1st CMMGB: Pte RW Mercer - Letters from the Great War
1st Canadian
Motor Machine Gun Brigade
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Pte. Richard William Mercer
Personal Letters from the Great
War: 1915 - 1919
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Letter 26:
Pte. Richard Mercer to William and Georgina Mercer
- December 24, 1917
Pernes, France
France Dec 24/17[165]
Dear Father & Mother:-
Received your most welcome letters to-day. Three all at once.
I have received the one registered letter and parcel with sweets and cigarettes
but not yet received the $10- or the gloves yet. You must have been
surprised when you received Telegram about me, but don't worry I am quite
alright. I can't tell you much about Tom, only that I saw the shell
burst when he was killed. He was struck on the temple & was killed
instantly[166].
I heard that one of the Sargents out of his Battery[167]
took the little things he had and sent them home. They buried him
just near the spot[168].
Received a letter from Walter the other day so he is quite alright.
Oh say please thank Uncle[169]
for the letter when you see him. My those cigs and sweets were good.
Fancy Father going out shooting without cartridges. I should very
much like to have a taste of some of the ducks you get. Well, this
is Xmas Eve[170] and
my chum who I met here (He is from LPool[171])
are going to have a feed to-night to celebrate. I am investing all
the money I have got which is six pence. I hope by next Xmas I will
be in the dear old Theodore again. I have got about four parcels
so far but there are about umpteen on the way from Wawota and other places.
Julia's Mother is sending me a cake.
With Love
Rich
911016 R.W. Mercer
Footnotes
[165] Pte. Richard W. Mercer is
spending his second Christmas away from home. He has returned to
the Borden Motor Machine Battery at Pernes, France after recovering from
his wounds at Passchendaele. It is assumed the number of casualties
in the Battery from Passchendaele was modest given the low number of casualty
notations noted in the daily war diary. For the first time in about
6 weeks Pte. Mercer is now again amongst the comrades he has come to know
throughout the recent battles and training. The Borden Battery War Diary
stated, “Dull with Snow. Christmas Day at 130 p.m. very enjoyable
Christmas Dinner was served, and followed by several speeches by the officers
of the Battery. #426658, a/Sergt. W. Ross, #175383, Pte. L. Parry,
#476344, Pte. J.J. Richardson returned from Leave.”
The members of the Battery might have been be permitted to sleep in a little
on Christmas Day rather than the usual 6:45 a.m. physical training workout.
Christmas breakfast would have been longer with extra treats. Perhaps
at about 10:00 a.m., the men would take part in some casual lectures by
the officers. The afternoon would have seen light duty, and by Christmas
Eve the camp would be quiet and relaxed. The evening could have had
Christmas activities perhaps ending at midnight. Liberal quantities
of rum could also be expected to be available at this time.
[166]
If there could be a "good death" at Passchendaele, instant death would
be the one. Tens of thousands of men were wounded, lost strength
and were slowly drowned and lost in thousands of water-filled muddy craters.
The stretcher-bearers often required 6 men up to six hours to carry out
a wounded man. Poison gas also claimed thousands of men at Passchendaele
with a slow death by choking and drowning from fluid in the lungs.
[167]
Yukon Motor Machine Gun Battery, 1st Canadian Motor Machine Gun Brigade.
[168]
The location of his temporary grave was lost during the battle. Pte.
Tom Tracy is officially recorded under the name of JOHN LAWRENCE TRACY.
He was 20 years of age and was with the Yukon Motor Machine Gun Battery
of the 1st Canadian Motor Machine Gun Brigade. He was the son of
Allen D. and Mary M. Tracy, of Theodore, Saskatchewan. He enlisted
at Saskatoon in early 1916, with the 196th Western Universities Battalion
Bn. Born near Yorkton, Sask., he had just qualified as a teacher before
going overseas. His name is recorded on the MENIN GATE (YPRES) MEMORIAL
in Belgium. The Menin Gate Memorial is situated at the eastern side of
the town of Ypres (now Ieper) in the Province of West Flanders, on the
road to Menin and Courtrai. It bears the names of 55,000 men who were lost
without trace during the defence of the Ypres Salient in the First World
War. The Tracy name is engraved on Panel 32.
[169]
The subject is quickly changed and reference to “Uncle” is Uncle Raymond
Emery of Yorkton, Saskatchewan. Raymond was a retired 25-year Colour
Sargent from the British military. He is a brother to Georgina
Mercer (nee Emery) and uncle to Cpl. Alan Emery and 2/Lieut. Denis Emery.
[170]
It is curious there just a mention of "Xmas" but no offer of seasons greetings
or a Merry Christmas to his parents or remaining friends and family at
home. This is a subdued and quiet reflective letter.
[171]
Lpool is a common abbreviation used by Pte. Mercer for Liverpool,
England.
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