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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
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
