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Canadian Expeditionary
Force Study Group
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| Component: |
32nd Infantry Battalion |
| Active Dates: |
March 15, 1915 - September 15,
1920 |
| Theatre of Operations: |
England (reinforcements to
others) |
| Major Battles / Battle Honours: |
Ypres 1915; Festubert 1915;
Mount Sorrel, Somme 1916 |
| Location of War Diaries: |
 | Library and Archives Canada (WD Link) |
| CEFSG War Diary Transcription
(in progress = IP) |
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Background:
| Stewart notes that the 32nd
Battalion was broken up to provide reinforcements for the
Canadian Corps in the field as it was absorbed by the 15th
Reserve Battalion.
Nicholson reports on pages 109 and 110
that the 32nd Battalion sailed in February 1915. The 4th
Brigade (to eventually become part of the 4th Division, had
sailed to England with the 1st Division and were to become part
of the newly formed 2nd Division. In fact, the 1st
Division took all of the 4th Brigade's personnel plus the men
from the newly formed battalions in Canada (23rd, 30th and
32nd).
From Al C we have this information on the
32nd Battalion:
The 32nd Battalion was organized with
headquarters at Winnipeg by Lt
Col Harry James Cowan, a Winnipeg lawyer and South African
War veteran beginning in Dec 1914. On Feb 23, 1915, 35
officers and 962 men sailed from Halifax aboard the SS
Vaderland (later renamed the Southland) arriving at Avonmouth
March 7, 1915. The battalion was subsequently absorbed and
used to replace losses in battalions of the first and second
division, most men eventually being assigned to the 2nd, 5th,
8th and 10th Battalions. The earliest fatal casualty I could find
was 81002 Pte Minto Torrance Adamson June 3, 1915 with the 8th
Battalion an interesting story himself.
It appears that Lt Col Cowan did not remain with the Battalion
after it reached England. By July 1915, he is approving APs
for over 100 men in the 45th number block who for whatever
reason were attested in England, this included for example my
cousin Lt.
W G W Moxley MM #424063.
He was replaced by his second in command Lt
Col. Charles Duncan McPherson who signed your grandfathers
Attestation Papers. (Matrix Note: that is George
Van Wyck Laughton grandfather of rlaughton).
From Stonetown
we have some information on the 32nd at Shorncliffe: (see link)
The 32nd Battalion arrived at Avonmouth 7 March 1915 and went
directly to Shorncliffe where it became a reserve battalion. The
'originals' were drafted to the 2nd, 5th, 8th and 10th
Battalions in Belgium. Figures may be suspect, but it appears
177 men were drafted to the 5th from the 32nd.
The 23rd, 30th and 32nd Battalions arrived in the UK at about
the same time and all were under the impression they would be
kept intact and sent to the front. The news that these units
were to become reserve battalions was not well received and all
three commanding officers protested bitterly. However, the CO
Canadian Depot, Colonel W.R. James of the Royal Artillery was
not overly sympathetic and the protests were to no avail.
Soldiers of the 32nd Battalion as Grandfathers of CEFSG
members:
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Capt. James Lloyd Evans
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Lt. George Van Wyck Laughton, M.C.
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Captain Evans
joined the C.E.F. in November 1914 and crossed to
England with the 32nd Battalion and remained in England
until 1918 where he trained troops as a musketry officer
at Shorncliffe, Bramshott, Witley and Hythe. In March
1918 he took a drop in rank from Major to Captain in
order to serve with the 5th Battalion at the front.
Captain Evans was killed in action in France on
September 1, 1918. He is buried at Sun Quarry
Cemetery in Cherisy (near Arras).
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Lt. Laughton
originally signed up with the 142nd Overseas Battalion
as a Lieutenant Supernumerary and was S.O.S. (Struck Off
Stength) when the CEF was reorganized. George
apparently found his own way to England where he
attested at Shorncliffe as a Private with the 32nd
Battalion. Within 10 days he was off to Officers
Training and Oxford and upon graduation he served in the
26th Northumberland Fusiliers of the Imperial
Army. He was wounded in the Scarpe in May 1917 and
invalided back to Canada. |
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Sub-Components:
War Diary Entries:
| There are no war diaries associated
with this battalion.
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Primary References:
| Stewart, C. H. 1970. "Overseas" The
Lineages and Insignia of the Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914
-1919. Little & Stewart, Mission Press, Toronto, Canada.
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| Love, D. W. 1999. "A Call to Arms"
The Organization and Administration of Canada's Military in World
War One. Bunker to Bunker Books, Winnipeg & Calgary,
Canada. |
Secondary References:
Internet References:
| This Page Last
Updated On: |
Tuesday January 29, 2008 01:17:04 PM -0800
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