15th Battalion C.E.F.
The 15th Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force was also known as the 15th Battalion Canadian Infantry Brigade. It is now known as the 48th Highlanders of Canada.
On the Strathroy cenotaph are five names of veterans who were in the 48th Highlanders when they died: Walter Treleaven Beer, James Warren Kellestine, Thomas Whyte Milliken, Asa John Patterson and Charles Perring. A sixth member of the 15th Battalion was William Samuel Cowan. He returned to Canada in 1919 and died in 1931, is buried in Strathroy Cemetery and his name is on the cenotaph.
Three of these men were killed at Vimy Ridge on April 9, 1917, while serving in the 1st Canadian Division, 15th Battalion, 3rd Infantry Brigade. They are James Warren Kellestine, Asa John Patterson, and Charles Perring.
Thomas Whyte Milliken was killed on March 12th, 1917 during a pre-battle exchange of armaments between the combatants. The fifth member of this battalion, Walter Treleaven Beer, was later killed in action on October 18, 1918, just 24 days before the war officially ended.
The following photos were taken at the 48th Highlanders Museum in St. Andrew’s Church, Toronto, by Bob and Maria do Socorro Butler. Thank you for submitting these photos.
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Details of events involving the 3 Strathroy veterans at Vimy Ridge that day can be found by scrolling down on this page.
The Battalion motto is Dileas Gu Brath (Faithful Forever).
48th Highlanders of Canada
An Infantry Regiment of Canada’s Primary Reserves
The 48th Highlanders have been a reserve (militia) regiment, tasked as infantry and located in the heart of downtown Toronto from its founding in 1891 to the present day. Today the regiment fulfils three roles, as does every regiment in Canada’s Reserves. Service to Canadians is the Reserves primary role, linking the civilian lives of each of its soldiers and the location of reserve regiments to communities throughout Canada. Under Canada Command tasking or when called out under “Aide to the Civil Power” 48th Highlanders have served across the breadth and width of our country. In its second role, augmentation to the Regular Forces in locations outside of Canada, members of the 48th continue to serve around the world. Finally, in the event of a declaration of war, the Reserves form a framework for mobilization, as the 48th Highlanders have in the First and Second World Wars.
Origins
The Regiment originated on 16 October 1891 when the “48th Battalion (Highlanders)” was authorized as an infantry battalion of the Canadian Militia following entreaties to the government by Scottish societies of Toronto. For Ontario’s first kilted regiment, the Davidson tartan was selected in honour of its first Commanding Officer, John Irvine Davidson. A falcon’s head from his family crest was incorporated into the distinctive regimental badges. The Gaelic phrase Dileas Gu Brath(Faithful Forever) has been the Regiment’s motto since its inception. From 1891 and to this day, scarlet doublets and feathered bonnets, based on historic Scottish infantry uniforms, have identified the 48th Highlanders of Canada on formal parades. Leading them on parade are the Pipes and Drums with the regimental pipers in Stuart of Fingask tartan.
Battle Honours
The 48th Highlanders of Canada have earned 49 battle honours in three wars, South Africa – 1, First World War – 21 and Second World War – 27. Eleven of these battle honours are emblazoned on the Regimental Colour: South Africa 1899-1900 and ten each from the First and Second World Wars.
Click on a Battle Honour from the list below to get more information on each Battle Honour.
Ypres 1915, 1917 Gravenstafel St. Julian
Festubert 1915 Mount Sorrel Somme 1916
Poziers Thiepval Ancre Heights
Arras 1917, 1918 Vimy 1917 Arleux
Scarpe 1917, 1918 Hill 70 Passchendale
Amiens Drocourt-Queant Hindenburg Line
Canal du Nord Pursuit to Mons France and Flanders 1915 – 18
At Vimy Ridge, the 3rd Brigade was commanded by Brigadier-General George Tuxford, and the 15th Battalion, 48th Highlanders, was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Bent. Privates Kellestine, Milliken, Patterson, and Perring were part of the 15th Battalion when they were killed in action on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1917.
