Private Ambrose Coburn

Name: Coburn, Ambrose

Address: Cardston Alberta

Religion: Roman Catholic

Highest Rank: Private

LAC ID: 107294

Attestation record(s): image 1, image 2

Service file: B1823-S008

Uploader's Research notes: Ambrose Coburn No.736316 Born: October 10,1889 New York Enlisted: Cardston Alberta For 1 year or the “duration of the war between Great Britain and Germany 6 months.” January 10,1916 signs oath of allegiance to King George V Occupation: Rancher Next of Kin: Mrs. Mary Coburn 34 Broad St. New York, NY Age 28 years 2 months Height: 5’8” Chest: 361/2” Complexion: Ruddy Eyes: Blue Hair: Dark Brown Faith: Roman Catholic Designated Category A-Fit For General Service (Able to march, see to shoot, hear well and stand active service conditions) Military District 13 Lethbridge Point of Mobilization. Headquarters Calgary. Ambrose’s Service Number falls in the Range (736001-739000) for this military district. Certified by CO 113th Battalion CEF “Lethbridge Highlanders” Jan 17,1916 Initially in the 113th Battalion The 113th was formed 12/22/15 spent some time at the Scarcee training area Calgary Alberta. The 113th placed rocks to spell out their unit designation on Signal Hill, Calgary (see “Signal Hill, Calgary” by WE Storey Stand To! Number 66 January 2003. Apparently trained in Canada for 8 months. Standard Basic Training lasted 14 weeks. (Love Pg. 91) February 6 1916-February 9,1916 stricken by appendicitis not operated “apparently recovered” May 18,1916 forfeits one days pay for being AWOL September 25,1916 unit sails for England (?) September 26,1916 embarked for England on the SS Tuscania October 6, 1916 arrives in England October 9, 1916 transferred to 17th Reserve Battalion CEF “Nova Scotia Highlanders. Seaforth Highlanders” which included the 113th (Love 92) The 17th Reserve was located at Bramshott Camp located South of London. November 12,1916 proceeds to France November 12, 1916 transferred to 16th Battalion CEF The Canadian Scottish 3rd Brigade 1st Division CEF. CEF commander is Cy Peck “one of the most belligerent commanders in the Canadian Corps. Bulky, black-browed British Colombian with and enormous walrus mustache. It was his custom to move forward with the assaulting troops “she’s a bear, boys!” he would shout over the din.”(Pierre Barton-Vimy pg 203) Shoulder patch was a Red Rectangle with a Blue Square above it. November13-18, 1916 the 16th takes part in the Battle of Ancre Heights. Not sure if Ambrose would have been rushed into the line that quickly. After the blood-letting of the Somme the Canadian Corps received a large number of replacements at the time Amborose joined the 16th. By December of 1916 all Canadian Divisions were together at Vimy. The British plan for 1917 called for a British attack fromCroiselles South of Arras to Givenchy just North of Vimy ridge. It was the Canadians responsibility to take Vimy Ridge in order to protect the British flank. The Canadians rehearsed repeatedly they probed the German lines and raided for intelligence constantly and to keep the Germans wary. Although these raids were successful they took their toll in officers and men.(Arthur Currie CO of the 1st Division considered the raids a waste of good men and carried them out reluctantly) The plan was for the 1st Division to attack from their positions west of the Arras-Lens road and capture the main German trenches in front of Thelus. For this they would employ six battalions with the 16th the farthest north. the total front of attack was 1.8 kilometers for the Division.(The Canadians at Vimy-Norm Christie) The Sixteenth Canadian Scottish CEF The 16th Battalion CEF was also in the 1st Division but in the brigade to the north of the Tenth. They too had carried out rehearsals in the marked out fields around Servins; tapes and multicolored flags indicating enemy dug-outs, trenches, roads, machine gun emplacements and artillery positions A relief map of plasticine showing all contours of the Ridge was on view at First Army HQ, where parties of officers and NCO’s were brought back to study it. Preparations completed they started up for the front at 6pm Eater Sunday. ‘the evening , in marked contrast to the days which had gone before, was calm and sunny with a light wind blowing from the west, which was fast drying up the ground. Marching up the valley between Ecoivres and Maroeuil woods, they passed by the battalions of 1st Brigade-the ‘passing-through’ brigade- which was scattered along the sides of the hollow with bands playing, waiting for dusk to permit them to move on. They reached the high ground, under distant view of the Ridge from where the German was making his last survey of the wide land he had dominated for two long years before,and halted. After the bustle of the previous days there was a strange quiet; all vehicular traffic for the night had been cleared off the forward roads; the sound of the gunfire was carried away from them over the enemy’s country by the breeze.’ The 16th made it’s final approach to the front by using the Bentata tunnel and therefore sustained few casualties. However battalion HQ suffered a disaster when it transferred to its’ battle HQ because the Commanding Officer, Lt. Col. CW Peck, decided not to use the subway as it was out of the way and crowded with men and so the HQ went overground. An officer commented: ‘Going forward the mud was terrible. In one place I had to get out of my boots, climb on the bank of the sunken road and then pull out my boots after me.’ A shell landed on the group of six men, and the only one to out unharmed was the CO. The adjutant was dangerously wounded and blown up in the air by the force of the explosion. This calamity was the most eventful part of the assembly. The Sixteenth faced a similar problem to the Tenth as regards the state of No Man’s Land, in this case craters in the Claudot and Vissec groups causing the problems. The initial advance was made in files of sections, these coming under fire from machine gun posts placed on the further lips of the craters and heavy casualties, especially amongst the leaders, were suffered. ‘The fire from the hostile machine-guns now beat in on the advancing men from front and flank alternately. It was evident that these weapons were scattered everywhere in an irregular pattern on the shell-pitted ground over which the battalion had to go forward. Men began to drop singly, others in huddled groups. The action could best be described as a running fight, men rushing from shell hole to shell hole, the bodies of the fallen indicating by their position the location of the enemy’s guns towards which the fighting was directed. Organized enemy resistance was first met with at a trench called Visener Graben, thirty to forty yards short of Arras-lens road; this trench had somehow escaped destruction by the supporting artillery. In it the Germans fought hard and the trench had to be captured at the point of a bayonet.’ The battalion was to win it’s second VC of the war here. The left hand company was held up in it’s progress from Visener Graben to the Zwolfer Weg by machine gun fire from it’s left threatening to cause a serious delay to the advance and attempts to silence it failed. Private WJ Milne sprang out of a shell hole and crawled forward on his hands and knees. When he reached the gun position he killed the crew with bombs and captured the gun. He dealt with a similar situation on the advance to the Red Line and was equally successful. however he was killed later in the day so his VC was posthumously awarded. His body was never found and he is commemorated on the Vimy memorial. The Battalion took it’s objectives on the Red Line on time. The men looked behind them as fresh troops came to continue the battle. ‘but of more intimate concern to the 16th men was another group which had just arrived from the rear. It was headed by Pipe-major Groat and Piper Al McNab, playing lustily. Then came Col Peck, next RSM Kay followed by the Colonel’s servant and last of all Kay’s batman with a jar of rum under each arm. At first the company men were too occupied with the consolidation work on hand to show their feelings. The scattered cheer was heard, but as the procession drew nearer and got into the final objective, a volume of cheering broke out on all sides, apparently directed in greater part to the last figure with the jars’ As the battle progressed into the afternoon and men went forward to the far side of Farbus, it was possible to realize fully the meaning of the victory that morning. ‘A wide expanse of open country-green fields, woods, and villages untouched by war- stretched to the skyline for miles on all sides. On the easterly horizon smoking factory chimneys of Douai were plainly visible and some men announced that through glasses they were able to observe the clock dial on a high tower.... A fugitive horseman, apparently pursued by bullets, was zig-zagging across the plain, clinging with hands and knees to the neck and body of his steed; enemy guns were standing on the open plain of Willerval deserted by their crews.’ The Battalion suffered 341 casualties on April 9th; 454 by the time it came back to the reserve of May 4th. this included 25 officers- of the 21 who went into action on April 9th no less than 20 were put out of action- the heaviest officer casualty list for any single action of the war. Amongst their number was Col Peck, who had to be evacuated to England, but was able to return in due course to his beloved battalion and who went on to win the VC in September 1918 at Cagincourt. (Vimy Ridge- Arras- Nigel Cave p131-34) April 9-May,15, 1917 16th fights in Battle of Arras including Vimy Ridge below April 4, 1917 Pvt. Ambrose Coburn and the 16th Battalion CEF participate in the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Battle for the ridge lasts until April 14,1917 During the bombardment the 16th was in an underground shelter (called subways by the Canadians) called Bentata Subway at the southern limit of the Canadian Corps Line.(P. Berton Vimy pg 148 The artillery preparation for the attack was immense for two weeks British, Canadian and South African guns pounded the German positions obliterating some trenches and making resupply difficult for the Germans. The artillery also used sounding techniques to silence German batteries on the day of the attack. Once the battle started the combined artillery had a tight schedule to keep German advanced positions subdued by a rolling barrage. undoubtedly it was the artillery that was responsible for the victory at Vimy Ridge. At 5.30 AM on Easter Monday April 9,1917 the attack commenced in blowing sleet. The 1st Divisions attack went well with the front line trenches falling quickly but resistance stiffened as they reached the second line. Each of the attacking Battalions suffered from 80 to 100 men killed. This meant 1 in 8 troops were killed. Despite the heavy casualties, the attack continued. Individual actions helped break up the resistance caused by numerous German machine-gun nests. Private William Milne of the 16th CEF won the Victoria Cross for his action in eliminating German machine gun nests. He was killed later in the battle. The second phase of the 1st Division attack was just as successful and by the end of the day they had achieved their objectives. (The Canadians at Vimy-Norm Christie) April 9,1917 near Thelus on the divisions left flank (1st Div. CEF) the Canadian Scottish had trouble fighting their way around clusters of old French mine craters that blocked their advance. The craters were 20 feet deep with slippery sides which led down to 6 feet or more of slime and water. As the Scottish squeezed through the gaps between the hollows German machine guns on the far lips fired on the leading companies. The troops paused then used platoon tactics to attack the machine guns from the flanks. The cost was heavy but the 16th managed to get through the craters into the German forward positions. When the attackers reached the second of the three German lines, resistance stiffened, men rushed from shell hole to shell hole, attacking strong points with grenades and bayonets.(Pierre Berton-Vimy pg. 218) In the 1st Division attacking battalions 1 in 8 were killed and 1 in 3 were wounded. (Norm Christie-The Canadians at Vimy pg.16) April 22,1917 Illness. Inflamed stomach admitted No.13 (Per Love No. 1) General Hospital Etaples Gastritis. Etaples was the major British Depot in France. April 28-29,1917 16th takes part in the Battle of Arleux. Ambrose is not present. April 28,1917 Transferred to No. 1 Canadian Hospital Depot Boulogne. Boulogne was a major hospital center throughout the war. April 29,1917 Discharged No.3 Rest Camp May 3-4,1917 16th takes part in Battle of Scarpe. Ambrose is not present. May 8,1917 Returned to duty. May 12,1917 Reported from base rejoined unit. August 1917 Before the battle for Hill 70 12,000 Canadian troops spend two weeks in the tunnels carved from the chalk at Loos due to the attack being delayed.