& 2nd Battalion Canadian Machine Gun Corps |
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Personnel Database - O | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Oakes, Harry, 663720, Private Private H. Oakes was gassed
on 9 September 1918.
Lance Corporal James Oakley
died of wounds on 9 September 1918, aged 29, and was buried at Aubigny
Communal Cemetery Extension, Pas de Calais (Grave Ref. IV.B.10).
The CWGC database shows his next-of-kin at that time to have been his parents,
Thomas & Ann Oakley of 357 Perth Avenue, Toronto.
Private D.A. O'Handley was
wounded on 11 October 1918.
Private Edward Oldfield died
on 26 August (or, according to a list of casualties accompanying the Battalion
War Diaries, compiled at the end of that month, 27 August) 1918, and was
buried at Windmill British Cemetery, Monchy-le-Preux, Pas de Calais (Grave
Ref. II.B.10).
10 April 1917 - Battle of Vimy Ridge: "Lts Waddington, Williams, Tucker and Hardiman rendered exceptionally good services throughout whole of the operations as did Sgts McGirr and Eustace, L/Cpls Olmstead and Rust, and Ptes Woodean, Climie and Halstead." [6th Brigade CMG Company War Diary] Donald Fraser, in his diary (The Journal of Private Fraser, ed. Reginald H. Roy, publ. 1998, CEF Books) had his own views of the awards that were eventually made on 30 May: "... today we are notified of the Vimy honours for the company. Decorations are fast falling into disrepute as most of them by far are given for no outstanding service, and as a certain number of awards are allotted to each unit, they have to be distributed. At Vimy there was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary done by our fellows. The artillery took such good care of the enemy that there was nothing much for us to do but to move to our objective with little opposition. In spite of this ... L/Cpl. Olmstead and Dincen were awarded M.M.'s. It is too bad that the decorations are not granted for bravery exclusively." An Operation Order dated
17 November 1917 states that "Crews at nos. 15 & 16 Positions will
come under command of Cpl Olmstead." In the "List of Casualties
for the month of September", the following entry is shown: "GASSED -
100140 Sgt. Olmstead W.L. 8-9-18"
Private E. O'Neill was wounded
on 26 August 1918, during the Battle of Arras.
Orme, Alfred Joseph, 240267, Private Private A.J. Orme was wounded
on 29 August 1918, during the Battle of Arras.
6th Brigade CMG Company War
Diary shows that Lt. T.H. O'Rourke reported for duty with this unit on
5 November 1917. He proceeded to the forward area commanding No.
1 Section three weeks later on the afternoon and evening of 26 November.
On 10 February 1918, Lt. O'Rourke proceeded on 14 days leave to Ireland,
returningto his unit on 27 February. The 2nd Battalion CMG Corps
Nominal Roll for March 1918 shows Lt. O'Rourke in "H" Battery, No. 2 Company.
On 12 July a monthly report noted that Lt. O'Rourke missed a banquet given
to officers because he was orderly officer that day. This was the
last month that he was mentioned in the Battalion Nominal Rolls.
Private Jeremiah O'Shea died
on 28 August 1918, during the Battle of Arras, and was buried at Quebec
Cemetery, Pas de Calais (Grave Ref. C.17).
On Thursday, 24 August 1917,
Fraser made the following entry in his diary (The
Journal of Private Fraser, ed. Reginald H. Roy, publ. 1998, CEF
Books): "Early this morning we were relieved and another fellow and
I reached the billets at Sains[-en-Gohelle] first, arriving around 2.00
a.m. Manville was wounded
coming out and Orr was slightly gassed."
In his report on operations for the attack on the village of Passchendaele by No. 2 Section of the company, Lt. H.J.L. Pierce mentions Corporal Owens commanding No. 8 crew. The War Diary includes the following: "[5 November] Dug funk holes & rested there without casualties until 6 p.m. when we went over with the two crews about 25 yds apart. Sgt. Bierd taking command of No 9 Gun Crew & Cpl. Owens of No. 8 Crew, were able to get into position ... At 8 a.m. guns were mounted and remainder of crews put into shell holes." |
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