Grandpa Gilbert Bell's WW1 Papers

Tonight I did a search for my Grandpa Gib Bell's World War 1 service record at Collection Canada's online library. I already knew he was part of the Canadian Over Seas Expeditionary Force but I didn't know what regamend he served with. This I found to be the 122 Over Seas Battalion.

Attestation Paper



Medical History Sheet



Discharge Papers


This a copy of my Grandpa Gib Bells World War I military record as part of the Canadian Expenditionary Force from 1916-1919. 

I have written for more information on the 122 I will update if I receive anything in the mean time I found this painting depicting the men of this unit leaving for duty in Gravenhurst.

Gravenhurst Company 122 Battalion Departing-by Andrew Miles

*Update July 19,2006

I received some information from the reference liabrary that was of great help to understanding the movements of my Grand Fathers Battalion. Here is what I have learned.

From "A guide to sources relating to units of the Canadian Expeditionary Force" compiled by Barbara Wilson provides an outline and sources of archival information about this battalion.

Organized in October 1915 under the command of Lt-Col. D.M. Grant
Authorization published in G.O. 151 of 22 December 1915
Mobilized at Huntsville, moved to Galt on 13 October 1916
Recruited in the Muskoka District beginning 1 December 1915
Left Halifax 2 June 1917 aboard the "Olympic"
Arrived in England 9 June 1917. Strength: 20 Officers, 686 O.R.'s (Other
Ranks)
Absorbed by Canadian Forestry Corps, Sunningdale, Berks., in June 1917
Disbanded by P.C 2342 of 1 September 1917
Band
Colours presented by ladies of Muskoka District at North Toronto Station on
26 April 1917. Deposited in Court House, Bracebridge in May 1921
Perpetuated by the Northern Pioneers which, in 1936, was absorbed by the
Algonquin Regiment.

As you can see, once the battalion arrived overseas, the 122nd battalion
became part of the Canadian Forestry Corps. From the start of the First
World War, Canadian Expeditionary Force units were required to maintain a
daily account of their 'Actions in the Field'. These logs were called War
Diaries and they are a historical record of a unit's administration,
operations and activities during the First World War.

From "The Official History of the Canadian Army in WW1"- COLONEL GWL NICHOLSON

The Canadian Forestry Corps

Canadian forestry units are said to have "helped to defeat the submarine ... more
surely than a fleet of ships". So enthusiastic a claim might be hard to substantiate, but the statement contains a considerable amount of truth.
British pre-war timber imported chiefly from Russia, Scandinavia and North America was valued at some forty million pounds sterling each year. The war brought an
increased demand for lumber, but, because of U-boat sinkings, there was a steadily
diminishing merchant fleet to carry it. The prior demands of munitions, food, forage and other essentials upon the depleted shipping made it impossible for Britain to continue to import Canadian timber on a sufficiently large scale to meet her war requirements. It was necessary therefore to begin felling English forests and converting them into lumber. A British inquiry, in January 1916, whether Canada could supply expert timbermen to produce lumber in the United Kingdom68 was followed a month later by an urgent request from the Secretary of State for the Colonies to the Governor General for 1500 skilled lumbermen. The War Office suggested that Canada might enlist in the C.E.F. a battalion of lumbermen, to be dispatched to the United Kingdom in small companies.

Note: My Grandfather was a carpenter by trade as stated on his Attestation Papers. More interestingly, after the war he continued in the trade making caskets.

The Muskoka Heritage Place in Huntsville, Ontario currently has an exhibit that runs until this fall called "Muskoka at War 1914-1918".

The curator of the exhibition said the following in an article entitled:
"Recalling the war to end all wars : Men, women, and even a horse from
Muskoka travelled overseas to do their part in the First World War":

"Muskoka had an important role to play with its own Battalion, the 122nd,"
said Bev Easton, curator of a new exhibit at Huntsville's Muskoka Heritage
Place. "Before this battalion formed, a number of Muskoka men did go and
fight overseas under many different regiments and battalions."

Later,
Kenaz