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Okay Steve, If this gets to be too much, please let me know.... More military badges, etc. Can anyone give a bit of history on them

...if they could only talk, the tales they'd tell.
Here's some info on that nice "1st Canadian Pioneer"
The pioneer battalions were engineer units and were later abosorbed by the engineer corps. They were largely concerned with building and maintaining the light railways used to supply the trenches. The 1st Candian Pioneers were out of Calgary.
 
What a gem of a site. It is an amazing listing of the men of the 6th Brigade Canadian Machine Gun Company & 2nd Battalion Canadian Machine Gun Corps.
Many of the names have stories posted with them:
>>>Donald Fraser recounts the following incident in his diary (The Journal of Private Fraser, ed. Reginald H. Roy, publ. 1998, CEF Books), while the company was based in trenches in the Bajolle-Souchez Sector, at the northern end of Vimy Ridge: "Monday, 25 December 1916 - A very amusing incident occurred during this lively bombardment when two of our gun crew tried to escape the shelling which very nearly got them. They occupied one of the dug-outs adjoining the communication trench about twenty-five yards away. A shell exploded within fifteen feet of them, throwing a fountain of earth up in the air to fall on top of their dug-out. We said to each other, watch Aimoe and McCormick get out of the dug-out in a hurry, but there was not a stir. In a few minutes another one came over and just missed them. In a flash McCormick rushed out of the dug-out, down the trench towards us and turning sharply into the short trench leading to the emplacement, threw himself into it. He was immediately followed by Aimoe who had his tunic on his arm, his braces streaming in the wind and he was in such a hurry to get round the bend in the trench that he did a perfect Charlie Chaplin on one foot. No sooner did he land in the emplacement when a third shell exploded right in front of it wrecking the emplacement and tossing the gun out of the way and scattering corruption all over them. It was a scream to see them, consternation and fright written all over their features. Scrambling from the emplacement they literally flew up the trench a couple of hundred yards away, finally taking refuge in a deep dug-out in the battalion's quarters. They did not put in an appearance for quite a while afterwards. Although it was a serious situation and their plight desperate, it was impossible to refrain from laughter."<<<
*******
That book, The Journal of Private Fraser, looks really intersting and I'm gonna see if I can find a copy for my library! <img src="/metal/html/smile.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":)">
 
>>>The Journal of Private Fraser,
Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-18.
edited by Dr. R. H. Roy
Donald Fraser was in many ways a typical soldier of the Great War. Like thousands of others he enthusiastically enlisted to support his King and Country in the great European war. Fraser joined the 31st (Calgary) Battalion in 1914. His journey from those jubilant days in Calgary led him to the great battlefields of the First World War. . His own war came to a sudden end in the slime of Passchendaele in November 1917.
Donald Fraser, lived and fought in the hideous conditions of mud, death, rats, filth, and fire that characterized the Great War. His experiences of trench life were meticulously recorded, bringing to life a soldier
 
And see if I can find it. I assume that you have read Vimy by pierre Burton as well. Another book that demonstrates the horrors of the first world war.
All the best
Sunny skies
M
 
...Burton does a great job of saying that Canada really became a country on April 9 1917, not July 1 1867 and I agree that more than anything else, WWI and the battles like Vimy Ridge, the Somme, Ypres have defined us as a nation to ourselves and the rest of the world. As General Ross said of Vimy, "It was Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific on parade. I thought then that in those few minutes I witnessed the birth of a nation."
Gosh, those boys sure did us proud. A lost badge or a button or a medal from this war is a real treasure and a privilage to find.
Pic: Vimy Ridge; German troops surrendering to the advancing Canadians. 10,000 Canadian casualties in this single offensive. <img src="/metal/html/shocked.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":shock">
Below a link from the UK.
 
A country so proud; honourable,worthy. And now we are mired in corruption;
A link to find the book; I found 2 copies
All the best Steve
Fair winds
 
...look at the Ross rifle scandal. The same elite still governs the country.
The biggest change I'd say is that even though in our hearts we are still a rural people, the majority of us now live in cities. In my opinion this is due to a severe lack of foresight in this country in building an infrastructure. Face it, we are a nation of 3 cities and one highway.
Since the first war the population has flip flopped from rural to urban, with the vast majority of Canadians forced to leave their homes in towns and villages across the country to find work in the city. Toronto is now bloated from Oakville to Oshawa. Heck, in the last 20 years we've managed to empty Newfoundland and are in the process of selling off entire villages on the Maritime coast to build ritzy American vacation homes. Too sad.
I grew up roaming the hills with a .22. My son isn't and that bothers me to no end. Whaddya gonna do? <img src="/metal/html/shrug.gif" border=0 width=37 height=15 alt=":shrug"> Ah... but this is views forum stuff, eh? <img src="/metal/html/wink.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=";)">
 
Did you check out the currency converter. Our dollar's doing better, eh?
Could be worse. We could be paying in Romanian Leu: 566,333.33
<img src="/metal/html/lol.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":lol">
 
...not bad. It's hard to find this book anywhere and they got 146 here. Thank you!
used book:
Peter Abelard.
by Waddell, Helen.
price: $2.95
Ships within 2 to 3 days
add to wishlist
Edition: Ninth Printing Binding: Trade Paperback Publisher: Viking, New York NY Date Published: 1971 ISBN: 0670000515 Description: Matulay, Laszlo. Good/No Jacket 8vo-over 7
 
I can't find the date of organiztion or strength however this unit was raised in Winnipeg It is one of the rarer Pioneer units. I am looking into your other badges and will contact you soon.
Dean
 
No info on strength or date of organization however this unit was raised in BC. This is the 2nd most valuable Depot Battn badge.
Dean
 
This is probably the 3rd most commom WW1 Badge All Engineer troops wore these and there were thouands of them. Still a great find.
Dean
 
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