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From:
Subject: Re: [WW1] War Diaries
Date: Sun, 07 Mar 2004 15:52:16 -0800 (PST)

The attachment would be "permanent" until the next
posting or attachment comes along. I think you are
right in him being with "A" Company. Any movement
outside his unit should have been recorded, but not
necessarily in the War Diary; that is the Army way.
Don't forget that for every man at the front there were
five to six supporting him in some way. Ref: your PS,
I bet WJM is the adjutant. This officer normally
prepared the War Diary.

If you could ever get to Ottawa and review the 1st Cdn
Pnr files, you would likely find the "Daily Orders Part
II"; a daily record of comings and goings into the
unit. These are much more detailed than the War Diary.
The Nominal Rolls or Casualty Lists could also confirm
which company he was with.
Good luck, Peter in Vancouver

On Sun, 07 Mar 2004 16:16:13 -0800, Tom and/or Lesley
Huppert wrote:

> I am comparing the online war diaries of the 1st
> Canadian Pioneers (BEF) with Charles Edward Gent's
military record. There seems to be nothing in his
record to indicate which company of the Pioneers he was
with. The war diary entries gives details of the
movements of Companies A, B, C and D.
> There is much "lending" of troops to other units,
with the bulk of the battalion working (in April 1916)
in the Ypres sector shoring up trenches, doing
carpentry work, etc.
>
> There's a OC Unit report of 30 July 1916 on Pte
Gent's record: attached to 1st CD Engrs in Field on
Saturday 29 Apr. I checked the diary entries and found
a reference of 10 men of A company going to 1st Cdn
Div CRE headquarters - also of 4 working parties of C
Compnay working at RE dugouts at The Bluff. I'm
assuming my Pte Gent was one of the 10 in A Company.
>
> My question, however, is would that be a permanent
> assignment or is every moment of every soldier
recorded in his personal file?
> It seems an incredible amount of information for the
"keeper of the diary" to record or transmit to someone
else.
>
> Thanks for any advice.
>
> Regards,
> Lesley
> Constance Bay, Ontario
> P.S. the initials beside each daily diary entry are
> WJM, although the signature at the end of the month
is that of A.E. Hodgins, Lt. Col. Would WJM refer to
the battalion clerk or someone of a higher rank?

This thread:

• [WW1] War Diaries by Tom and/or Lesley Huppert <>
  • [WW1] Identifications needed by "Claire Baldwin" <>
    • Re: [WW1] Identifications needed by Forrest Anderson <>

  • Re: [WW1] War Diaries by