NOVEMBER 11,1980
Mementos of World War I
Diary of No. 2
Construction Battalion
of London, Ontario
by Pte. C.L. Barnes, 3107429; Cayuga, Ontario
This account summarizes some of the experiences of the No. 2 Construction Battalion, an all-coloured unit of the Canadian Army which trained at London, Ontario and was sent overseas to maintain landing fields in France and Belgium for the Royal Canadian Air Force during the latter part of 1914-18 War.
June 27, 1918. We left London by train at 2.45 p.m.; through Woodstock and Brantford, arriving at Hamilton at 5.30. There, we met a troop train carrying American Air Force men from Camp Lewis, U.S.A. Leaving Hamilton, we arrived at Toronto at 6.55, picking up three cars of soldiers with whom we shook hands through the windows. Arriving at Oshawa at 10.15, we slept through until we reached Cornwall at 5.30 a.m.
On the 28th, after breakfast, we pushed on to Montreal, arriving there by 9.15. We boarded the boat "City of Vienna" at 3.40 and had a pleasant trip downriver, past Three Rivers, Quebec and after viewing a beautiful sunset from the stern of the boat we bunked-up at 9.15.
Next morning, the 29th, we were up at 6 a.m. and had breakfast. The shore was about three miles to either side of us. With it raining all day, there was nothing of interest to do so we were to bed by 9.30.
On Sunday, June 30th, we had Church Service and Bible Study and afterwards wrote home. There was no land visible and we were getting a stiff, North wind
and fog. There was Emergency Drill and a lecture. Concert at night.
July 2nd, 2 a.m.submarine sighted off starboard side. No consequences.
Next morning, 7.15, off course because of fog. Ran into rock which stove-in the front of our ship. Fog, wind and rain. Sent S.O.S. and fired-off distress guns. Ship sinking now, men all on main deck in orderly columns, Captain Smith directing. Although some men were only scantly clothed because of the suddenness of alarm, I was up and clothed, having been on duty that morning. Then, seemingly, the ship stopped sinking as if it had hit something solid beneath. This was true, and what a blessing, for it was resting on a rock shelf almost as long as the ship which prevented it from sinking any further. There we remained for three hours until our call was answered by fishing smacks from Ketch Harbour, a small fishing village a few miles inshore and up a river's mouth. A U.S.A. cruiser, "Aspect," hearing our distress signal, maneouvered in near enough to just see us, then anchored and sent out motor lifeboats to our rescue. They, along with the fishermen, got all of us to land, some going to Halifax and the rest to Ketch Harbour, saved from a boisterous sea. There, the townspeople had prepared a wonderful meal at the Town Hall which was thankfully appreciated by all of us. There not being enough accommodation in this place for all of the soldiers, we had to march eight miles to the nearest military depot. That was a never-to-be-forgotten trip as we marched along that stone road in the rain  some in their underwear, some in their shoes and others in bedroom slippers. Needless to say, we were all pretty well tuckered-out as we finally lay down on that barracks floor for the night.
Most of us had lost all of our equipment on the ship and it had
to be replaced when we got to Halifax the next day, July 5th. There, we met the rest of the boys and you can imagine the different stories they had to tell each other about their rescue. During our stay in Halifax, a number of us were commandeered to form a party to steam out to wreck to see if we could redeem any of our equipment, so we boarded a fishing tug and took off into quite a heavy sea with waves up to six and seven feet high. The Captain of the tug told our Captain that he didn't think he could make it. We were out about a mile, with three more to go, and the waves were breaking over the bow and the water rushing past our boots as we stood on deck and hung-on to the side rail. It was then that the Captain swung the tug around to the left, but not in time to miss a huge wave which almost capsized us  in a turn which tipped the boat so much that the side on which I was standing dragged through the sea. After we completed the turn and headed back to Halifax, the boat still listed so much to the left side that we all had to rush to the right side to help balance it until we got back to the dock. The coal had shifted in the bin below when we made the about-turn.
That night, we all had to turn-in and help 'coal-up' the ship "Saturnia" as we were to leave on it the next day, July llth, along with seventeen other ships for overseas.
We left Halifax in the morning accompanied for a ways by three destroyers after which we were on our own. Weather very hot.
