Rank
Pte
Service No.
454318
Unit
39th Battalion, 24th Battalion
Died
17 September, 1916
Age 23
Age 23
Buried
Adanac Military Cemetery, Miraumont, France - I B 24
Additional Info
Ralph Trevor was born 11 April 1893 in Detroit, Michigan. His father William was a butcher, born in England; his mother Mary from Lindsay ON, and the family lived at 49 Ridout Street in Lindsay. Ralph was the middle of 5 children, and the oldest son.
On 5 May 1915, Ralph enlisted in Lindsay ON with the 59th Battalion, and eventually ended up with the 24th Battalion in France. As fate would have it, Ralph’s younger brother Foster ended up attached to the 20th Battalion, which would be positioned on the flank of the 24th Battalion during the Battle of Courcelette.
This particular battle was fought near the village of Courcelette, which had been captured by the Germans in Sept 1914, and remained in German control until this action took place. This is also the first time that Canadian tanks had seen action, on 15 Sept 1916. The location of the 24th Battalion war diary lists the “Sugar Factory”, which was literally a sugar processing factory that used beets, which was very common at the time across France. The war diary notes: “At 1230pm orders were received from the Brigade that the BN, less 1 Coy, were to attack the German front line with our Right resting on the Rapahner Road and our Left connecting the 22nd BN in the vicinity of the QUARRIES. The attack commenced at 5pm and was carried out with the BN, less 1 Coy, in extended order along the whole frontage, the lateral distance being approximately about 700 yards. The signal for the advance being one long blast on the whistle, given by the 3 Coy Commanders. The 4th Coy (B.Coy) was placed at the disposal of the 25th BN who were attacking from the Northern edge of the village in a north-easterly direction. This Coy was held in reserve by the officer commanding the 25th BN and did not go into action.”
While not mentioned in the diary, Ralph Trevor was listed as MIA after this action, and then changed to KIA on 17 Sept 1916. During that several days of fighting, 520 other ranks were wounded, missing or killed in action. In addition to Ralph, his younger brother Foster is included in those numbers. He was killed 2 days prior to Ralph on 15 September 1916.
Ralph Trevor is buried at Adanac Military Cemetery, Somme, France. He was 23 years old.
Attestation and other Documents (pdf, 40 pages - 19MB)
