When John joined the Canadian Expeditionary
Force in 1914, he was already a veteran. In the initial
volume of his diary he tells us something of his past while recounting
his first roll call after joining up. |
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H.Q.'s staff and officers of 2d contingent, C.O.E.F., [1914]
A. W. Barton
Glass plate negative
Reference Code: C 121-1-0-13-32
Archives of Ontario, I0019375 |
| “It
was the morning of the 26th of October (1914) that
I answered the first roll call, it was about 4:30
a.m. as near as I can say. After we had fell in and
numbered off the Corporal in charge of our Section
started giving me the first bit of Army drill I have
had for twelve years. It came a bit strange to me
at first although this is not my first experience
of Army Life, my seven years of soldiering was done
with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, Warwick, England,
with whom I saw service in South Africa at the time
of the Boer War.
I was born in Birmingham,
England, and came out to Canada in the year 1910,
so that is how I came to join the 19th Lincoln Regiment,
St. Catharines, after which we was attached to the
19th Battalion, 2nd C.E.F. Ontario, it being made
up of so many men from each city.”
John Mould's
Diary
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John had already done his duty
for King and Empire during the Boer War (1899-1902) and,
at 33, he was no longer a very young man. His wife Edith
was adamant that he not join up and she had already
refused to give her consent to let him enlist. But his own
sense of his duty would not let him stop trying.
“I
shall never forget the night that I asked her to write
her name, it was the worst thing I have ever experienced.
I was just on the point of saying don’t sign,
when she wrote her name down and gave it to me. I
felt happy then in one way, but sorry in another,
because I know that nothing worse could have happened,
both to be parted from one another especially in a
case of this sort.”
John Mould's
Diary
Vol. 1 pp. 5-6, 1914
John F. Mould fonds
Reference Code: F 954
Archives of Ontario
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John Mould's Diary
Vol. 1 p. 5, 1914
John F. Mould fonds
Reference Code: F 954
Archives of Ontario |
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Fortunately,
John’s training was to take place in Toronto, close
enough to St. Catharines that they would be able to see
each other from time to time.
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Upon enlisting, John
and his friend Thomas Blakie, were asked to be cooks for the
company and they happily agreed. On November 3rd, they boarded
a train taking them to the grounds of the Canadian National
Exhibition in Toronto where the company was to be billeted
and receive training.
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Cooks of the 19th Battalion, 1915
John F. Mould fonds
Reference Code: F 954
Archives of Ontario, I0024379 |
The
first challenge was to prepare the cookhouse before the
arrival of the other trainees. |
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Soldiers at Canadian National Exhibition, [1914]
A. W. Barton
Glass plate negative
Reference Code: C 121-1-0-13-7
Archives of Ontario, I0019350
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| John's diary gives
us a good deal of insight into life in the training camp,
especially from the point of view of the cooks. But, he
is also very illuminating regarding the rigorous the daily
life of the soldier trainees, as well. |
“It
being wintery weather at the time, the first three
months was very cold and windy. There was also a great
deal of snow about and it was very slippery, it freezing
very hard during the night. Overcoats were worn on
every parade, and also overshoes and mitts…
The time for rising would
be six o’clock, roll call at six thirty, after
which each man would have to parade and answer his
name to their respective Platoon sergeants. This was
carried out inside the building, it being too dark
outside to read the list of names to be called. This
occupying but a very short time, the men would then
prepare for breakfast…
John Mould's
Diary
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John Mould's Diary
Vol. 1 p. 22, 1915
John F. Mould fonds
Reference Code: F 954
Archives of Ontario |
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When John Mould joined the Canadian
Over-Seas Expeditionary Force in 1914, one of the first things
he had to do was fill out a form. These forms were called
attestation papers, and in addition to asking for personal
information, like date of birth, the form asked the recruit
to attest to his willingness to serve for the duration of
the war, and to declare his allegiance to the King. Like the
600,000 other men who joined up, John filled out this form
and it was duly filed away with millions of other war records.
Click to see a larger image (525K)
Attestation Paper
In 1996, the National Archives
began a digitization program to scan all these attestation
papers, and make them available through Archivianet, their
on-line database. To date over 800,000 images of attestation
papers have been scanned and are now available at: t: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/whats-new/013-285-e.html
Did one of your ancestor’s serve in the CEF during WWI?
