A Barrie woman hopes to hear some answers to a 105-year-old military mystery on Tuesday evening.
Colleen Kelly-Desrochers wants to know how her grandfather, Pte. Alfred Osborn H. Litherland, died in a July 23, 1917 trench raid during the First World War, and hopes a talk tomorrow night by Barrie Royal Canadian Legion historian Steve Glover sheds some light on her mystery.
“When we were little kids, we were told one story,” she told BarrieToday. “We heard that he was killed in France, that he had volunteered to bring in the wounded from a field and that he was bombed. But I don’t know if that’s true or not — no idea if that’s true.
“His name is on the Vimy Ridge monument, so I’m assuming he fought in Vimy and he survived, because that was April (1917) and then three months later he was killed (in July 1917)," Kelly-Desrochers added.
Glover will speak about this trench raid near Avion, France, which involved 700 men from the 116th Battalion, 400 from Simcoe County. This would be the first time these men would engage the enemy in an open assault. They took 74 casualties, Glover said, and more than 20 were killed.
“This was their first baptism (by fire),” he said. “I’ll highlight… some guys that lived, some guys that got casualties and some guys that were killed in action. Many of these guys got what’s called bravery medals, or military medals, beyond just the standard service medals."
Before this trench raid, Litherland wrote a letter to his wife, dated July 21, 1917.
It reads: “I am going in the advance with the best heart possible, tomorrow will be a great day for our battalion. I guess a few of us will shake tomorrow, it will soon be all over, whichever way it has to be. Don’t take this letter too seriously, everybody doesn’t get killed or injured, so you see I’ve the same chance always as everybody else.”
Kelly-Desrochers said her grandfather’s death affected the family for decades and in many ways.
“I remember as a kid reading the telegram to my grandmother, from the war department, saying that he was missing in action,” she said.
“My grandmother lived with us, she died when she was 90, and I remember different times throughout her life she would have me read the telegram and then that letter. As a kid she had me read it and as a teenager, I read it to her. She just kept re-reading it over 30, 40, 50 years. And I’d also like to know how the heck she survived with five kids, (with) no welfare in those days. How did they live?”
Kelly-Desrochers was born in the same Toronto bedroom as her mother, as the clock struck midnight.
“(The doctor) said to my mother, ‘Do you want the baby’s birth date to be July 23 or July 24?’ And she said, ‘Well, my dad was killed on the 23rd, so let’s make Colleen’s birthday the 24th. So they did,” said Kelly-Desrochers. “In the old days, they didn’t have digital clocks or exact timing.”
Glover said his talk, including a PowerPoint presentation, will cover a number of aspects of the trench raid.
“We'll talk about information from other war diaries, some of the books about what the raid was all about,” he said, “but I’m going to concentrate on the guys that served from Simcoe County and primarily two companies — one of Orillia and one out of the Midland-Penetanguishene area.”
Kelly-Desrochers first went to one of Glover’s talks about six year ago and did get some information about her grandfather.
Now she’s hoping for a little more.
Glover’s presentation takes place on Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 6:30 p.m. in the downstairs Barrie Clubhouse Provincial Room. Admission is free. In support of the Barrie legion, those attending are asked to buy a First World War Vimy pin ($5 plus HST) or a Second World War Victory in Europe pin ($6.95 plus HST) from the Barrie legion bar steward.
Barrie’s Royal Canadian Legion Branch 147 is located at 410 St. Vincent St.
