Victor George Pyne – 6727 1st Bn. C.E.F.
25 November 1893 – 9 July, 1916
The early summer of 1914 had been one of the better ones in years; southwestern Ontario was enjoying the respite from a bitter winter. The crops were planted once again and summer activities were being enjoyed with little attention being paid to the problems in the Balkans, which were pushing the European nations on an uncontrollable march to war.
With the assassination of an Australian Crown Prince in Bosnia the dye was cast. On 3 August 1914 the German Imperial army rolled through neutral Belgium, its “Schlieffen Plan” now into effect would strike a mortal blow at France before turning on Russia. Britain, which had signed a treaty to protect Belgium’s neutrality, issued an ultimatum to Germany to withdraw and when midnight on the 4th passed, the ultimatum expired and a state of war existed between Britain and Germany. It was not, however, just between these two great powers, when Britain declared war; she involved the whole of her Empire, including Canada.
On the 6th of August, the Minister of Militia, Sam Hughs informed the commanding officers of 226 militia units that a Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) would be organized. Hughs wrote “The intention is to mobilize a contingent at Valcartier, PQ., where to secure the selection of the fittest more men will be assembled than in the first instance will be required”. How wrong that proved to be.
It is in this convulsing world that young Victor George Pyne found himself in mid-summer of 1914. Born in Reading, Berkshire, England the 25th of November, 1893, this young man would be but one of many that would soon find himself in the hell of the ‘Western Front’, mired in the mud and struggles of the Great War 1914-18. His was a long journey from Reading England, to a spot on the western front near Hooge Chateau in the West-Vlaanderen area of Belgium, in the horrible days of the summer of 1916.
The son of William and Harriet Pyne, Victor was the third of five boys, his father William Pyne, a watch maker, passed away in 1900 leaving Mrs. Pyne to raise the boys. One can only imagine how hard a task this must have been in turn of the last century in England. Without the ‘social safety net’ that we take for granted today, many parents in similar circumstances, turned to the few organizations to offer aid available in England at that time, a ‘work house’, or the Barnardo Society, or a like type charity.
Victor is standing in front of his father, Howard next to his father
So it was that in 1907 Victor and his older brother Howard left England to find a new life in Canada. After crossing the Atlantic they landed in Portland, Maine, on the east coast of the United States instead of Halifax because of a storm. They eventually reached Ridgetown after a stop in Toronto on 8 March, 1907. Victor was fourteen, Howard one year older in a new land.
Here the brothers were split up, Victor going to the farm of Harry Smith, his mother and two sisters, at lot 11, on the 10th concession of Howard Township. Howard went to the farm of Sherman Dempster about a mile away at lot 6 on the 11th. As luck would have it Victor’s placement was a happy one, becoming one of the family at the Smith’s farm.
It seems that Victor’s stay with the Smith’s was mostly a pleasant time. Hard work, to be sure, but that was the nature of farming in those days. There was wood to cut and fields to plow with Dan, the horse. Then weeding and cultivating to allow the crops to develop, but the climate of southwestern Ontario suited both crops and the development of young boys and Victor appears to have thrived in his new home.
He made friends in the area, joined fraternal orders (the Son’s of England) with Harry Smith and enjoyed shooting competitions at local ‘turkey shoots’. An activity that would stand him in good stead all too soon. As it is with all young people Victor eventually left Harry and his wife Daisy and their young son Floyd, some time in late 1910 to strike out on his own.
It was while working for the Bell Telephone company in Chatham, in August 1914, Victor took up the call to serve his new country, part of that old British Empire, in military service. He was not, like many who rallied to the call to arms, without some military experience, being a member of the 24th Militia in Chatham. He signed up for military service on the 8th of August, 1914 as service number 6727 and on August the 21 boarded the C.P.R with 118 other men from Kent county for the trip to the new army camp at Valcartier, Quebec.
Victor in the uniform of the 24th Kent Regt. 1914
It is remarkable, given the size of the country, how quickly the son’s of Canada answered Sam Hughs’ call. By the 22nd of September, when Victor arrived at Valcartier, Quebec, he was one of 32,000 there, of the over 100,000 that had already volunteered. Valcartier was a happy time at camp for most, but short lived. On the 26th troop ships began to load at Quebec City, moving to the Gaspe’ Basin and by October the 4th Victor’s ship SS Laurentis sailed with 31 other ships carrying Canada’s first contingent across the Atlantic to Britain
After a peaceful crossing the troops began to disembark in the English ports of Plymouth and Devonport on the 14th of October. There they boarded trains for the trip to the British Army’s training area at Salisbury Plain to “hone their fighting skills”.
The 1st Canadian Battalion stayed on Salisbury Plain for approximately four weeks of unremitting misery. The week after the Canadians arrived for training it started to rain and rained for 89 of the next 123 days, “All was wetness and misery.” wrote many troops home. Though the weather helped the Canadians become accustomed to the weather they would find at the front, it allowed little opportunity to properly train for the rigors of front line war. Nor to prove out the effectiveness of the Ross rifle, fine for target practice but which would prove to be woefully and tragically lacking in the mud of Flanders.
