British Columbia: First Day of the Somme

Thiepval Memorial, France. (P. Ferguson image, August 2018)

Thiepval Memorial, France.
(P. Ferguson image, August 2018)

The Darkest of Days

The Battle of the Somme lasted for 141 days ending 18 November 1916. During its time the British Army and associated units of the British Commonwealth, including Canada, suffered some 650,000 casualties…200,000 lost their lives.

It is, however, the first day…1 July 1916 that speaks with the loudest of voices…54,740 British Army casualties…19,240 killed. The Newfoundland Regiment was decimated at Beaumont-Hamel and though the Canadian Expeditionary Force did not take part in this the first day, there were those from British Columbia serving in British Army Regiments that lost their lives…1 July 1916.

Vancouver Island

Robert Alexander Rankine Campbell. (Canadian Virtual War Memorial image)

Robert Alexander Rankine Campbell.
(Canadian Virtual War Memorial image)

Second Lieutenant
Robert Alexander Rankine Campbell
B Company 2nd Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales’s Own)
Thiepval Memorial
Son of Robert Lewis and Alice Elizabeth Campbell, Bromley, Kent, England
Joined 10 November 1914
30th Battalion CEF (2nd B.C. Regiment) and later 15th Battalion CEF
Wounded and Missing La Boiselle
Age 23
University student (Toronto) 1914
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Captain
William Francis Henry Pelly
9th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
Officer commanding No. 3 Company
Thiepval Memorial
Husband of Rosa Theodora Pelly
Joined 17 September 1914
7th Battalion CEF (1st B.C. Regiment)
Age Unknown
Banker 1914 employed by Dominion Trust Company, Victoria
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Souper Memorial Stained Glass Window. St. Andrew's Church, Cowichan Station, B.C. (Canadian Virtual War Memorial image)

Souper Memorial Stained Glass Window. St. Andrew’s Church, Cowichan Station, B.C.
(Canadian Virtual War Memorial image)

Second Lieutenant
Noel Beaumont Souper
6th Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment
Thiepval Memorial
Memorial Stained Glass – St. Andrew’s Anglican, Cowichan Station, BC
Son of Reverend F.A. Souper, Grantchester Meadows, Cambridge, England
Husband of Rosalie Frances Souper nee Norie, London, England (married 1910)
Joined 23 September 1914
16th Battalion CEF (Canadian Scottish)
Age 40
Home at Cowichan Bay
Rancher 1914

St. Andrew's Anglican Church, Cowichan Station, B.C. (P. Ferguson image, September 2018)

St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, Cowichan Station, B.C.
(P. Ferguson image, September 2018)

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Vancouver

Maurice Leslie Adamson. (Canadian Virtual War Memorial)

Maurice Leslie Adamson.
(Canadian Virtual War Memorial)

Second Lieutenant
Maurice Leslie Adamson
Royal Scots Fusiliers
Thiepval Memorial
Son of Sir Harvey Adamson KCSI and Lady Adamson of Kensington, London
Joined 23 September 1914
7th Battalion CEF (1st B.C. Regiment)
Age 23
Bank of Montreal Clerk 1914
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William Le Shana (Canadian Virtual War Memorial)

William Le Shana
(Canadian Virtual War Memorial)

Private
William Edward Le Shana
Royal Newfoundland Regiment
Beaumont-Hamel (Newfoundland) Memorial
Son of William and Mabel Le Shana
Husband of Jeannette Le Shana Vancouver, BC
Joined 23 December 1914
Age 24
Clerk 1914

Beaumont-Hamel (Newfoundland) Memorial, France. (P. Ferguson image, August 2018)

Beaumont-Hamel (Newfoundland) Memorial, France.
(P. Ferguson image, August 2018)

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About The Author

pferguson
Paul has worked with the Paradigm Motion Picture Company since 2009 as producer, historian and research specialist. Paul first met Casey and Ian WIlliams of Paradigm in April 2007 at Ieper (Ypres), Belgium when ceremonies were being held for the re-dedication of the Vimy Memorial, France. Paul's sensitivity to film was developed at an early age seeing his first films at RCAF Zweibrucken, Germany and in Sardinia. Paul returned to Canada in 1967 and was further amazed by David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Bridge on the River Kwai". Film captivated Paul and with time he became increasingly interested in storytelling, content development, character, direction, cinematography and soundtracks. At the University of Victoria, Paul studied and compared Japanese and Australian film and became interested in Australian film maker Peter Weir and his film "Gallipoli" (1981). Paul was entranced when he learned Weir had visited the beaches, ridges and ravines of the peninsula. The film "Gallipoli" alone led Paul on many journeys to sites of conflict in England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Malta, Hawaii, Gallipoli and Salonika. It was, however, when Paul watched documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, "The Civil War", that Paul understood how his own experience and insight could be effective and perhaps influential in film-making. Combining his knowledge of Museums and Archives, exhibitions and idea strategies with his film interests would be a natural progression. Paul thinks like a film-maker. His passion for history and storytelling brings to Paradigm an eye (and ear) to the keen and sensitive interests of; content development, the understanding of successful and relational use of collections, imagery and voice. Like Paul's favorite actor, Peter O'Toole, he believes in the adage “To deepen not broaden.” While on this path Paul always remembers his grandmother whose father did not return from the Great War and how his loss shaped her life and how her experience continues to guide him.

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