(The Tunnels of Loos-Peter Last WFA Bulletin No.60 June 2001) August 15-25 16th takes part in Assault on Hill 70, North of Lens suffers 9,198 casualties. Ambrose suffers shell-shock on the first day of the assault. See below. August 15,1917 No. 10 CFA “wounded NYD” “A shell...may play no part whatever in the causation of ‘shell-shock’: excessive emotion,e.g. sudden horror or fear-indeed any ‘physical trauma’ or ‘inadjustable experience’- is sufficient. Moreover, in men already worn out or having previously suffered from the disorder, the final cause of the breakdown may be so slight, and its onset so gradual, that its origin hardly deserves the name of ‘shock’. ‘Shell-Shock’ therefore is a singularly ill-chosen term” (As quoted from CS Meyers in Eye deep in Hell-John Ellis pg 116) Tentative efforts were made to distinguish between the various types of cases. One typology split up neurasthenic cases and those regarded as hysteric. The former displayed chronic symptoms which gradually intensified- tiredness, irritability, giddiness, inability to concentrate, headaches. Their worries were on a conscious level, whereas the hysteric would suddenly break down as a reaction to subconscious, repressed fears. For many their complaint was never defined any more precisely than NYD(N) Not Yet Diagnosed (Nervousness). By 1916 special hospitals were set up for neurasthenia cases. Soldiers normally stayed about two weeks on average. There was room for 500-1,000 patients. Officers normally received better treatment than enlisted men including recuperative visits to French resort hotels on the Mediterranean.(Eye Deep in Hell-John Ellis) August 15,1917 Transferred to No.22 Casualty Clearing Station. August 17,1917 Transferred NO. 4 Stationary Hospital Arques. “Nervousness” August 17,1917 Diagnosed Neurasthenia. September 3,1917 Discharged to duty. October 26,1917 CEF begins the assault on Passchendaele Canadians take 500 yards at a cost of 3,400 casualties. Ambrose is present. October 30,1917 CEF advances towards Passchendaele village from the south and southeast and gain another 500 yards. Ambrose is present. November 6,1917 CEF begins the assault on Passchendaele village proper the 1st division assaults from the southeast and takes the Mosselmarkt The culminating attack on Passchendaele village scheduled for 6 November would, however, be confined to the Canadians. The conditions are awful, beyond description, nothing we’ve had yet has come up to it, the whole trouble is the weather which daily gets worse. One’s admiration goes out to the infantry who attack and gain ground under these conditions. Had I a descriptive pen I could picture to you the squalor and wretchedness of it all. Figure to yourself a desolate wilderness of water-filled shell craters, and crater after crater whose lips form narrow peninsulars(sic) along which one can at best pick but a slow and precarious way. Here a shattered tree trunk, there a wrecked pill-box sole remaining evidence that this was once a human inhabited land. Dante would never have condemned lost souls to wander in so terrible a purgatory....... The Canadians did have the advantage of five days virtually free of rain in which to prepare the attack. And the troops who were to undertake it actually experienced the luxury of practicing their maneuvers behind the lines. Again the assault was to be carried out by two divisions: 1 Canadian Division attacking from the south-east;2 Canadian Division from the south. The barrage was good and the German troops holding the shell-hole defenses were overrun by the first waves of Canadians. The experience of one battalion sums up the battle: Tense and expectant for hours, the men now rose from their cramped positions and, in perfect formation, ploughed heavily forward behind the barrage. They overran the trench which, earlier in the morning had caused them so much worry, only to find that..trench mortars had disposed of this enemy garrison effectively. An officer and about a dozen Germans, machine-gun and all had been destroyed. No. 1 company under (the CO’s)...skillful direction headed for a cluster of pill-boxes on the side near the ridge, near the Mosselmarkt Road. The lift of the barrage brought the shells smashing amongst them, sending the enemy to cower for protection within the thick concrete walls. Before they could emerge, No.1 company was on top of them. Several brisk fights were engaged in; but the enemy had already been subjected to some tremendous punishment and they required little persuasion to surrender. Then casualties began to mount as machine-guns opened up on the right and left of the attack, but at last the assaulting forces in the south penetrated into Passchendaele village itself.