The trip to the front was not an easy one, winter storms in the English Channel kept troops on ship for a week before landing at St. Nazaire. Loaded into box cars on the 13th of February, marked “Men – 40 – Horses 8” they started a 43 hour ride to the front lines then near Hazelbrouck, in northern France, finally billeted at Merris on the 16th. A few weeks later they visited a ‘quiet’ area of the trenches for indoctrination with a British unit.
The 3rd of March found the Canadians taking over 6000 meters of a quiet sector of the front line near Fleurbaix. A terrible spot where a trench dug a meter deep was quickly half filled with “foul smelling water”. This proved to be close to the British attack on Neuve Chapelle which started on the 10th of March. The Canadians job in this action was to “hold the enemy to their ground”. Though ‘quiet’ 68 Canadians were killed and 210 wounded.
On the 12th of May Victor wrote home to his brother “I am still quite well and getting along fine.” He then goes on to say “we had a hot time of it the latter part of last month. I was one of the lucky ones and came out safe, but I shall never forget that day. The day he’s talking about is the 23rd of April, the day the face of war changed when the Germans started an attack by opening 5700 cylinders of poisonous chlorine gas
For the best part of three days the Canadians fought a desperate battle, poorly trained and with rifles that often jammed, they fought with determination, if they lost, they would leave an open hole for the Germans to pour through to Paris. Victor writes, “there was shrapnel, bullets, coal boxes (bombs), poisonous gas and everything else coming over on us as we advanced up a hill {Mauser Ridge), but anyhow we kept right on going until we got to the top.”
Over the 23 – 26th of April battles were fought at Mauser Ridge, Kitchener’s Wood, Mouse trap farm and St. Julien to name but a few of the horrendous engagements which now are collectively know as the “Second Battle of Ypres”. “I would like to tell you all about it but cannot” Victor writes to Howard. It’s little wonder he can not describe the desperate struggle that left 6700 casualties to the 1st Canadian Division.
Over the 23 – 26th of April battles were fought at Mauser Ridge, Kitchener’s Wood, Mouse trap farm and St. Julien to name but a few of the horrendous engagements which now are collectively know as the “Second Battle of Ypres”. “I would like to tell you all about it but cannot” Victor writes to Howard. It’s little wonder he can not describe the desperate struggle that left 6700 casualties to the 1st Canadian Division.
Seriously wounded in the thigh, shoulder, scalp and abdomen near Festubert one of the engagements that made up the Battle of Givenchy, Victor is evacuated to the South General Hospital in Oxford, England. After 52 days in hospital he had recovered enough to be released. In today’s modern warfare this would be enough for a trip back home out of the war, but such was not the case then.
On March the 2nd he was certified “Fit for Duty” by the Medical Board at Shorncliffe and sent back to the front. He was taken back on strength with the 1st Battalion on 6 April, 1916. Victor rejoined his unit, still involved in the Givenchy area, which until June was relatively quiet. That changed on the 15th of June when, in support of a French attack at Artois, the Canadians launched an attack on the strong German position in front of them. As was so often the case, by the 19th the French attack had ended in failure and the Canadian’s counted their casualties.
The last known photo of Cpl. Pyne taken in London, England before he returned to France
So it was on the 27th of June the Canadians moved again, this time to Ploegsteert or as the troops called it, “Plugstreet”. The warm summer months were a period of relative inactivity where there seemed to be an attitude of “live and let live”. One soldier described this time, “life as good as it could be in the trenches”. The official War Diary of the 1st Battalion, for the days of July 6th through the 9th described it as a period of mostly artillery duels between the Canadians and the Germans on Mount Sorrell.
Then on the 9th of July, the official war diary reports, “Enemy guns ranged on our position, — intense bombardment of our whole area.” At 10 P.M. “shells landing around Battalion Headquarters – about 100 men killed or wounded” Two days later a message came from 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade relieving the Canadians from that sector of the front. 29 Officers and other ranks killed, 95 wounded and 12 missing. One of the killed was Victor George Pyne at 22 years old, died of his wounds.
On 25 August, 1916 C.S.M (Company Sergeant Major) J. Barr wrote to Jack, Victor’s younger brother in England informing him of Victor’s death. Killed by a trench mortar, CSM Barr writes, “I’m sure all missed him as much as I’ve ever missed a comrade. He was liked by all ranks.” And so it was that on a hot summer day the young man, who was born in England, grew into a young man in Canada, lost his life in a corner of Belgium. And so, a life with so much promise becomes a sad tale in a terrible conflict.
It is said that Canada came of age as a country in the blood and gore of World War I, the Great War to end all wars. There is no doubt that we did come of age as a country and at a fearful price. The sacrifices of the youth of our country, in this war and others that followed, now allow us to be free in a world, still so full of tyranny, hate and death. We now have the freedom to choose where and when we send our military into harms way. We must never forget the sacrifices of those like Victor who laid down their lives for what we take for granted today
Victor Pyne has not been forgotten, each November 11th his name is read out at the cenotaph in Ridgetown, Ontario along with the others from his adopted town who lost their lives also in the service of their country in the two Great Wars and other conflicts. It was heart warming for this writer that in March of 2010, while on a tour of Vimy Ridge and other military cemeteries in the Ypres area students from John McGregor High School in Chatham, ON., they took time to stop by Victor’s grave site to pay their respects; I’m sure Victor would have been pleased for their company.
Published in the Ridgetown Independent – Remembrance Day issue November 2003.