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General => Armed Forces => World War One => Topic started by: RedMystic on Wednesday 20 November 13 01:35 GMT (UK)
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Hi Chatters
Is there a searchable means to find a battalion / platoon diary? I'm particularly interested in 1916. ???
This is the info I have:
- Canadian WWI soldier 716058.
- His battalion on his attestation papers is 106 Rifles.
- His platoon was #12 as per provincial photographic records.
While I await a service file, is it possible to track down the platoon diary to find out when this group shipped out, where they went, and if there were any defections from the platoon in 1916?I've been to the Canadian Libraries & Archives page, but I'm not seeing a means to narrow the search.
Also, it looks like some copy on LAC indicates some service files are uploaded for public access. Is this the case, and if so, what is the link for that?
Thanks in advance for your guidance. :)
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Hi RedMystic
You may find something in the links below or they may lead to something else:
http://www.canadiangreatwarproject.com/
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/archivianet/020152_e.html
Yours Aye
BruceL
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Good morning & thank you for your response, BruceL
The 2nd link is the one I'd been looking at. Is there a way to search it to get to a platoon level?
The first link looks like an interesting one. I'm on my phone so haven't delved into it as yet. It doesn't appear to have any deserter info.
I know there is a list of Cdn deserters who were executed. I'm looking for info on one who War Graves says deserted & disappeared. I'd like to find confirming documentation.
I thought the platoon diary might help me, but I'm not seeing a way to search the platoon.
I'm open to any other suggestions re how to confirm the developments for the fellow I'm searching.
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Did platoons keep war diaries?
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I don't know, newburychap. ??? ;D I can't even find the 106th battalion for the Mar 1916 until it's 16 July 1916 departure. :P Hopefully, something will pop out at me if I look again & again. ;D
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Hi there.
About the uploading of records ....
It is my understanding that LAC is working on digitizing the complete military records for WW1. No particular completion time frame that I am aware of. It is also my understanding that if one purchases the complete file it can be a digitized version that will concurrently be placed on line for that particular soldier. Can't tell you where I gathered this info from, though, and I haven't tried it out yet.
That thread about the Lovett Cemetery is absolutely fascinating!
PB
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Thanks PolarBear.
My understanding was that the war diaries were scanned, but if what you say is correct, then that explains why the Battalion records are hit & miss. I'm a novice at military research so I'll keep poking ::) ??? ;D
I keep thinking that there must be a list of WWI defectors somewhere, but all I can find is a list of those who were executed.
Thanks for the comment on the Lovett Cemetery tread. You are correct that this post pertains to one of the burials in that ghost town.
Hi Bleckie, I heard back from the Great War Project site. They directed me to LAC as well. Thanks again for trying. I have a message in to LAC to see if I'm simply missing seeing an on-line diary for the 106th.
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Hi again.
I was actually directing my comments above to the individual service files for each soldier. Didn't mean to confuse things :). Entire service records for each individual soldier are slowly being added to the online Attestation papers. You access them from the same webpage as the Attestation papers.
According to the LAC website, the digitization of the war diaries is still in progress. I do have experience with these and they are a bit hit and miss and very difficult to sort through. I found what I was looking for in the medical diary of the particular unit I was looking for. The actual war diary for the unit wasn't on line yet.
PB
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Disappeared,...but tried in absentia perhaps. ?
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=C1026693
C.M. = Court martial G.C.M. = General Court Martial F.G.C.M. = Field General Court Martial
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Thanks for the response cashew. :)
Here are my learnings for the day. ;)
There are no war diaries for battalions before they saw action in the field of battle - hence nothing in the period I was seeking.
Also:
With regard to deserters/defaulters, when an individual absented himself from his unit in Canada, he would at first only be declared to be Away Without Official Leave (AWOL), and a certain interval would follow to allow him either to surrender himself, or to be apprehended. The local authorities in the place he was living, as well as for the area in which his next of kin were living (if different), would be notified and instructed to arrest him if he appeared there. This process in practice only worked sporadically as it depended on local police authorities to carry out searches for deserters who might be in their area, which often they would not or could not do for various reasons. The military was unable to do more than token efforts in this direction, as the war required all their efforts.
If he remained at large for the set period, a Court of Inquiry would be convened and he would be declared a deserter rather than just AWOL and discharged from the service. If he then returned to his unit he would be subject to a General Court-Martial on the charge of desertion, and if found guilty might be sentenced to time in a military detention centre, or simply to a dishonourable discharge from the Forces. Most Court of Inquiry records did not survive. Sometimes these events were reported in a local newspaper.
Many deserters in Canada during the First World War were never apprehended before the war ended. Much bad feeling had been generated by conscription during the latter part of the war, and in order to speed the return to normal life a general amnesty was declared for all deserters. This meant that they could return to their homes with no fear of arrest. However, because they still had been discharged as deserters, they could expect no benefits from the Government under any of the programs set up to help war veterans after the First World War.
I love learning new things. :)
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I know the feeling, you've done extremely well to find all that information.
So, as I suspected, he did go absent whilst still in Canada.
Sensible post war policy of the Canadian government.
I'm wondering if perhaps he went to America, and American records for border crossings into America from Canada are available for that era.
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Hi cashew. Thanks for weighing in. :) This particular fellow died of Spanish flu living in a remote mining town. It is now a ghost town. I'm researching all of the known burials as it is no longer publicly accessible. It's been a fascinating sleuth so far.