(Prior & Wilson Passchendale The Untold Story-pg.178-79) November 7,1917 Ambrose is at No.4 Canadian Field Ambulance with Myalgia (muscular rheumatism) November 10,1917 CEF advances another 100-200 yards heavy rains bring the battle to a close. Ambrose not present. November 11,1917 Ambrose returns to duty. January 3,1918 in hospital reason unclear. January 12,1918 left for unit/rejoined unit. January 27- February 9,1918 on two weeks leave. April 10,1918 attached to the 1st Battalion Canadian Machine Gun Corps Medals read 16th Battalion CEF-On each soldiers paybook and service record would be his service number and original unit attested to. Even when awards and decorations were issued the medal was inscribed with the original unit-see Love. The 1st Battalion CMGC was attached to the 1st Division Ambrose’s original Division. 1st Battalion Numbers 1,2,3 & 13 Machine gun companies. Early 1918 MGC was reorganised each Battalion had 2,400 men and 96 guns. 4 Batteries, 8 Guns each. Each battery divided into two sections. Each section had 4 detachments, each detachment had a Sgt., 5 men and a Vickers Gun. (Love pg 144) These Companies originally raised from the 110th Irish Regiment (Canadian Militia) (Love p.142-143) May 6,1918 transferred to the 1st Battalion CMGC which served with the 1st Division CEF. The 1st was the only division Ambrose served in. “The Battle of Amiens began..at precisely 4:20 AM August 8, 1918 in the Canadian Corps area the bombardment obliterated the outpost and forward defensive positions. The attack was further aided in it’s initial stages by a thick mist that enveloped the battlefield and hid the advancing waves of attackers from German Artillery observers and machine gunners. The attack formations for all the assaulting divisions were roughly the same, and reflected the tactical innovations that had taken shape during the war. The lead wave was an extended line of infantry ‘skirmishers’ whose job it was to act as scouts, and to help guide the tanks which followed in an extended line in the second wave approximately 100 meters behind. Behind the tanks came infantry sections, in single file in three successive waves. Sections, platoons and companies were to push ahead relentlessly. Overcoming resistance with a combination of speedy flanking movements and violence created by grenades, mills bombs, and Lewis gun fire. Strong points that could not be taken would be reduced to rubble by the tanks, and isolated and left for the depth battalions to finish off. In the center, Maj Gen Archibald MacDonnells First Canadian Division pushed forward led by Brig Gen G.S. Tuxford’s 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade (Amrose’s old Brigade).Again the mist acted as a double-edged sword, protecting the attackers...but leading to navigational difficulties and confusion amongst the tanks. Once the mist lifted, about 10 AM, troops in the German front line discovered they had been over-run and depth elements of the Canadian attack found it necessary To d eal with surprised yet stubborn machine gunners who refused to surrender. Still the 1st managed to reach their objectives by early afternoon of the 8th. Heinz Guderian stated “Canadian 1st Division was...led by a battalion of tanks and it hit the 117th Jager Division. This was an excellent formation which was fully up to combat strength and it had a fine leader in Maj. Gen. Hoefer. All the same two of the infantry regimental commanders of the division were taken prisoner and the third died a hero’s death. Every attempt at resistance was broken by the way the Canadians mounted a turning movement to the north. Only when the Canadians halted...were the Germans able to form a new front.” -Shock Army of the British Empire-Shane Schreiber pgs.47-48 Transfer to the Machine Gun Corps would involve added training but how much is unclear. Safe to say Ambrose served through the last 100 Days of the First World War with the 1st Division CEF January 25,1919 14 days leave for Paris February 15,1919 rejoined unit March 25,1919 to England April 26,1919 embarks on Empress of Britain to Canada. Struck off strength 1st Bat. CMGC. The CEF was demobilized as complete entities. ( Love p.99) May 9,1919 Demobilized Toronto. During Ambrose’s service he sent a total of $390 (Canadian) to his mother in NYC. [Private Army Canadian Infantry 17th Reserve Battalion Private Army Canadian Infantry 16th Battalion Private Army Canadian Machine Gun Corps 1st Battalion, Canadian Machine Gun Corps Private Army Canadian Infantry 113th Battalion ]

Date added: 2006-06-06