Sergeant James Henry Carter (Regimental Number 222) lies in Marcoing British Cemetery –
Grave reference II. G. 8.
His previous occupation recorded as that of insurance clerk earning a one-thousand dollar
per annum salary, James Henry Carter was a recruit of the First Draft who had previously
served in the Canadian Army as a soldier of the 21 st Field Battery stationed in or near
Montreal.
Having presented himself for medical examination on August
29, 1914, he officially enlisted – at the daily private soldier’s
rate of $1.10 - in St. John’s on September 2, before attesting
on October 1 and then embarking on October 3 onto the
Bowring Brothers’ vessel Florizel (right – courtesy of
Admiralty House Museum). The ship sailed for the United
Kingdom on the following day, joining the convoy carrying the
1st Canadian Division overseas.
(continued)
1006022
In the United Kingdom Private Carter
trained with the Battalion: firstly in
southern England; then in Scotland
at Fort George (right); at Edinburgh
Castle; and at Stobs Camp near the
town of Hawick, before final weeks at
Aldershot in the summer of 1915.
(Far right above: The Newfoundland Regiment parades at Stobs Camp and is presented
with its Colours on June 10, 1915. – courtesy of Reverend Wilson Tibbo and Mrs. Lillian
Tibbo)
It was during his last week during that final training at
Aldershot, on August 14, that Private Carter was prevailed
upon to re-enlist for the duration of the war.
*At the outset of the War, perhaps because it was felt by the
authorities that it would be a conflict of short duration, the
recruits enlisted for only a single year. As the War progressed,
however, this was obviously going to cause problems and the
men were encouraged to re-enlist.
On August 20, 1915, he embarked on the requisitioned
passenger liner Megantic (right above) for passage to the
Middle East. Private Carter was not, however, to serve in
Gallipoli as his services were apparently necessary for the
transport requirements of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Composite
Battalions.
He thus remained behind in Alexandria when the majority of 1st Battalion sailed for the
Gallipoli Peninsula on September 13, and was instead to serve during the campaign on the
western Egyptian frontier - where he was stationed in December of 1915, then January and
half of February of 1916 - against the Senussi*.
(Right above: Cairo, the capital city of Egypt, at or about the time of the Great War – from a
vintage post-card)
*The Senussi was a religious leader who was at the time fomenting unrest among the
population of the western Egyptian border area with Libya.
(Right: Newfoundland troops on board a troop transport ship
anchored at Mudros, either Megantic on August 29, Ausonia
on September 18, or Prince Abbas on September 19 – If in fact
the vessel is Megantic, then Private Carter is on board. – from
Provincial Archives)
It was during this period, on November 14, that Private Carter
received a first promotion and was elevated to the rank of
lance corporal.
1006023
The Senussi uprising suppressed, Lance Corporal Carter was
posted back to the British Depot at Sidi Bishr, Alexandria,
before embarking at Port Saïd on March 2, 1916. He arrived in
the French Mediterranean port-city of Marseilles eight days
later, on March 10.
(Right: Port Saïd, at the northern end of the Suez Canal, at or
about the time of the Great War – from a vintage post-card)
Some five weeks later again, by now back serving with 1 st
Battalion which had arrived in France on March 22, Lance
Corporal Carter was admitted into the 89th (perhaps 88th) Field
Ambulance with ulceration of the left tibia as the result of an
accident. Forwarded on the same day to the 4th Casualty
Clearing Station at Lillers he received treatment there for five
days before, on April 17, being transferred to the 2nd General
Hospital at Le Havre.
(Right above: British troops march through the port area of the French city of Marseilles. –
from a vintage post-card)
At Le Havre it was decided to evacuate Lance Corporal Carter
back to the United Kingdom and thus, on April 23, he was
placed on board His Majesty’s Hospital Ship Delta (right) for
the cross-Channel journey. Upon his arrival in England on the
following day, April 24, he was admitted into the 3rd London
General Hospital, Wandsworth.
(Right: The main building of what
became
3rd
London
General
Hospital during the Great War was
opened, on July 1st, 1859, as a
home for the orphaned daughters of
British
soldiers,
sailors
and
marines. – photograph from 2010)
(Far right above: Newfoundland patients, mostly unfortunately unidentified, with staff at
Wandsworth: apparently Joseph is fourth from the right in the second row - courtesy of
Reverend Wilson Tibbo and Mrs. Lillian Tibbo)
Upon his release from hospital, Lance Corporal Carter was granted the customary ten-day
furlough – in his case commencing on or about July 23, and likely spent in London as he
travelled from Euston Station on August 1 – leave which was accorded to hospitalized
military personnel upon discharge from medical care. Subsequently, Lance Corporal Carter
reported to duty, on the same August 1, to 2nd (Reserve) Battalion at the Regimental Depot.
(continued)
1006024
The Regimental Depot had been established since the summer of 1915 in the Royal
Borough of Ayr on the west coast of Scotland to serve as a base for the 2nd (Reserve)
Battalion. It was from there – as of November of 1915 up until January of 1918 – that the
new-comers from Newfoundland were sent in drafts, at first to Gallipoli and later to the
Western Front, to bolster the four fighting companies of 1st Battalion.
