Great War Centennial

The lights went out across the country last night, August 4, 2014, as Britain commemorated 100 years since the start of the war that was meant to end all wars…WWI.  Last night, in commemoration, all lights were switched off from 10:00 – 11:00pm, with only a single candle burning in a window.   For us, it was a small reading light that clips on the nightstand next to my bed. All day long I had been doing research on my grandfather, William John Thomas, to find out more about his involvement as a British solider in the Great War.  So far, the things that I have discovered have turned my heart to him with increased love. He was the grandfather I never knew until now.  It seems providential that it takes this; me living here in the country where he was born, among British people, learning to understand their lives and their ways, and commemorating with them the sorrows of war, and the joys of freedom, to move me to find out more about my roots. I had time to ponder these things before the complete darkness at 11pm when the flame on the Grave of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey was extinguished and I slept.

The commemoration will last all year with events every month and there is much to learn from the records that have been made available for this occasion.  

 William John Thomas:

Born: 1 Oct 1873 - Monmouthshire England

11 February 1915- Enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force in Cardston, Alberta, and swore allegiance to His Majesty King George the Fifth. His attestation papers were signed and witnessed by Hugh B. Brown. 

William was 42 years old and Orinda was 37. Their daughter Leone was 15 and Jack, was 5 years old.

Nominal Rolls- William Thomas Regimental #118048

 13^th Regiment of Canadian Mounted Rifles

Mobilized at Pincher Creek, Alberta

In June 1916, the 13^th Canadian Mounted Rifles were sent to reinforce the 10^th Canadian Battalion after they lost 600 men in the second battle of Ypres in Belgium. The Germans used gas for the first time there.

The Battalion left Halifax 29, June 1916 aboard the *OLYMPIC and arrived in England on 5, July 1916 (Jack’s 6^th Birthday)

*(Because we live in Southampton, we are familiar with the White Star Line that used the Southampton deep water port to launch their 3 largest ships, the Olympic, the Titanic, and the Britanica. The two newer ships later sank, but the Olympic, which looked like the Titanic, but not quite as high, continued to be used for many years, and was especially useful during the war.)

We are not certain where William Thomas was 
assigned when he arrived on July 5, 1916.  We do know that the 13th Canadian mounted rifles had been trained to use a sword, an nine foot lance and a rifle.  We know that upon arrival in England the 13th was absorbed by the 10th Canadian Battalion.