Nothing of interest 'til the 16th, when a submarine was sighted and fired-upon by the leading boats.
We arrived at Gravesend, near London, England at 3.45 on July 22nd and could hear the gunfire across the English Channel in France. There, we boarded a train for Sunningdale Camp where we were to be stationed to prepare for France.
LET'S REMEMBER THEM
Here's to the men who died in the war
Amid bloody shot and shell. Here's to them who fought on the earth,
When the earth was a hell. Here's to them that gave up life To roll of drum and note of phyfe With never a flinch from the plunging knife; Here's to those brave men.
Here's to the whole stout-hearted bunch,
Buried in a foreign land Or spread across a stinkin' acre
Of restless, burning sand. Here's to the whole blinkin' crew Who went and bid their life adieu For folks such as me and you; Here's to those brave men.
That's the rottenest part of another war
With peace so dearly bought, Because it seems the lads gave their life
For a hopeless cause and naught. So here's to the one and only theme Peace shall ever be supreme Thanks to the guts of that fighting team. Here's to those brave men.
—William Carl Wilton (The Haldimand Advocate, 11 /11154)
On the 23rd we were given four days' leave to London, with pay, and on returning we were lined-up and all the tradesmen picked-out according to their several trades. I was given a Leyland truck to drive and would be carrying men, baled hay and mail.
On August 8th we arrived in France, across the English Channel, and began driving up towards the fighting. We had had good military training at home and knew how to drill and use guns and bayonets, but that we for our own protection. We had 150 horses, wagons, ploughs, slush scrapers and other machinery with which to level-off the landing fields for the R.A.F. fighter planes behind the lines.
We drove through Bolbec, Yvetot, St. Saens, Abbeville, Fruges, Dohen, Mametz, Menin, Roubaix, Lannoy, Steenbeque, Hazenbrocque, Strazeel, Bailleue and Ypres. On November 6th, a few German shells fell uncomfortably close to us as the allies were driving the enemy back. It was from this place, Leers, that we carred several truckloads of old folks and children back to Roubaix.
On November 10th, 1918, there was talk of an armistice and the next day it happened. From there, we pushed up on the Rhine River to occupy in and around the cities of Cologne, Bonn, Lille, Leuze, Ath, Soignes (where we had to wait for our horses) and going on, we passed through LaLouviere, Roulex and Harve on the way to Mons.
The next day we were dispatched to Menin to pick up some prisoners and incidentally, we were billeted to Menin for a spell to level-off some air-landing strips which had been ripped up by exploding shells. It Was there that we saw our first dead soldiers.
On December 1st, Corporal Edwards and I viewed a large Belgian fort which was built in 1891.
The  next   day,   we   went   to
Verdun to fix-up airdromes and from there we followed the Meuse River to Huy and Ouffet, through Hamior where the terrain was very hilly and at times we were above the clouds.
Pushing on, we arrived at Recht in Germany on December 8th where we got rations and moved on through Malmedy to Weismes, where we stayed in a hat factory overnight and arrived at Bickendorf, just outside of Cologne, the next day. In Cologne, we visited the famous Dom Cathedral which took four hundred years to build, along with other points of interest.
We spent Christmas in a large Zepplin hangar and the Army provided twenty-five Pounds of English money for the men for Christmas.
We made one more move, to Longerich, where we got orders to pack-up for demobilization and return to England. That was the best news we had heard for quite a spell, so on the 17th of March, 1919, we boarded freightcars for LaHarve, France, where we arrived on the 30th and boarded the steamer "Lorina" for Southampton and from there to Sunningdale Camp in dear old England. We were then moved by train to Rhyl, Wales, where we encountered cold and snow. Here, there had just been a riot by fed-up soldiers who wanted to get home but couldn't for the lack of boats. Some of us were put on guard that night, but there was no disturbance.
The next day, however, we all boarded the "Saturina" (the same ship we had went over on) and left for dear old Canada amid cheers mingled with tears by way of Scotland and the Northern coast of Ireland where many were sick as we steamed through "The Devil's Hole." We had a nice voyage after that, arriving in Montreal on May 22nd, 1919, where we boarded a train for Hamilton and.. .DISCHARGE-HOORAY!!!... and THANKS BE TO GOD.