Cenotaph Stories

L/Cpl

725058

45th Regiment, 109th Battalion “A” Coy.
20th Battalion

28 August, 1918
Age 20

Vis-en-Artois British Cemetery, Haucourt, Pas de Calais, France - I B 6

First World War Book of Remembrance - Page 516

Orville Wilson Vickery was born 9 September 1897 in Lindsay ON, the youngest son of James and Mary (Moore) Vickery of 60 Queen Street, Lindsay ON, who had 6 children in total (4 girls, 2 boys).

Listed as a student when he enlisted on 22 December 1915 in Lindsay with the 109th, Orville was transferred to the 20th Battalion when he landed in Europe. He also served with the 45th Regiment for 2 years in Victoria County.

A soldier named Deward Barnes wrote a personal diary of his experiences from the Arras region where the 20th Battalion was fighting, and he describes action from the day before Orville was killed:

“We went over the top along with a tank, but the Germans were using these anti-tank guns (cannons) and anti-tank rifles that have an immense cartridge. One of our fellows got shot by one of the rifles; it made a terrible hole – big enough to put your two fists in! But the guns! The shells from them burst just in front of the tank, close to the ground, and the shrapnel spread. Oh my! I dreaded them. You just heard the burst of the shell and then the shrapnel flew.”

The 20th Battalion History notes what happened in the days Orville was killed in action: “At 8 a.m., August 28, orders arrived for the advance to continue. This time the Battalion was to be in the first waves, supported by the 18th; on the right the 21st Battalion was to make the attack, supported by the 19th. The first objective was the Fresnes-Rouvroy line, about a mile in front of the forward posts of the 18th Battalion; the second objective was the Drocourt-Queant line, two thousand yards farther ahead. The advance was to be made in extended order, “D” Company supported by “A” on the right, and “B” Company supported by “C” on the left. The Arras-Cambrai road formed the left boundary as before, and the frontage of the Battalion extended about seven hundred yards southward. The fighting was now within the famous German defence system known as the “Hindenburg Line”, in reality a series of mutually supporting trenches and strong points, covering a depth of several thousand yards, and all joined by an elaborate arrangement of trenches leading in every direction. Each trench was sited to take full advantage of every natural feature; switches connected one system to another to form defensive flanks in the event of breaks in any parts. The objectives given for that day’s attack were two such systems.

At 12.30 p.m. the attack started and for a time progress went according to plan, in spite of the enemy’s very heavy artillery fire, but at the crossing of the Sensee River the machine-gun fire became so intense that it was difficult to move forward at all. However, the leading platoons managed to obtain a footing on the eastern bank of the river and by evening had fought their way about a thousand yards beyond it. There heavy wire was encountered in front of the Fresnes- Rouvroy Line and, despite the valiant efforts made to break through the enemy machine-gun and artillery fire proved too severe. The advance was brought to a halt, the men lying in the open or seeking what cover shell-holes afforded. Numerous attempts were made to gain ground but only succeeded in increasing the casualty list. Nearly all the officers and section commanders were killed or wounded making reorganization in the face of the devastating fire of the enemy a hope­ less task.” On 28 August 1918, Orville was first declared missing and then his body was located, and his status confirmed as killed in action.

Lieut Albert O’Neill, who served with Orville in France and knew him from Lindsay provided additional info: “The man who gave me the info was beside him when he fell. He was instantly killed when they were attacking, dying like the real soldier he was. I feel very badly about his untimely end, but there is consolation in knowing that he died without suffering and was struck by a machine gun bullet instead of fragments of shell.”

Orville Vickery is buried in Vis-en-Artois British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. He was 20 years old. Attestation and other Documents (pdf, 38 pages - 17MB)