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688015, Wilfred Albert
Duck (son of Albert and Edith Duck) Place of Birth:
3 November 1898 Grand Prairie, B.C.
Date and Place of Enlistment:
24 March 1916 Kamloops, B.C.
His brother, Rupert Duck also served and survived WW 1.
54 Bn was operating NE of Vimy Ridge between Lens and Lievin during the
period 20 - 30 Dec. The operations report for that period says Pte Duck was
killed in the afternoon of Jan 25 1918 just prior to the unit moving out to
forward positions by shrapnel from an artillery shell that was fired near the
54th Bn's A company. In this period 20 - 25 Jan 8 men were killed by artillery.
The beginning of this memorable year of 1918 opened none too quietly for us, occasional heavy strafes by the Bosche being the order of the day. On the night of the 1st a large enemy raiding party entered our front line trench under a heavy barrage and unfortunately succeeded in "swiping" one of our forward posts, four men being taken.
On the 8th of January a successful raid was made by Lieuts. R. G. Wilson, M.C., and A. E. Burnham and men of "B" Company. When the enemy's front line was reached it was found that it was empty, the Bosche having withdrawn temporarily, and the only captures were two machine guns. A good raid all the same, as a large No Man's Land had to be crossed.
The month of January, 1918, will always be remembered by the C.O. and certain officers and men of the Battalion. As the Battalion needed a little advertising this was willingly undertaken by some daring spirits, with very high results, although the methods of obtaining same were open to criticism.
On the 9th we were relieved and moved back to the Chateau de la Haie, staying there for a few days, and from there moving to the Lievin front. After this move large working parties were called for owing to the sudden thaw, which made bad work of the trenches.
The 25th of January saw us back again in the front line, taking over the right front, the same as we held last September. Much active patrolling was done by ourselves and the Bosche, and there were numerous encounters between both parties.
On the 30th we were relieved and moved back to Gouy-Servins, and for the next month alternated between there, Souchez, Chateau de la Haie and Houdain, carrying on with training and inspections. On the 22nd of February the 11th Brigade was inspected by the Corps Commander and on the 28th by the Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, who expressed himself as being extremely pleased with the brigade.
At the beginning of March the Battalion moved to Noeux les Mines for a few days, chiefly spent in working parties and digging and wiring new trenches behind the lines. On the 11th a move was made to Souchez and from there, on the 12th, into support on the Lievin front, finally relieving the l02nd Battalion on the left front on the 17th. During this period the enemy showed a considerable amount of activity and subjected our trenches to numerous strafes, for which he was amply repaid by our own artillery, and also on the night of the 21st by a heavy gas bombardment by us. This gas was thrown over by projectors, a record amount of 6,000 projectors being sent, and, from the appearance of the Hun carrying parties the next day, inflecting a large number of casualties.
On the 22nd the Battalion moved back into support in Lievin, where they remained until the 27th, when they moved to Coupigny by light railway.
It will be remembered that it was on the 21st of March, 1918, that the Bosche made his big attack on the Amiens front, pushing in a long way until he was checked some little distance from Amiens. He also attacked on the Arras front, but was successfully withstood. Owing to the tactical situation a composite brigade was hastily formed under Brigadier-General Odlum, of which this battalion formed part, and we were on the 28th rushed up into the line of the Oppy front, relieving on the 29th three Imperial units who had fought very finely in the recent attack against Arras.
On the morning of the 30th our trenches were very heavily shelled and a fresh attack was expected, but did not materialize.
At a time like this it was vitally important to the Allied High Command to ascertain the intentions of the enemy, especially on this Arras front, as it was expected that he would renew his attack and endeavor to take Vimy Ridge and the important French coal fields around Bruay and Bethune. All eyes were turned on this particular front and orders were received that identification by means of live prisoners must be obtained at all costs. Numbers of raids took place, but it fell to the lot of the Cinquante-Quatre to be the first unit to satisfy the higher authorities in their demands.
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On the night of the 2nd of April raiding parties under the respective commands of Capt. D. A. McQuarrie, who was unfortunately wounded, Lieut. J. H. Adams and 3O other ranks of "C" Company, and Lieut. T. S. McLanders and 35 other ranks of "A" Company, succeeded, in spite of heavy opposition, in capturing two prisoners. Within six hours of these men being captured the whole corps front was changed, each unit side-slipping and taking over a wider front, thereby releasing reserves for eventualities elsewhere. The Battalion received the personal congratulations of the corps, divisional and brigade commanders, and this may be ranked as one of the best and most important pieces of work that the Battalion accomplished during its period in France.
On the night of the 4th of April the Battalion was relieved and moved back to Flanders Camp, Ecurie, where a few days' cleaning up was indulged in. A Battalion sports day was arranged for the 11th and the combatants and spectators had just assembled when a wire was received saying that we were to move into the line that night, relieving the 4th C. M. R. on the Mericourt front, the same holding as we had previously occupied on New Year's Day.
Active patrolling was the order of the day (or rather, night) and after an unsuccessful brush with the enemy on the 15th and lath, Lieut. J. H. Orr, with his platoon from "C" Company, ran into a Bosche working party on the 17th, who put up quite a scrap, but were overcome by our fire and were almost surrounded by us, managing to escape owing to the wire. After some strenuous work Lieut. Orr, accompanied by Ptes. W. J. C. Geddes and A. Klopp, succeeded in capturing a wounded German sergeant, hauling him out through the wire and carrying him back to our aid post, where his wounds were dressed. This sergeant proved a source of much information to the higher authorities when interrogated. Wires from the divisional and brigade commanders were received congratulating "C" Company on its fine work.
We were relieved the same night and went back into support, moving into the front line again on the 23rd, where an uneventful six days were spent, chiefly remarkable for the fact that we had no casualties. We were relieved again on the 29th and moved back, half of the Battalion going to Neuville St. Vaast and the other half remaining in the ruined village of Vimy, taking up their abode in the various cellars, which were all that were left of a one-time beautiful place. This half was responsible for providing working parties.
This arrangement continued until the 7th of May, when the Battalion was relieved by an Imperial unit consisting of Lowlanders just fresh from Palestine. On relief we all moved back to Cambligneul to billets.
