Frank Ernest Waters
Private
127th Battalion - 2nd Canadian Railway Troops
Valcartier
The order was given to prepare to move out and Frank Waters began struggling to load up his pack, which now weighed an ungodly amount on account of the rain which had soaked his blanket (1). Valcartier had been less than a wonderful experience for Frank and the whole affair was best described when he wrote; “I can’t think of anything more pleasant than sitting in a leaky tent on a wet day” (1). He and the others of the No.1 Construction Battalion were now packed onto trains where they would remain until they reached Halifax (1). Many were driven to attempt to desert and constant guard duty had to be pulled, a duty which saw one man knocked out by a prisoner and another having his hand bitten (1).
A rather sleepless and long journey was made worth it by the masses of civilians that flooded the streets of Halifax to bid Frank and his comrades farewell (1). He was soon aboard his boat which departed for his country of birth, England (1). Life on the ship was again less than pleasant but Frank was able to use his spare time to work on his photography (1). The fantastic farewell they had received had not blinded him to the danger of this endeavor and he took time to dwell on what may lay ahead writing; “I have the crazy feeling that I shall not come back. I don’t expect to come back the same as I went if I do get back” (1). For him the stakes could not be higher, his loving wife, Annie, and his two sons waited for his eventual return to Montreal, they needed a father (1). But work was hard to find even in wartime, a brief stint in a clothing factory for military uniforms had sufficed, but when the contract ended, he was laid off. This coupled with the loss of a friend aboard the Lusitania and the call of the nation were enough to drive him into the ranks (1)
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Returned to the Old Country
The ship eventually arrived in Liverpool and he and the lads were marched to Witley Camp (1). Life was filled with training, drill, and other duties (1). Frank’s other duties consisted mostly of sign painting, which he was most talented at (1). He was also an expert tailor but had grown to dislike the trade, which he constantly said he would eventually leave (1). Well now he finally had and when asked to take up the trade again by an army tailor he replied; “not on your life. Anything but tailoring for me” (1)! Training progressed rapidly, though it was occasionally halted by a zeppelin raid (1). Upon completion of this training course, Frank expected to deploy with the other fellows in the No.1 Construction Battalion, but was among several to be held back due to bad teeth (1). The disgruntled group of men watched as their friends left without them and were reassigned to the 127th Battalion (1).
Things at Witley had been pleasant during his time with the No.1 Construction Battalion, but now he and the remaining few were placed under the command of the dreaded Captain Laurence (1). He felt that Frank and his compatriots were not up to shape and proceeded to reteach them everything they had already learned (1). Training became miserable and Frank began having medical issues (1). To add to the misery, they were not learning how to build bridges like they had been told they would when they signed up, they were instead given combat infantry training (1). Frank was placed on sick row for a while and had lighter duties (1). He would take up the trade he swore never to again, tailoring (1). It provided extra pay and since sign painting was currently not an option, it was the next best thing (1). During his time in England he did manage to return to his childhood home of Portsmouth where he visited the places of which he had so many fond memories (1).
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Beneath the Shells
Eventually the 127th Battalion lads were told they were to work on railways in France and were transferred to the 2nd Canadian Railway Troops (1). Frank and his remaining comrades from the No.1 Construction Battalion again found themselves among strangers as more Battalions were amalgamated to bring the unit up to strength (1). Despite the unit being full of unfamiliar faces, they were sent to France and placed in Thiepval Woods that February of 1917 (1). These woods had been a heavily contested area during the Somme Offensive in 1916 and were still littered with rifles, wreckage, and dead men (1). Frank had watched a film about the Battle of the Somme well in England and now found himself literally where it had happened (1). He once again had duties as a sign painter, though he was constantly asked to work on clothes, given he was the units tailor (1). The misery of this war was soon experienced by all of the unit as the Germans shelled their positions, killing or horribly wounding a number of men. Frank tried to keep up everyone's spirits by playing his Mandolin, which he had carried since the beginning of the war (1). But everything was discomforting; the weather was cold, the landscape was hellish, their helmets were uncomfortable, and sleep was hard to acquire due to the fear of being killed by a German shell (1). Death quickly became a regular affair, many friends meeting their end in horrible ways (1). Such was life for Frank and the others at the front (1).