Check out the database and see if you can find his attestation
papers, just like we found Private Mould’s. |
“From
then [8 a.m.] till 9 o’clock would be passed
in cleaning buttons, etc. for parade which would take
place till about eleven forty five, the men being
kept at it pretty good during that time. The order
of drilling for this two hours and three quarters
was as follows: from nine till ten, would be physical
drill. Ten o’clock till ten forty five, bayonet
charging, after which there would be an interval of
fifteen minutes. Signalling would then be given for
the remainder of the time, when they would be dismissed
for dinner, the hour of this being from twelve till
one.
A rest would be taken
then till two o’clock when the afternoon parade
took place, this taking about two hours and half.
The drill for this, being mostly confined to skirmishing
or extending order. Tea would follow this, the time
being from five till 5:30, after which they had the
rest of the day to themselves. In my idea the men
were kept at it too long, and did not have much time
for recreation.
The same order of drill
was carried out mostly the same every day until the
weather began to get a bit brighter and warmer, when
a series of route marches began, being carried out
about three times each week. There were also the regular
course of firing which was carried out at the ranges,
at Long Branch, the distance to there being about
twelve miles from the Exhibition Camp. The firing
was done by Companys, each one taking their turn of
two days each….
John Mould's
Diary
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Troops in front of Government Building, C.N.E. (Canadian National
Exhibition), Toronto
A. W. Barton
Glass plate negative
Reference Code: C 121-1-0-13-30
Archives of Ontario, I0019373 |
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Finally, on May the 12th, 1915,
Private Mould and the whole rest of the Battalion were loaded
onto a train bound for Montreal. After all this time of
wondering when they were ever going to be sent to fight,
the men were excited to be heading for the ship that would
carry them to England from where they would embark for France.
Once at the Port of Montreal, they boarded the old Allan
Line steamer, the Scandinavian, and said goodbye to Canada.
Many would not return.
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“After
waiting something like three hours in dock, the boat
finally pulled out towards Quebec. Hundreds of people
had gathered together during the time we were there,
and at the first sign of us moving cheered us to the
echo. This was taken up right heartily by the soldiers,
who sang and cheered till we were well out of hearing
of the crowd. Blowing of whistles greeted us from
every boat we passed, this being kept up for quite
a distance after we had left Montreal. It was a fine
finish to the best reception we had received during
our stay in Canada.”
John Mould's
Diary
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The Scandinavian landed at Plymouth, England on May 21st.
The English people greeted the Canadian soldiers warmly,
and cheered them on their way as they boarded the train
to their camp which was called West Sandling. It was located
about nine miles from Dover and accommodated four Battalions.
While there, the soldiers were kept busy learning the skills
they would need in France and Belgium: marching 20 to 30
miles a day and digging trenches.
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“Trench
digging takes place about three times a week, everyone
getting used to the work that is needed of them in
France. There are also a number of picked men from
each Company who are having lessons in Bomb Throwing,
Scouting, Signalling and Machine Gun Work - in fact
everything that is needed against the enemy is being
undertaken in Camp.”
The monotonous routine
in the camp continued until they left for France on September
14th, 1915. By September 20th the soldiers were already in
the trenches and under enemy fire.
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Private Mould continued
to recount his wartime experiences in his diary and it tells
a story of toil and boredom, interspersed with periods of
almost unendurable fear.
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Mud, nearly constant rain and
freezing temperatures, lack of sleep and noise all took their
toll on the men. The following excerpt gives some idea of
the joy that something as simple as a bath could bring.
![Photo: Soldier standing at attention, [1914]](pics/19346_soldier_with_gun_270.jpg)
Click
to see a larger image (110K)
Soldier standing at attention, [1914]
A. W. Barton
Glass plate negative
Reference Code: C 121-1-0-13-30
Archives of Ontario, I0019346
“Saturday
Oct. 2nd – Shortly after breakfast, the company
were taken in batches of 30 to Dranoutre a distance
of 2 miles. Here we were taken to a bath house where
hot water, soap and towels were to be had for our
use. Tubs just large enough to sit in were supplied
for bathing – 12 men being able to occupy the
place at one time, 15 minutes being allowed for each
batch. We all received new clothing after bathing
in exchange for our old ones. We had not taken our
clothes off since leaving England [Sept. 14], so you
can guess the change it made in us. We felt just like
new men and fit for anything.”
John Mould's
Diary
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John Mould's Diary
Vol. 2 pp. 54-55, 1915
John F. Mould fonds
Reference Code: F 954 F 954
Archives of Ontario |
At
this point in the story, we will skip ahead about a year
to August 1916, when he writes of his experiences at the
Battle of the Somme. Visitors to this web exhibit who are
interested in seeing the intervening passages in the diary
are invited to come and read the original volumes at the
Archives. |
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