Text by Pte Wilcox’s granddaughter Carolyn Trickey-Bapty
George Fraser Wilcox was born on October 3rd, 1894 in Wolverhampton England, one of 11 children. His grandfather, William Wilcox, owned a Watch and Clock Shop on Lichfield Street — the building dated back to the 1600’s. In 1912, the family immigrated to Canada, settling in St Henri (Montreal). When war was declared, George received permission from his mother to enlist, and on October 25th, 1914 he presented himself at Victoria Hall in Westmount. According to his enlistment records, he was 5′ 7.5″ tall, weighed 135 Ibs, and was working in the Blending Department at Imperial Tobacco, making cigarettes
January of the following year saw George practising with the 23rd Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) on the plains around Quebec City. Like so many others, he contracted influenza and spent five days in the hospital. By February he and his Battalion were in Halifax awaiting orders and he finally sailed aboard the S.S. Missanabie on February 23rd, 1915, arriving at Avonmouth, England 2 weeks later. Here the Battalion was reorganized as the 23rd Reserve Battalion, and for almost two years, the Reserve would train on the muddy Salisbury plains and provide reinforcements for battalions in France.
In the Second Battle of Ypres, April 1915, the 48th Highlanders of Toronto were decimated. Of 912 effectives, only 150 answered the Roll Call on April 26th. Thus, on May 23rd, Private George Wilcox, regimental # 63914, joined the 15th Infantry Battalion, known as the 48th Highlanders, at Essars (about 40 km north of Arras) along with 51 other men from the 23rd Reserve Battalion. The war diaries note that for the next few months the battalion dug trenches and that the army tried to turn everyone into grenadiers. The end of June saw the 48th marching north toward Ypres, where they spent time in the Messines Road trenches and tried out new gas helmets. As fall progressed into winter, a 4-day tour was established: they would spend a day on the front line, a day in support and then two days at Divisional Reserve. It was a cold, wet and miserable winter, with some sporadic fighting and casualties. They learnt to become very alert for snipers and how to set up listening posts in No Man’s Land.
On March 24th, 1916, their tour of duty ended, and the 48th continued their march toward Ypres. The next month saw the Battalion rotate in and out of the trenches at Hill 60 which saw casualties every night, and the diaries make note of the stench of death as the bodies were left to rot in No Man’s Land. On April 26th, George saw a Zeppelin for the first time before the battalion dropped back to the Connaught Lines, a new camp outside Kemmel. Here George was granted 7 days leave to Rouen. Did he go to England to visit family and friends? Quite likely. By May 18th the 48th was back at Hill 60 and the following day their Lt Colonel Marshall was killed by a sniper. This was devastating for the men and the battalion was immediately relieved and fell back to the camps where they had a Memorial Ceremony for Marshall. To help with morale, entertainmentwas provided, and the 1st Divisional Baseball League was opened.
June 3rd saw the battalion in another major offensive. They marched in a wide formation into the guns at Hill 60 and Mt Sorrel. They retired below the crest of Observatory Ridge and dug themselves in. Even though they were coming under severe fire, headquarters ordered them to take the high ground. After sustaining heavy casualties, Captain Acland ordered his men back; when the dust had settled almost the entire 48th had been wiped out save for several parties of men that had been left in reserve.
Headquarters gave the Battalion some time to recuperate and receive more reserves, so the men acted in a supporting role for other attacking battalions – they carried ammunition to the front lines, packed bombs and aided the
stretchers. By June 26th, they were considered to be fighting worthy again, and off they marched to Hill 60. Here George’s #3 company lost several men and its Sergeant. They continued to rotate back and forth to the front lines around Ypres until the beginning of August, when they began a long march south. The 48th stopped near Nort Leulinghem for fifteen days of intensive training, and here they sewed blue triangular shoulder patches on their uniforms to aid in identification.
By the end of August they had taken a train further south to Conteville and proceeded to march for 3 days in the unceasing rain, to the mud of the Brickfields outside Albert. They were at the Somme.
