Cenotaph Stories

Acting Sgt.

8627

45th Regt. 2nd Battalion

11 April, 1917
Age 28

Ecoivres Military Cemetery, Mont-St. Eloi, Pas de Calais, France - V F 8

First World War Book of Remembrance - Page 295

Douglas Gordon Mitchell was born 31 August 1888 in Toronto ON to William and Jessie Mitchell, originally from Scotland. The couple immigrated to Canada in 1884, had 2 more girls and a boy after Douglas. Their oldest daughter Mary was named after William’s sister Mary, who is shown on the census report with her son, James. He was 15 years older than Douglas, worked with William in the leather business, and is buried in Park Lawn Cemetery with William and Jessie.

When England entered the war, Douglas was on a canoe trip in Haliburton. Its noted in his obituary that he immediately cancelled his vacation, and came directly home to enlist, at Valcartier on 22nd September 1914, with the 45th Regiment as a Signalman. A few days later, he left his job as a teller at the Bank of Montreal in Lindsay and was sailing for France with the 2nd Battalion on 3 October 1914 as part of the first contingent. He was promoted several times on the field, all the way up to Acting Sgt 2 months before his death. By all indications, Douglas was an excellent soldier, and fearless in completing his duties. In August 1916 he was awarded the Military Metal for bravery in the field during the Second Battle of Ypres, where he received a fractured skull from a ‘coal box shell’, which was trench slang for a 90lb howitzer shell on account of the dense black smoke in creates.

After Douglas was killed in action during the Vimy offensive, his friend and fellow signalman R. Lindsay Warner, also of the 2nd Battalion, wrote a long letter to the Lindsay Post detailing Douglas’ bravery and character. Known as “Doug” to his friends, Warner said “From the Colonel down he was loved and respected by all, but is there any wonder for he was the best natured chap I ever met, as brave as the bravest, and most devoted to duty.” He goes on to describe entering the trenches in Feb 1915 for the first time with Doug, sharing the same dugout to stay warm, living hour to hour under incredible fear, but his story about the days leading up to Doug’s death are particularly poignant.

“When winter came on we had things a bit easier in our position, but the mud proved almost worse than the Hun. It was beyond description – we ate in it, we slept in it and walked in it (if one could call it walking). These were the days we Signallers hated and with good reason, as you shall see. Imagine a night, black as pitch, and the rain coming down in torrents, with a wind trying to blow the very roofs off our dugouts. Word suddenly is given that a line is down, so out two must go (we always worked in pairs) to repair the break. Away two men go, keeping the line running freely through their fingers for it is too dark to see, and if the line is lost it may be hours of blind walking before it is picked up again. Slipping, sliding, and tumbling through the inky blackness; now falling into a shell hole, then tripping over wire or losing their balance to flop into the greasy mud, while an occasional star shell blinds them for a moment and then leaves them in greater darkness than before. Finally they reach the break and then crawling about on hands and knees they search for the loose end of the wire, mend it, and set off for home, soaked through, mud from head to foot, and nearly frozen, but such is every soldier’s experience during the winter.”

After watching the opening barrage on Vimy Ridge, the signalers were moved up further towards the front and sent out to patch broken lines. “We had been working for over 36 hours, and when we had everything ship-shape, lay down for what sleep we could get. Everyone was exhausted, and soon in deep sleep. Early next morning our Brigade wire was broken, and instead of sending two men out to fix it, Doug went out alone. Evidently, he did not want to disturb the boys slumber, although I know he had not had any sleep himself, and must have been about all in. As he didn’t come back after some time Headquarters sent a party out and we found his body lying by the wire he had mended. A large shell had exploded just in front of him and he had been killed instantly, suffering no pain. A smile was on his face, and a look of wonderful peace.”

There is no record of Acting Sgt Mitchell in the 2nd Battalion war diary, but it does note that “during the advance casualties were chiefly sustained from enemy barrage upon the Crater Line and his immediate front line system, and later during the process of consolidation.” The War Graves Registry notes that he was killed in the trenches at Farbus Wood, which was the most southern point on the front line of the assault.

Douglas Gordon Mitchell died on 11 April 1917 and is buried at Ecoivres Military Cemetery, Mont-St Eloi, France. He was 27 years old.

Attestation and other Documents (pdf, 36 pages - 15MB)