The English-Canadian found some peace in the letters he received and in the memories he had of home (1). Day by day the work wore on him and he watched as men came back from the front severely wounded. In one instance, he saw soldiers of the “Berkshires” who had just come off the line from a horrible engagement (1). The few who were alive were caked with mud and hardly had the energy to march (1). In an act of great generosity, Frank gave them his cigarettes and what food he could spare, a gesture most appreciated by the weary soldiers (1). The war seemed to continue on for an eternity and he longed to return home to his family, writing; “Shall I look on this as time wasted or will I find consolation in having done my bit” (1)! But he always tried to remain in good humor and wrote this after; “It is a great joke with us. 'What did you do in the Great War Daddy' I peeled potatoes for the Cook” (1).
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Journey's End
Before peace would come, Frank and the others would be pulled away from building rail to fight as infantry due to the German Spring Offensive (1). With a mass breakthrough occurring, every unit available was scrambled into the line, including the 2nd CRT. The moment they were called upon to fight as infantry can only be described by Frank himself:
“We heard here that C Co had been ordered into the line but did not pay much heed to it as there are so many rumours, but is was true and shortly after a Staff Officer rode up & ordered us to halt. We were drawn up in line and he gave us a speech. Told us when we joined up we agreed to defend our country etc and knew we were not all sure of coming back. To make it short he told us were to be sacrifice troops. We were to go in and fight to the last man. The boys received the news with mixed emotions. I’ll admit I felt rather funny. It was practically a death warrant...Colonel Clarke our OC told us that any Sergt from a Company would stay with Head Quarters or go in the line with his old Company. I figured that if I had to fight I wanted to be with the boys of D Co. No doubt it would have been safer at HdQtrs.”
“We heard here that C Co had been ordered into the line but did not pay much heed to it as there are so many rumours, but is was true and shortly after a Staff Officer rode up & ordered us to halt. We were drawn up in line and he gave us a speech. Told us when we joined up we agreed to defend our country etc and knew we were not all sure of coming back. To make it short he told us were to be sacrifice troops. We were to go in and fight to the last man. The boys received the news with mixed emotions. I’ll admit I felt rather funny. It was practically a death warrant...Colonel Clarke our OC told us that any Sergt from a Company would stay with Head Quarters or go in the line with his old Company. I figured that if I had to fight I wanted to be with the boys of D Co. No doubt it would have been safer at HdQtrs.”
The ensuing fight was a bloody one, but Frank made it through okay. The bravery shown by the men of the 2nd CRT helped stop the German breakthrough and they were soon able to return to building rail. The pace of the war would quicken and would at last come to an end in November of 1918 (1). The men were overjoyed with the news that it was over at last, Frank would be returning to his family (1). But one last misery still remained for him in January of the new year when he finally had to get his teeth pulled (1). It was incredibly painful, but he survived it and upon returning to the men, was greeted with one last great joke (1). He had expected to be given soup, but instead a steak was placed in front of him, the perfect meal for someone with no teeth, which he “kindly refused” (1). He finally returned to his family in March of 1919, being reunited with his wife and two sons and finally being able to meet his daughter (who had been born well he was overseas) for the first time (1). He had missed out on years of their lives, though he at least was able to return to them after what seemed like a lifetime of war.
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Frank Water's Extensive Diaries and Many Photos Have Been Wonderfully Compiled and Can Be Viewed Here:
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Source:
(1) Frankwaters, 28 Jan. 2018, frankwaters.wordpress.com/about/.
(1) Frankwaters, 28 Jan. 2018, frankwaters.wordpress.com/about/.