MEMORIAL DAY , "BETTER THAN THE BEST"

The Battle of the Somme was one of the largest battles of WWI and one of the bloodiest in human history. It began on 1^st July 1916 and dragged on for almost five months, ending when Commander-in-Chief Sir Douglas Haig called off the offensive in November. Over the 141 day battle, casualties were more than one million with over 300,000 deaths. The British had advanced a paltry five miles!

Marker at Beaumont Hamel

No Canadian infantry units participated in the attack on 1^st July.  (Newfoundland was not part of Canada until 1949!) The 1^st Newfoundland Regiment, attached to a British division, was there.  On that morning the Newfoundland Regiment was cut down by German machine-gun fire as it attacked over open ground. Pte Cameron of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers witnessed the battle.  He wrote, “On came the Newfoundlanders, a great body of men, but the fire intensified and they were wiped out in front of my eyes.”

Plaque in the Museum at Ypres

After the Battle of 1st July, Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces, Sir Douglas Haig, wrote to the Newfoundland Government “I should like you to let my fellow citizens of the Empire in the oldest overseas portion of the British Realm know how well their lads have done, both Non-Commissioned Officers and Men, and how proud I, as their Corps Commander, am to have had such a Battalion under my command, and to be a comrade in arms of each and all of them.  Newfoundlanders, I salute you!  You are Better than the Best"

In the Museum at Ypres

In the 1920s the Newfoundland Government bought the ground over which the Newfoundland Regiment fought. 

Newfoundland Memorial Park, Beaumont Hamel, France

The first Memorial Day ceremony took place in downtown St John’s one year after the battle. For many years 1^st July was an official day of Remembrance in Newfoundland but now Memorial Day is very largely overshadowed by the celebration of Canada Day (more’s the pity!).

War Memorial, St John's

Get yourselves off to Bowring Park today (INVITATION OR NO INVITATION!) and sing it LOUD and sing it PROUD!

https://youtu.be/J_wzVUaKLi0

They won us the right to sing it!

CLUNY MACPHERSON, A RETURNED SOLDIER,

As we approach 1st July, we remember those heroes who fought and died in WWI.  Of course, that is right and proper and long may we continue to honour them and their total sacrifice.  But, many answered the call to arms and, at the end of that loathsome war, returned home to family and friends.  It certainly couldn't have been easy to readjust but most managed to settle back into the life of their communities. Those who fought and returned are also heroes, deserving of honour and remembrance.   

One such returned soldier was Dr Cluny Macpherson.  Dr Macpherson had no direct link with St Patrick's but I am pretty sure that he was the family doctor for many of our families.  I know that he was ours and, although I can't personally remember him, some of my older siblings could recollect Dr Macpherson making house calls. 

About eighteen months ago we spent the day at the Imperial War Museum, London and John took loads of pictures. Newfoundland's contribution was evident amidst the two floors of WWI displays and memorabilia, and Cluny Macpherson's was prominent.

John's photo of the Imperial War Museum, London

WWI Trench markers, displayed at the Imperial War Museum, London.  (Another of John's photos.)

Cluny Macpherson was born in St John's on 18th March 1879.  He earned his medical degree from McGill University, Montreal, and eventually made his way back to St John's where he set up practice as a physician.  At the outbreak of WWI, Cluny enlisted and was commissioned as a Captain and Principal Medical Officer of the newly formed 1st Newfoundland Regiment.  Previously, he had started the first St John Ambulance Brigade in Newfoundland and now members of the Brigade enlisted in the Newfoundland Regiment. Captain Cluny Macpherson organised them into an Ambulance Unit which continued throughout the War.  Capt Macpherson saw active service in Belgium, France, Salonika, Gallipoli and Egypt.  He was mentioned twice in dispatches. 

Capt Cluny Macpherson in Egypt (Internet photo!!)

The Germans first used poison gas against the Allied troops in April 1915. To combat the gas, two not very successful devices were hurriedly issued to troops.  Captain Macpherson came up with an improvement on these two and invented an early version of the gas mask.  His invention, the British Smoke Hood, was a canvas hood treated with chlorine-absorbing chemicals, fitted with a see through mica eyepiece.  This was adopted by the British Army and introduced in June 1915. 

Forerunners of the Gas mask. (John took this picture through the glass case.)

Captain Cluny Macpherson's invention.  (A cropped version of John's photo.)

Captain Macpherson was injured in Egypt and returned to Newfoundland in October 1916.  He resumed his medical practice in St John's, served as Director of Medical Services for the Militia, and held various posts for the Newfoundland Medical Society.  Dr Cluny Macpherson retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and lived and worked in his home town until his death on 16th November 1966.