Dear old girl

A collection of letters from Pte Dick Armer to his wife Mabel who he frequently referred to as "Dear old girl". His three children were Billie, Marjorie and Dorothy who was born while he was away. Dick had promised to "write every day" and, with few exceptions, kept his promise. The letters were written during WW1 from Camp Borden in Canada, on the train to Halifax, on board ship to England, from Witley Camp and France. Scroll to the bottom of the entry and click on comments to leave a message

Attestation Papers

There were no letters in the files for this period until the 18th of July.
The following are Richard's Attestation Papers. They were filled in and signed when Richard joined the Canadian Forces and show details about his home, country of birth, next of kin, height, weight and some other details.

Undated letter from Camp Borden

There were no letters on file from the 12th to the 17th of July 1916. However there was one letter which was undated and it looks from the content as if it was written at Camp Borden, perhaps early in Dick's time there. From the letters after the 17th, it looks as if Dick may have journeyed back to London Ontario on a leave of absence.

The reader will also observe that Dick comments on how his wife "isn't feeling well". The family and I have discussed this and it seems she was expecting her third child and perhaps was experiencing "morning sickness".

I've also included a clipping from the Globe on the 12th of July 1916 wherein the L Col of the 142nd makes it quite clear that "London's Own" had nothing to do with the booing of Sir Sam Hughes.

A visit from Sir Sam

Here is the rest of the letter posted yesterday, that applies to the 11th July 1916. I've repeated page 2.

Battalion Riots

Dick started his letter of the 11th of July part way through the second page of the letter of the 10th. We will put up the rest of the 11th tomorrow. Looks like the 135th, 149th and 168th Battalions were up to no good.

I don't like this place one bit

The 142nd Battalion - London's Own

Here is some information on the battalion Dick Armer joined. It was known as the142nd Battalion (London's Own)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from 142nd (London's Own) Battalion, CEF)

The 142nd (London's Own) Battalion, CEF was a unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. Based in London, Ontario, the unit began recruiting in late 1915 in that city. After sailing to England in November 1916, the battalion was absorbed into the 23rd Reserve Battalion on November 11, 1916. The 142nd (London's Own) Battalion, CEF had one Officer Commanding: Lieut-Col. C. M. R. Graham.
Stewart reports that the 142nd Battalion was organized on December 22, 1915, with a strength of 574 men. The unit was disbanded after the Great War on September 15, 1920. The 142nd Canadian Infantry Battalion was absorbed by the 23rd Reserve Battalion [1] to provide reinforcements for the Canadian Corps in the field. The 142nd Battalion is affiliated with the 1st and 33rd CEF Battalions and is perpetuated by the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) "London and Oxford Fusiliers" of the Canadian Army Militia. During the Great War the 142nd Battalion (due to men serving in other active battalions) received "Battle Honours" at Ypres 1915-17; Gravenstafel; St. Julien; Festubert 1915; Mount Sorrel; Somme 1916; Pozières; Flers-Courcelette; Ancre Heights; Arras 1917-18; Vimy 1917; Arleu; Scarpe 1917-18; Hill 70; Passchendaele; Amiens; Drocourt-Queant; Hindenburg Line; Canal du Nord; Pursuit to Mons; France and Flanders 1915-1918.
Lieutenant George Van Wyck Laughton, M.C. (Vimy Ridge) [2] of the 7th Regiment Fusiliers (Militia) attested to the 142nd Canadian Infantry Battalion in 1915. Details of the links between the Militia and the Canadian Expeditionary Force are provided on Lt. Laughton's web site.

References

Meek, John F. Over the Top! The Canadian Infantry in the First World War. Orangeville, Ont.: The Author, 1971.
Stewart, Charles H. "OVERSEAS - The Lineages and Insignia of the Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914-1919. Little & Stewart, Toronto ON, 1970.
Canadian Expeditionary Force MATRIX PROJECT [3]

Come back tomorrow for Dick's first letter home from Camp Borden

Merwin Heights London Ontario

You will have noticed that the letter is missing some portions. The original sheet was very large and could not be scanned in one piece.

Next letter is 9th of July as Dick seems to have been on leave before he left for training at Camp Borden.

Welcome

This blog is about the experiences of a WW1 soldier from London Ontario Canada. We shall be posting his letters as they were written on the day of the year he wrote them. We want to thank his descendants for so generously sharing them with Museum Strathroy Caradoc and for giving their permission for them to be shared with you.
The first letter is the 29th of June, so tune back in then.
Sarge
The song "Dear Old Girl"