Phil Egan, special to The Sarnia Journal
John Allan never had a chance to meet either of his great-uncles, but their heroism has long been treasured by his family.
Allan, who works in MP Marilyn Gladu’s constituency office, is an amateur historian who plans to write a book one day about the Great War, which he has studied for decades.
His celebrated great-uncles might very well appear in it.
The Allan brothers, James, 25, and Arthur, 24, sailed together aboard the 800-passenger steamship S.S. California on the first day of November 1915, bound for England. Members of D Company of the 34th Battalion, both were later transferred to the 23rd Battalion, and then the second Battalion.
Massive casualties that depleted regiments were responsible for a constant reorganization of battalions and fighting men during the Great War. Shipped to the front lines in France in May of 1916, the brothers were transferred once again, this time serving as privates in the 7th Battalion of the British Columbia Regiment.
By June, they were in action in Belgium, fighting in the Battle of Mont Sorrel, at which Canada suffered more than 8,000 casualties. Almost two weeks into the battle, on its final day on June 13th, Canadian Commander Sir Julian Byng led a successful attack to regain lost ground.
James Allan would die that day, fighting for Canada. His remains lie today in the quaintly named Railway Dugouts Burial Ground in Belgium.
Arthur survived the Battle of Mont Sorrel, but may not have known, at least for some days, about the loss of his brother.
Arthur was transferred to the Somme Front, another horrific and bloody battlefield. In the first hour of the first day of battle that July a staggering 30,000 casualties were suffered, and by nightfall another 28,000 were dead or injured.
Three months after learning of James’s death their father, James Allan, of 382 Brock St., received the following telegram from the Ottawa war office:
“Sincerely regret to inform you, 602258, Private Arthur John Allan, infantry, officially reported missing since Sept. 27th, 1916. Will send further particulars when received.”
A short time later, the grieving father received letters from two young Sarnia soldiers who explained how Arthur had been killed in a “trench leading up to Regina Trench” in the area of the Somme, France near Courcellette.
Today, Arthur Allan rests in Cerisy-Gailly Military Cemetery on the Somme Battlefield.
John Allan has found a store in London that carries the Red Ensign, Canada’s national colours under which his great-uncles fought and died.
These days, he continues to honour their memory by decorating the graves of Sarnia veterans with the proud red flags.