56, DOMINION ST., DOMINION NO. 1, CAPE BRETON, NOVA SCOTIA.

FIRTH	WILLIAM	W		9/21/1916	Private	VIMY MEMORIAL

FULTON		J	31	9/22/1916	Private	2ND CANADIAN CEMETERY, SUNKEN ROAD, CONTALMAISON	B. 3.	(SERVED AS WATT). SON OF WILLIAM AND JANE FULTON, OF GARRIFGEARY, RANDALSTOWN, MONEYWICK, CO. ANTRIM, IRELAND.

GIBSON	THOMAS GEORGE	T G		9/22/1916	Private	VIMY MEMORIAL		

GORRIE	JAMES	J	38	9/22/1916	Private	VIMY MEMORIAL		SON OF MRS. MARY COLLINS GORRIE, OF FLAGSTONE, BRITISH COLUMBIA.

HODGE	THOMAS JENKINSON	T J		9/22/1916	Private	VIMY MEMORIAL	

HOWARD	ALDEN	A		9/22/1916	Private	VIMY MEMORIAL		

LARABEE	WILBERT SIMMONS	W S	19	9/22/1916	Private	VIMY MEMORIAL		SON OF RICHARD AND JESSIE LARABEE.

LINDSAY	ALEXANDER	A	34	9/22/1916	Private	VIMY MEMORIAL		SON OF WILLIAM AND ELIZABETH MCCHLERY LINDSAY, OF LEITH, SCOTLAND. SERVED IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN.

MAGUIRE	GORDIAN FRANCIS	G F	30	9/21/1916	Captain	ALBERT COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION	I. O. 8.	SON OF ISABELLA M. MAGUIRE, OF 104, FRASER ST., QUEBEC, AND THE LATE GORDON F. MAGUIRE. BORN AT NEW CARLISLE, P.Q. CANADA.

MARTIN	THOMAS GEOFFREY	T G	22	9/21/1916	Private	VIMY MEMORIAL		SON OF MRS, DAVID MARTIN, OF TRAIL, BRITISH COLUMBIA.

NORRIS	FRANK JAMES	F J		9/21/1916	Private	VIMY MEMORIAL		

STEVENSON	RALPH EDWIN LAW	R E L	20	9/21/1916	Private	2ND CANADIAN CEMETERY, SUNKEN ROAD, CONTALMAISON	D. 10.	SON OF ROBERT EDWIN AND ELIZA STEVENSON, OF BRADFORD, ONTARIO.

SUMMERHAYES	THOMAS	T	35	9/21/1916	Private	VIMY MEMORIAL		HUSBAND OF ALICE M. SUMMERHAYES, OF 9, ULUNDI TERRACE, STAPLEGROVE, TAUNTON, ENGLAND.

TOUGH	JACK	J	19	9/22/1916	Private	2ND CANADIAN CEMETERY, SUNKEN ROAD, CONTALMAISON	B. 1.	SON OF THE LATE JOHN AND JANE TOUGH, OF MORRISON'S CROFT, BRIDGE-OF-DON, ABERDEENSHIRE, SCOTLAND.

WELCH		L W		9/21/1916	Private	VIMY MEMORIAL		

WENMAN		E		9/21/1916	Private	VIMY MEMORIAL


----------

