Private #802940
4th Battalion, 1st Central Ontario Regiment
Errol Russell Ramey was the son of Thomas William and Sarah Ramey of R.R. #3 Appin, Ontario. Errol was born April 22, 1894, at Ekhid (?), Middlesex County. He signed up with the 135th Battalion in Strathroy on February 15, 1916, when he was 21 years and 9 months old. He was 5 ft. 4 1/2 in. tall, had “fair” complexion, blue eyes, and light brown hair. He declared himself a Presbyterian.and was 24 at the time of his death while fighting to capture the village of Abancourt, France on October 1st, 1918.
He was 24 at the time of his death on October 1st, 1918 while fighting with the 4th Battalion, 1st Central Ontario Regiment trying to capture the village of Abancourt, France. He is buried in the Sancourt British Cemetery which is located 5 km northwest of Cambrai, France. There is also a family memorial stone in the Strathroy Municipal Cemetery.
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The official war diaries of the 4th Battalion describe the events at the time of Private Ramey’s death in battle. These entries give an overview of the month of October. The entry for October 1st states, “Battalion attacked ABANCOURT at Zero hour viz 0500 o’clock and fought forward with unsurpassed bravery under murderous Machine Gun and artillery fire.” It might be assumed that it was at this time that Errol Ramey was killed.
The following diary entries give a “narrative” report of events. A strategy of attack at this time included laying down a heavy barrage of artillery fire prior to the infantry soldiers going “over the top” to move forward toward the enemy. The purpose was to destroy the lines of barbed wire set out to stop or slow the attackers so that machine gun fire could “mow them down” as they tried to get past the wire. Note in the record that it was discovered that the prior barrage to cut the wire had not been successful and the wire was mostly still intact, meaning that attacking Canadians would be slowed or stopped by the wire. Even with scouts going out ahead to try to cut some of the wire (extremely dangerous work) the attack was still ordered to go ahead at 0500 hours.
Particularly note the last page, where a summary of the “casualties” is given for this battle, of which Errol Ramey was one.
