| The 5th Division Brigades were formed
in England in February 1917 and joined the Canadian Corps
Troops in August 1917.
D. C. MacArthur in his book, "The
History of the Fifty-Fifth Battery C. F. A." has this to
say...
" In April (1917) the 5th
Canadian Division was formed, complete in every respect, under
General Garnet Hughes. Unfortunately, only the artillery
survived to uphold the honour of the Purple Patch in France, but
we feel certain that our infantry, as it was at Witley, would
have done no shame to the Corp's Record. Infantry, artillery and
engineers all worked together in maneuvers, culminating on the
terrific "battles" of Midhurst, Liphook and Frensham
Ponds. Mud, rain, very late suppers and lack of sleep made this
campaign as bad as active service, if not worse."....
" By July we had resigned ourselves to our fate as garrison
artillery in England. The Division had been inspected by Premier
Borden, the Duke of Connaught, and the King and Queen. We were
becoming a little stale, for there was not much in the matter of
training that we had not had our fill of. But early in August we
were warned for France. We were ready in every way, as far as
training and equipment were concerned, in fact, it is doubtful
whether a younger, better trained division of artillery ever
crossed the Channel."
CEFSG Member McTague provided this
information regarding the 55th and 56th Field Batteries of the
C.F.A.:
My
Grandfather, Rt. Hon. C. P. McTague, was a kid from Guelph,
Ontario. According to attestation papers he signed up the day
after his 26th birthday on 10 April 1916 under the watchful
eye of a Major V. J. Kent. A week or two after that, his
brother J. S. McTague signed up as well and they were in the
56th Battery C.F.A. which, at the time was known as the "O.A.C.
Battery" as many of the recruits were from the Ontario
Agricultural College (later to become the University of
Guelph). This battery along with two others would become the
55th Battery C.F.A. a part of the 5th Divisional Artillery
after some complex shuffling of units and sections of units.
By April of 1917 the 5th Canadian Division was fully formed
and commanded by Gen. Garnet Hughes. This division was the one
that had the purple patch although only the artillery would
have that patch by the time the division arrived in France.
Although the 55th C. F. A. thought they might stay the war in
England as garrison artillery they were called to cross the
Channel arriving in Le Havre on 21 August 1917 and passing by
train to the Canadian railhead at Lillers made their way to
Cite' St Pierre where they first saw action.
I have a record of the unit's actions that was compiled by one
of their number and published in 1919. Instead of an index or
appendices it has a complete battery roll including officers
and those who died in service.
As interest in
C.F.A. units builds, good explanation of the hardware and
ancillary equipment might be of help. The 18 pounder and the
4.5 inch Howitzer were the guns in the field with the
divisions each having a complement of six to eight horses and
attendant drivers.
Good websites pertaining to these are at:
http://www.landships.freeservers.com/british_18pdr.htm
http://www.landships.freeservers.com/british_4dot5inch_howitzer_info.htm
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