The map above indicates how the four Canadian Divisions were aligned, with the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed from south to north. The 1st Division was commanded by Major-General Arthur Currie from Strathroy. The 3rd Brigade, 15th Battalion was farthest south within the 1st Division, with the 14th Battalion in the middle and the 16th Battalion farthest north.
This close-up helps focus where Privates Kellestine, Patterson and Perring were on that day.
The operation plan was as follows. “On the right flank of the divisional frontage was Brigadier-General Frederick Loomis’s 2nd Infantry Brigade, with the 5th, 7th and 10th battalions in the first wave and 8th battalion in reserve. To the left was the 3rd Brigade, under Brigadier-General George Tuxford, with 15th, 14th and 16th battalions in line and 13th in reserve. These two brigades were responsible for capturing the Black and Red lines. The 1st Brigade, under Brigadier-General William Griesbach, would then follow through and advance as far as the Blue and Brown lines.”
[Source: “Vimy Ridge A Canadian Reassessment, pages 157-8]
Looking at the top map you can see that the Canadian 1st Division had the farthest to push forward to achieve its goals, about 3,560 metres. However, the terrain was gradual, relatively level and open. Farther north, the terrain was much steeper.
Among Currie’s three infantry Brigades, their battle experiences varied. “On 3rd Brigade’s front Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Bent’s 15th Battalion (48th Highlanders of Canada) launched its assault on time at 0530 hours and immediately captured the enemy’s front line and support trenches. The battalion reached its first major objective, Wolfer Weg (Black Line) in 40 minutes. Within several hours, the troops overran Zwischen Steeling (Red Line) and proceeded to consolidate the gains. Casualties that morning amounted to three officers killed and six wounded, while at least sixty other ranks were killed and more than 100 wounded, about twenty-five percent of the battalion’s combat strength.
These losses were by no means light, but Lieutenant-Colonel Gault McCombe’s 14th Battalion (Royal Montreal Regiment) met greater difficulty as it advanced up the centre of the 3rd Brigade front. The Bavarian riflemen and machine gunners reportedly “fought to the last, showing no inclination to surrender.” They were overcome largely by small groups of men armed with hand grenades. Indirect fire from Lewis gun crews also helped, but accurate artillery fire eased the battalion’s difficult advance by destroying most of the enemy wire and damaging a good portion of the entrenchments. . . . of McCombe’s 701 officers and men, 287 became casualties on 9 April, almost double the number suffered by the 15th Battalion on adjacent frontage.” (Cyril Lowe was one of those killed.)
[Source: “Vimy Ridge A Canadian Reassessment, pages 158-9]
The assault on Vimy Ridge had been carefully planned and rehearsed for weeks prior to the attack. Each Battalion had received maps of the terrain ahead of them so as to know what to expect regarding hills, mortar holes, wet areas, enemy trenches, barbed wire lines, etc. They had been taken, in rotation turns, from the front lines and had practised their forward movements, carefully timed so that they stayed behind the rolling barrage of artillery fire that they would be dropping on the German trenches and wire lines. Timing was essential. If they moved too quickly they would be hit by their own artillery fire. If they moved too slowly the enemy ahead of them would have time to regroup before their lines of infantry got to the enemy trenches.
At Vimy new technology and innovative tactics (compared to earlier months) were implemented, but the infantry soldiers still depended upon mortars, machine guns and rifle grenades. However, when face-to-face with the enemy they relied on the rifle and bayonet. No amount of planning and careful placement of armaments could save men and horses from stray shells, an untouched enemy machine gun nest, or even the mud and miserable weather they slogged through. A wounded casualty was likely to become a fatality because he drowned before help could arrive.
The following URL links are to YouTube videos that will provide perspective for those remembering the sacrifices of our veterans and their experiences at Vimy Ridge.
WWI: The Battle of Vimy Ridge (22:27)
The Battle of Vimy Ridge (5:39)
Vimy Ridge Heaven to Hell – Full Documentary (1:09:48)
The Battle of Vimy Ridge (2:19)
The Battle of Vimy Ridge part 1 Setting the Stage (8:02)
Vimy Ridge Footage (2:43)
Canada and the Great War 2 of 3 The Battle of Vimy Ridge (1:30:55)