Month: April 1918

The men remain in Brigade support to start the month. The enemy artillery is very active using shells of various size calibers. Five men are wounded. One man is wounded by a self inflicted gunshot. The Battalion moves back into the frontline itself on the 4th. Right away they are met with all kinds of dangers. The Germans are throwing everything at them. Machine gun fire, bombing, sniping, 8 inch Hows, 6 pineapples thrown over, whiz bangs. More men are wounded. The next morning things are even worse. They are facing minenwerfers, and then look up to see 100 German soldiers attacking, running towards them about 500 yards away at this point. They allow the Germans to come closer. At 175 yards they open fire with the Lewis Guns and rifles. This causes the advancing Germans to split up into groups of 5 or 6 each. At 100 yards as the Canadians continue with the gunfire. The Germans start to fall. Others turn around and run. The German attack is repelled. It is estimated at least a third of the 100 have been killed. There are casualties on the Canadian side as well: 7 killed and 15 wounded. The men are relievex on April 6th. They take a train from Agny that takes them on a 3 hour ride to Warlus. In Warlus the heroes are rewarded with a hot meal, war blankets, dry socks and rum. They then march four hours to Durham Camp – Mont St Eloy. Once again they are told to be ready to move at an instants notice. Fortunately that doesn’t happen and the men stay at Durham camp for a few days. Excitement on the 10th as a newer model German plane is hit by a bullet causing damage to its water pump. The plane crashes in Durham camp and the German pilots and the plane are taken prisoner. The Battalion moves on the 11th to what is called Victory Camp – near Saint Catherine. ( there is a cemetery their now – the Anzin St Aubin British Cemetery) The area is active. Both sides have observation balloons up trying to figure out what each other are up to. But again the situation is fluid and the men are given new marching orders. They march via St Nicholas and Athies to Flanders Camp. ( this Flanders Camp is in Ecurie, France in the Pas de Calais area.) The enemy is active as they move into action on the 13th, but very quiet the night of the 14th before facing a lively strafe of 4.1s at 8pm followed by whiz bangs for an hour. Both sides artilleries are active until midnight. This continues on the 15th when two men are killed. They move back into a support position on the 16th. While in support the men are involved in working parties digging Stokes support, and digging Effie line, Effie Switch and Caroline trench. These trenches are in the Fampoux sector close to Arras. Being on a working party did not ensure safety as you were still subject to artillery shelling. On the 18th four men on working parties are wounded. The men then move to relieve the Third Canadian Infantry Battalion on the night of the 20th/21st. Relieving another battalion was never a safe manoeuvre. The war didn’t stop to allow the other side to make these Battalion changes easily. During relief that night the enemy opened a very heavy strafe that extended into the area of the 1st Canadian Infantry Battalion . One man is killed and 8 others are wounded. One of those wounded men is our Corporal Robert Dixon.

You could say that Corporal Dixon’s luck had finally run out. After having escaped being among the many wounded or killed at Vimy Ridge, Loos or Passchendaele a bullet finally finds his left leg . His Right leg takes some shrapnel . On the other hand you could say the Gods were still with the adventurous young English Canadian . He could easily have been killed like one of his colleagues was that morning. He could have taken the bullet somewhere else on his body close to a vital organ with serious repercussions. Not that a GSW wounds to both legs are any laughing matter and would not come with immense pain. But after 15 months on the front lines in one of the deadliest wars ever, maybe this was a godsend. Maybe it was time for Corporal Dixon to head home. The stretcher bearers move him through the trenches away from the front line. A horse drawn Canadian Field Ambulance (CFA on the forms) transports the wounded teamster to Casualty Clearing Station #42 (CCS#42 on the forms) which was in Aubigny en Artois. From there Corporal Dixon is transported by hospital train north to the English Channel. The Hospital Ship Stad Antwerpen then ferries Corporal Dixon across the English Channel. Once in England he is again transported by train north. He is on the outskirts of London on April 26th five days after being shot. There he makes a quick stop at Canadian Camp Witely in Surrey to be assessed and triaged. Corporal Dixon is then sent to the Princess Club Hospital in Bermondsey London where he is admitted on April 26th. Here he is treated for a thru and thru gunshot wound to his left leg ( note the Princess Club Hospital in Bermondsey no longer exists – it was at 106 Jamaica Road ) A through and through GSW again sounds lucky, but that doesn’t mean the bullet passed through his leg without hitting anything. It would definitely hit muscle and possibly some bone before exiting. Yes it could have been worse – but Corporal Dixon wouldn’t be walking in a park anytime soon.