On September 6th, George’s 3rd company was in the front lines at La Boiselle and Poziers where they took a horrific pounding. There were 100 casualties with 21 killed and the rest wounded. Almost all died of their injuries. The 48th was once again relieved to allow time for it to regroup; it was here on September 16th that they heard the noise of the British tanks preparing for their first engagement. The men tried to make the best of it, but the field around Albert was a sea of canvas bevies, sitting in an ocean of mud. Once again, it was miserable and wet. On September 27th, the 48th was ordered to attack with the first objective to take the German front line. Their second was to secure a support position and any other, including the well-fortified Regina Trench. The fighting was fierce on both sides and by the following day when they were relieved by the 24th Battalion, the men were scattered and lost. When Roll Call was done on the 28th, only half the Battalion responded.
22nd birthday near Albert when more orders came. On October 5th, the troops relieved the 58th Battalion in water bottomed trenches by the Sugar Refinery near Courcelette in support of a new attack. On October 8th the troops had been relieved by the 16th Battalion which in turn found themselves in heavy fighting. A party of bombers from the 15th with bombs and ammunition was sent to help the depleted 16th. As George wasa grenadier, he may have been with this group.
According to the Medical Case Sheet, George was knocked down by a shell across his rifle. It burst 2 yards away and he was buried to his neck. It would be reasonable to assume that he was unconscious for a while, and he was left for dead. George told his family that he had been buried three times that day, in the mud and muck of the Somme.
Who rescued George is unknown. The records show that he was sent to the #2 Australian General Hospital in Boulogne on October 9th with a “Contusion of the Abdomen.” By October 12th he was in London at the Endell Street Hospital which interestingly enough, was staffed entirely by suffragettes. After assessment by the Canadian Casualty Assembly Centre (CCAC) at Shoreham he was sent to King’s Canadian Red Cross Hospital in Bushy Park, Hampton Hill for convalescence. By March of 1917, he was deemed fit for duty again, although he still complained of pain in his left side and in his legs. George reported to the 5th Reserve Battalion stationed at West Sandling in England, but only 4 days later he was sent to St Leonard’s-By-the-Sea for a prolonged rehabilitation. Although all his records show that he suffered a contusion of the stomach, he continued to complain of pain. If you search hard enough through his medical records, you find one tiny remark on the Admitting Card for The King’s Hospital – “Shell Shock, The Somme, October 8th, 1916.”
George Wilcox did not see active duty again. He stayed at St. Leonard’s from March 15, 1917 until February 18th, 1918 when he was transferred to the 12th Reserve Battalion at West Sandling. On March 3rd, he was appointed Acting Lance Corporal. He spent some time visiting with relatives in England, and there are numerous postcards from his younger brother Edmund (Eddie), who had enlisted on February 26th, 1916. With the war’s end, he was struck off strength on February 18th, 1919 and waited for passage home again. When word arrived that his younger brother, Richard, had died from the Spanish Flu, he was granted compassionate discharge and he sailed on the HMT Aquitania to Halifax, and from there on to Montreal.
It can truly be said that George lived with the aftereffects of the war for the remainder of his life. My mother remembers him holding his abdomen under his shirt whenever he was seated. He spent a month each summer in the “bracing air” at Old Orchard Beach Maine, which seemed to get him through until mid-winter when pneumonia, or pleurisy or some other dreaded infection would take hold. He retired from his work as a Customs Officer for the port of Montreal at the age of 60 and split his time between home and a cabin at Cadboro Bay near Victoria B.C. It reminded him of England. In the late summer of 1964, he wasvery ill and was admitted to Queen Mary Veterans’ Hospital in Montreal. As he was leaving, he reassured me, “Don’t you worry about me. I’ll be home soon.” He died not long afterwards on October 16th, 1964.
NOK: Mrs H. Wilcox (M) 80 Boidoin St., Montreal, Quebec
