Sunday, September 10, 2023

Edgar Harold - Sergeant - 19th Battalion

I knew my grandfather, Edgar Harold, had won the Military Medal during World War 1 and that he'd fought at Vimy Ridge and elsewhere, but I knew very little about his time in the Canadian Army and certainly very little about how he won the medal. The Military Medal (MM) was awarded to non-commissioned officers for acts of bravery in the field and Edgar certainly wasn’t one to boast about it.

It wasn’t that I didn’t try to get information about the war from him while he was still alive. He simply programmed himself not to speak about the terrible things that happened. After all, it was supposed to be 'the war to end all wars' -- a short, quick victory.

Imagine for a moment, within months of joining up you find yourself in such horrifying conditions, living in a cold, muddy trench infested with lice and rats? Friends are dying around you and most of you are just kids. You’re under constant enemy fire and soon want it all over, but for over 60,000 Canadians there will be no return. This is not what you signed up for.

Well, it turns out Edgar was in fact interviewed about Vimy before his death in 1980 and wrote a bit about his experiences in his memoirs. It wasn't until years after his death that I came across his journals and a few of the 19th Battalion Association newsletters he highlighted. Thus, I created this blog in his memory. Read here about my grandfather’s experiences and let us rejoice in the fact we have a written record of these events for future reference.

Note: For a more in-depth and complete examination of the 19 Battalion, please see David Campbell's 'It Can't Last Forever: The 19th Battalion and the Canadian Corps in the First World War'.

Also see the Regimental Foundation of The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise’s) history of the 19th Battalion (CEF).

Photo credits: Edgar Harold private collection, MM - Veterans Affairs Canada, 19th cap badge - public domain.

Jim Cook