World War Wednesdays: The Elgin Regiment and the Second World War

 

"Everywhere. Whither Right And Glory Lead"

 

 

     One of our area's most significant contributions to Canadian military effort in general is the Elgin Regiment, which has been a proud representation of the area in numerous conflicts throughout history, beginning before the nation was even confederated.

     On 14 September 1866 the 25th “Elgin Battalion of Infantry” was authorized to be formed from five existing independent marine, infantry and rifle companies which had previously been established on the following dates:
'No. 1 Company' (The 1st Volunteer Militia Rifle Company at St. Thomas, 17 July 1856),
'No. 2 Company' (Volunteer Marine Company at Port Stanley, 31 January 1862),
'No. 3 Company' (Volunteer Militia Company of Infantry at Vienna, 29 October 1862),
'No. 4 Company' (Tilsonburg Infantry Company, 13 July 1866), and
'No. 5 Company' (Aylmer Infantry Company, 8 June 1866)

     In 1915 the Regiment, answering Europe’s call to arms, had details placed on active service for local protection and augmenting the Canadian Expeditionary Force with volunteers for overseas service. Among providing soldiers to other locally raised battalions of the CEDF, the Elgin Regiment was instrumental in the raising of the 91st Overseas Battalion, CEF. This unit was authorized on 22 December 1915 and sailed for England on 29 June 1916, its personnel were absorbed by the '12th, 35th, 36th, 37th, 38th and 39th Reserve Battalion'(s) on 15 July 1916 to provide reinforcements for the Canadian Corps in the field. Perpetuation of the 91st Battalion, CEF, is still carried by the Regiment today.
     In 1920, as part of the general reorganization of the Militia, the Regiment was redesignated “The Elgin Regiment.”
     On 24 May 1940, the regiment mobilized 'The Elgin Regiment, CASF', for overseas service in the Second World War, and recruitment began in early June. In one month the entire 962-man wartime strength for the battalion was achieved. After extensive training, the Elgins moved to Toronto in 1941 where they were placed in the 12th Brigade.  This unit was converted to armour and redesignated the '25th Armoured Regiment (The Elgin Regiment), CAC' on 26 January 1942. Later that year, on 29 September 1942, the unit embarked for Britain as part of the 3rd Armoured Brigade, 4th Canadian Armoured Division.

Elgin Regiment at Thames Valley Training Camp, August-September, 1940. Elgin County Photograph Collection, C4 Sh4 P9

     The '1st Canadian Tank Delivery Squadron' was formed from "B" Squadron, 25th Armoured Regiment (The Elgin Regiment) on 6 May 1943. This Squadron landed in Sicily on 16 July 1943, and in Italy on 14 September 1943.
     The Regiment was converted and redesignated '25th Canadian Tank Delivery Regiment (The Elgin Regiment), CAC' on 15 September 1943, and on 21 October 1943 the 1st Canadian Tank Delivery Squadron was redesignated "A" Squadron, 25th Canadian Tank Delivery Regiment (The Elgin Regiment), CAC.
     On 15 March 1944 it was redesignated '25th Armoured Delivery Regiment (The Elgin Regiment), CAC'. One squadron of the unit landed in Normandy on 8 June 1944, followed by Headquarters and other squadrons in July 1944. The detached squadron in Italy moved to North-West Europe in March 1945 to rejoin the Regiment. The overseas regiment was disbanded on 15 February 1946.

Welcome Home from the St. Thomas Times-Journal, January 26, 1946.

     After their return to Canada in 1945-46 the Elgin Regiment returned to an infantry role. Later, in 1954, The Elgin Regiment returned to the Armoured Corps where it remained until 1997. On 14 August 1997, The Elgin Regiment (RCAC) was disbanded for the purpose of conversion to an engineer unit the same day, becoming 31 Combat Engineer Regiment (The Elgins).
     Currently, the Elgin Regiment remains the 31 Combat Engineer Regiment and is headquartered in St. Thomas.

    The Elgins are associated with some of the biggest operations of the Second World War, and our local boys made a name for themselves in Europe and beyond in a number of different conditions.
     Do you know someone who served with The Elgins? We'd love to hear your stories!

Thanks for reading,

    Delany

Information courtesy of elgincounty.ca and forces.gc.ca


World War Wednesdays: British Home Children in Elgin County and Beyond

World War Wednesdays: British Home Children in Elgin County and Beyond

     Before jumping into this week's post I wanted to thank both the regular followers and new readers for the astonishing view count on last week's post! It more than doubled the old record and I am very excited that so many people have renewed access to these stories. I also checked with my dad before writing this to make sure that he hadn't just read the post that many times, and he assures me that other people helped reach that number-- so thank you!