Lance Corporal Carter was to remain at Ayr for the next
thirteen months. During this time he was promoted twice
more: to the rank of corporal on October 27, and later, on
January 17 of the New Year, 1917, to that of quartermaster
sergeant. He remained at Ayr until September of that year.
(Right: an aerial view of Ayr – probably from the period
between the Wars: Newton-on Ayr is to the left of the River Ayr
and the Royal Borough is to the right. – courtesy of the
Carnegie Library at Ayr)
It was on September 7 of 1917 that Sergeant Carter embarked
through the English south-coast port of Southampton with the
29th Re-enforcement Draft from Barry* en route to the French
port-city of Rouen and to service with the British
Expeditionary Force on the Western Front. The detachment
disembarked two days later, on September 9, and made its
way to the major British Expeditionary Force Base Depot near
Rouen for several days of final training and organization**
before leaving to seek out the parent unit.
(Right above: British troops disembark at Rouen en route to the Western Front. – from
Illustration)
*During the summer months of 1917, 2nd (Reserve) Battalion had been transferred from Ayr
to not-so-distant Barry. Initially intended to be a permanent move, the protest from several
quarters was so great that the Newfoundlanders were back in Ayr by the third week of
September.
**Apparently the standard length of time for this final training was ten days – although this
was to become more and more flexible as the War progressed - in areas near Rouen,
Étaples, LeHavre and Harfleur that became known to the troops as the Bull Rings.
1st Battalion had once by this time again moved north into
Belgium – almost three months previously, at the end of June and once again to the area of Ypres. This had been selected
as the theatre of the British summer offensive of 1917.
Officially named the Third Battle of Ypres, the campaign came
to be known to history as Passchendaele, borrowing that
name from a small village on a ridge that was one of the
British Army’s objectives.
(continued)
1006025
(Previous page: Troops file through the rubble of the medieval
city of Ypres on their way to the front in the late summer of
1917. – from Illustration)
The Newfoundlanders remained in Belgium until October 17, a
small cog in the machinery of the British Army which
floundered its way across the sodden countryside of Flanders.
Notably they fought in two major engagements, at the
Steenbeek on August 16, and at the Broembeek on October 9.
(Right above: somewhere – perhaps anywhere – on the Passchendaele battlefield during
the autumn of 1917 – from Illustration)
Sergeant Carter re-joined 1st Battalion in the field on September 18, one of a contingent of
twenty-eight other ranks to report to duty on that day. The parent unit at the time had
withdrawn from the line and was at Penton Camp, close to the Belgian town of Poperinghe.
The engagement at the Steenbeek was by that time already a part of the Regiment’s
history, and the Newfoundlanders were now busy preparing for the next phase of the
Passchendaele offensive, an effort which was to include the infantry action at the
Broembeek. There being no evidence to the contrary, it must be supposed that there,
Sergeant Carter – likewise many others - played his unsung role.
A week after the encounter of October 9 at the Broembeek, the Newfoundlanders were
withdrawn definitively from the Passchendaele campaign in order to prepare for yet
another upcoming campaign: Cambrai. They were ordered to mave back south from
Belgium on October 17 into northern France, there to re-enforce, organize and train in the
vicinity of Berles-au-Bois, a small commune a dozen kilometres or so to the south-west of
the city of Arras.
The so-called Battle of Cambrai was to last for barely three
weeks, from November 20 until December 4, the
Newfoundlanders directly involved at all times during that
period. The battle began well for the British who used tanks
on a large scale for the first time; but opportunities were
squandered and by its close the British had relinquished as
much territory as they had gained.
1st Battalion was again dealt with severely, at Marcoing and at Masnières - where a Caribou
stands today: of the total of five-hundred fifty-eight officers and men who went into battle,
two-hundred forty-eight had become casualties by the end of the second day.
(Right above: The Canal St-Quentin at Masnières, the crossing of which and the
establishment of a bridgehead being the first objectives for the Newfoundlanders on
November 20, the first day of the Battle of Cambrai. – photograph from 2009)
(continued)
1006026
The son of William T. S. Carter, an officer of His Majesty’s
Customs, and Mary Carter of Ferryland - his own address
recorded as being that of his sister Harriet, Mrs. F. C.
Alderdice of 175 LeMarchant Road in St. John’s, then of
Rennie’s Mill Road - he was reported as having been killed in
action while serving with ‘A’ Company in the attack on an
enemy strong-point on November 20, 1917, the first day of
the fighting near the French villages of Marcoing and
Masnières.
(Right above: The Caribou at Masnières stands on the high ground to the north of the
community. The seizure of this terrain was the final objective of 1 st Battalion on
November 20; however, whether this was ever achieved is at best controversial. –
photograph from 2012)
Sergt. Carter was killed while his Company was in action near the village of MASNIERES.
He was hit in the head by a bullet and killed instantly. – Reply to an enquiry from the Pay &
Record Office, London
Sergeant Carter was laid to rest in Marcoing Copse Cemetery, to be
subsequently re-interred where he lies today.
James Henry Carter had enlisted at the age of twenty-eight years.
(The photograph of Private Carter is from the Provincial Archives.)
Sergeant James Henry Carter was
awarded the 1914-1915 Star, as well as
the British War Medal (centre) and the
Victory Medal (Inter-Allied War Medal)
(right).
1006027