61 The Royal Canadian Legion MANITOBA & NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO COMMAND www.mbnwo.ca DELHAYE, Leopold “Leo” WWI Leo was born on January 7, 1882 at Marche, Luxembourg, Belgium. In 1905, as a young man of 23, he immigrated to Canada becoming a Canadian citizen in 1908. He took out his homestead (SW 28-24-1E) in Sylvan, Manitoba in 1913. After completing the fall work on his farm in 1915, he walked the mile to Jake Lindal’s place asked for a loaf of bread and continued his journey to Arborg, Manitoba, some 15 or 20 miles south. Leo went to Winnipeg, Manitoba on the railroad tracks and enlisted in the Winnipeg Rifles, Little Black Devils on December 23, 1915. He was 33 years old. His intentions were to help liberate his family in Belgium. Leo trained with the 12th Platoon C. Company, 144th Overseas Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force at Camp Hughes, Manitoba (now Camp Shilo). He was sent overseas on September 18, 1916 under Commanding Officer, Lieutenant C.A.W. Morley. Their group consisted of 962 men and 29 officers when they arrived in London, England. With the 144th Battalion CEF (3rd Battalion 90th Winnipeg Rifles) in England, Leo was stationed at Witley Camp in October 1916 and at Seaford from November 1916 until February 1917. They were to become reinforcement to the Canadian Corps in France. The 144th was absorbed into the 18th Reserve Battalion in January 1913. In mid-February 1917, he was sent over to France where the Canadians were training for the Battle of Vimy Ridge which was part of the offensive attack of the Battle of Arras. The Canadians were undisciplined according to British Army tradition and fiercely independent. They wanted to be kept together in their own units. Lieutenant General Julian Byng was placed in charge of the Canadian Corps and the “Byng Boys” would have the task of capturing the four-mile crest of Vimy Ridge. The Germans controlled the seven-mile escarpment which was their best defended vantage point. For two years, the British and the French had tried in vain to capture it. The French alone had lost 150,000 men. In the two-month training period in preparation for their battle, all the Canadians were drilled and fully informed on every aspect of the plan of attack, including maps, so that each soldier knew precisely what his objective was and the exact time he had to reach it. They were allowed and encouraged to use their own initiative and common sense to achieve their goal. This was unheard of by any military standards at that time. The conditions in the trenches (which were actually ditches eight feet deep) were horrendous – mud and filth, lice and rats. It was wet and cold. A private carried approximately 40 pounds of equipment. His wet, mud-soaked greatcoat weighed 47 pounds. For his efforts, he was paid one dollar a day with 10 cents extra while in the battlefield. The Germans did not expect the raid before April 15, 1917; therefore, their reserves were well to the rear. They were confidently expecting the battle to take several days, possibly a few weeks – a battle they felt they could not lose. The Canadians, 100,000 strong, planned to attack on April 9, 1917, Easter Monday, and intended to capture the ridge in a matter of hours. The 1st Division under Arthur Currie, C.O., was on the right with the longest advance of 4,000 yards to the Farbus Wood. Leo was in the 8th Battalion in Reserve of the 1st Division, 2nd Brigade. Beginning at 5:30 am (in a blizzard) in a leap-frog attack of split second timing, the Canadians advanced in four divisions, in a four mile sector behind and under a wall of shell and artillery fire in a “creeping barrage”. The thunderous noise was unbearable. In an hour and forty minutes, six million shells were fired at the German positions. (continued)
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