43rd Battalion (Cameron Highlanders of Canada), CEF explained

The 43rd Battalion (Cameron Highlanders of Canada), CEF, was an infantry battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the Great War.

History

The 43rd Battalion was authorized on 7 November 1914, gazetted 18 December, and embarked from Montreal for Britain on HMTS Grampian 1 June 1915. After arrival at Davenport, England, they proceeded by train to Lower St. Martin's Plains, Shorncliffe, arriving late at night 9 June 1915. The battalion was briefly designated a Reserve Battalion to absorb casualties from the 15th and 16th Battalions of the 1st Division. Winter was spent in huts at East Sandling. It disembarked in France on 22 February 1916, where it fought as part of the 9th Canadian Brigade, 3rd Canadian Division in France and Flanders until the end of the war. The 43rd returned home on the SS Baltic from Liverpool to Halifax, 20 March and after a civic welcome celebration, they were demobilized 24 March 1919.^[1] The battalion was disbanded on 30 August 1920.^[2]

The 43rd Battalion recruited in and was mobilized at Winnipeg, Manitoba.^[3]

The 43rd Battalion had five officers commanding:

• Lt-Col. R. MacD. Thomson, 1 June 1915 – 8 October 1916 (wounded, then killed by shellfire near Courcelette, France, Battle of the Somme)^[4]
• Lt.-Col. W. Grassie, DSO, 9 October 1916 – 4 November 1917 (he subsequently returned to Canada and resigned his commission in 1918)^[5]
• Lt.-Col. W.K. Chandler, 4 November 1917 – 23 December 1917
• Lt-Col. H.M. Urquart, DSO, MC, 23 December 1917 – 16 August 1918 (wounded during the attack against Fresnoy-les-Roye, France, Battle of Amiens)^[6]
• Lt.-Col. W.K. Chandler, DSO, 16 August 1918-Demobilization^[7]

One member of the 43rd Battalion was awarded the Victoria Cross. Lieutenant Robert Shankland was presented with the Victoria Cross for his intelligence report and observations at Bellevue Spur, Battle of Passchendaele on 26 October 1917. He had previously been awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal as a sergeant for leading a stretcher bearer party at Sanctuary Wood in June 1916.^{[8] [9]}

The first Chaplain attached to the battalion was the Reverend Charles William Gordon, who held the rank of Captain, then Major, senior chaplain to the 9th Canadian Brigade. He was well-known throughout Canada as novelist "Ralph Connor." Gordon returned to Canada after the Battle of the Somme.^[10] His replacement was Captain George C.F. Pringle who had spent many years in the Klondike.^[11]

Perhaps the luckiest of original officers was Major Bartholomew Charlton, formerly with the 79th Overseas Draft, who was wounded five times but returned with the battalion in 1919.^[12]

Battle honours

The 43rd Battalion was awarded the following battle honours:

• MOUNT SORREL
• SOMME, 1916
• Flers-Courcelette
• Ancre Heights
• ARRAS, 1917, '18
• Vimy, 1917
• HILL 70
• Ypres 1917
• Passchendaele
• AMIENS
• Scarpe 1918
• Drocourt-Quéant
• HINDENBURG LINE
• Canal du Nord
• PURSUIT TO MONS
• FRANCE AND FLANDERS, 1916-18^[13]

Perpetuation

The 43rd Battalion (Cameron Highlanders of Canada), CEF, is perpetuated by The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada.^[14]

See also

• List of infantry battalions in the Canadian Expeditionary Force

Sources

• The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada, Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Souvenir, ed. by Lt-Col. J.D. Sinclair, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 1935
• Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914-1919 by Col. G.W.L. Nicholson, CD, Queen's Printer, Ottawa, Ontario, 1962
• Postscript To Adventure, the Autobiography of Ralph Connor by Charles W. Gordon, Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1938; reprinted McClelland and Stewart, Toronto, 1975
• Tillicums of the Trail by George C.F. Pringle, McClelland and Stewart, Toronto, 1922
• Adventures in Service by George C.F. Pringle, McClelland and Stewart, Toronto, 1929

Notes and References

1. Sinclair, J.D. The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada, Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Souvenir, Winnipeg, 1935
2. Canadian Forces Publication A-DH-267-003 Insignia and Lineages of the Canadian Forces. Volume 3: Combat Arms Regiments.
3. Meek, John F. Over the Top! The Canadian Infantry in the First World War. Orangeville, Ont.: The Author, 1971.
4. Gordon, Charles W., Postscript to Adventure, McClelland and Stewart Ltd., Toronto, 1975
5. Library and Archives Canada. Military Service File, RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 3741 - 20
6. Sinclair, J.D., The Queens Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada, Winnipeg, 1935
7. Meek, John F. Over the Top! The Canadian Infantry in the First World War. Orangeville, Ont.: The Author, 1971.
8. Meek, John F. Over the Top! The Canadian Infantry in the First World War. Orangeville, Ont.: The Author, 1971.
9. Sinclair, J.D. The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada, Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Souvenir, Winnipeg, 1935
10. Gordon, Charles. Postscript to Adventure, Toronto, 1975
11. Pringle, George C.F., Tillicums of the Trail, McClelland and Stewart, Toronto, 1922.
12. Library and Archives Canada. Military Service File, RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 1644 - 42
13. Meek, John F. Over the Top! The Canadian Infantry in the First World War. Orangeville, Ont.: The Author, 1971.
14. Canadian Forces Publication A-DH-267-003 Insignia and Lineages of the Canadian Forces. Volume 3: Combat Arms Regiments.