      This week's post is a bit of a stretch of our parameters but please bear with me because it's a subject that I think cannot be discussed enough. It's another one of the little things that come up in conversations with my grandpa that make me want to do some investigating!

 

      A while back he talked about a group of kids that he knew growing up who had come over as part of the British home children program. As a kid myself, one of the first historical books I ever read was on the subject. For this week, I decided to do a bit of digging and see what this concept really entailed.

 

 

A group of young home children with their belongings

    

     Between 1869 and the late 1930s, a program begun by Scottish Quaker and philanthropist Annie MacPherson facilitated the emigration of over 100,000 children were sent from the United Kingdom to Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. Motivated by social and economic forces, churches and philanthropic organizations sent orphaned, abandoned and pauper children to Commonwealth countries with the belief that these children would have a better chance for a healthy, moral life in rural areas, where families welcomed them as a source of cheap farm labour and domestic help. According to these conditions, Canada was the ideal location for them to be sent.

 

     Over fifty sending agencies in the UK were established to organize the groups of children, some of the more well known names are Rye, Macpherson, Fegan, Quarriers, Barnardo, Middlemore, Catholic Emigration Society, Salvation Army, Church of England Waif & Strays.After arriving by ship, the children were sent to distributing homes, such as Fairknowe in Brockville, and then sent on to farmers in the area.

 

     Although many of the children were poorly treated and abused, others experienced a better life here than if they had remained in the urban slums of England. Many served with the Canadian and British Forces during both World Wars.It is estimated that 12%, over 4 million, of the Canadian population is a descendant of a Home Child. Home Children Descendants now live worldwide.

    

     With numbers like that and our area being an ideal rural location, Home Children are no doubt a part of our history. When I looked into records of Home Children in Elgin County, I found a number of names and stories. There are numerous message boards and societies which seek to reunite descendants of the children with their UK relatives, and I found instances of people from all over the world looking for information on Home Children who had lived and been buried in places like St. Thomas.

 

    I happened to come across many cases connected to Elgin, but I will share just one example of a local child placement in Port Stanley. Johanna Stilwell, aged twelve, travelled from Bristol, England aboard the SS Prussia on July 9, 1870 and was placed as a servant to a family in Port Stanley. On April 7, 1891, she penned an affectionate letter to the operator of the home in which she had stayed in England:

 

Dear Miss... I was very much pleased when I received your letter. I am glad you enjoyed your holiday. I have heard where my sister lives, and have written to her this week. She lives at Mr James Law, a farmer, only one son, at Thorald (Thorold). I thought you had letters from all the girls that you had asked to write you, and I think it very ungrateful of them not to write to you. I am very glad to hear that you received a letter from M. A. Cambell. I am very sorry indeed to hear of the death of Mr Greatorex. Give Miss Emma my kind love, and also Mrs Greatorex and master Eddy and Robert. I have enjoyed the winter very much. It has not been very cold. There has not been very much snow. I believe there never is much snow just here, because we are so near the lake. Please give me the names of some of the girls who are coming out to Canada with Miss Rye, who you can best recommend, for a lady in Port Stanley wishes to get one - one who is kind and gentle to children. Dear Miss ..., give my kind love to Miss Jane and to Mrs. ... I hope Mrs. ... has been well this winter, as she generally has a cold. Give my love to Mr. Spring, and tell him I have not forgotten the sermon which he preached to us before we came to Canada. I hope Miss Bessell was pleased with my letter to her. We have lately had a new library in the Sabbath school, and the books are very pretty ones. I hope Mrs Greatorex is mistress of the house still. Give my kind love to the guardians. I will write to you as often as I can, and let you know how I am getting on. Please accept my kindest love, I must soon write to Mrs .... Please write to me as soon as you can, for the lady is anxious to hear about the girls. I am, your affectionate and grateful friend, J. Stillwell

 

Census records indicate that Johanna remained in the area, and she appears to later have moved to Woodstock. She is just one of many examples of children who found themselves living in the area which some of us now call home, and may even be sharing with the descendants of children like Johanna.

 

If you have any information related to Home Children in Elgin, I would love to hear it! It is stories like this that make us realize how much more interconnected we are than we really think.

 

Thanks for reading,

Delany Leitch