Lorne and Wilfred Lane

I encountered this story quite by chance. A family friend had asked me to find some family history for her. In the course of finding out some infromation on World War One , I logged onto the Canadian Expeditionary Force Study Group Forum to pose a question.

What caught my eye reading through the posts was someone asking for a photograph of a stone in the Ruthven Cemetery - just around the corner from me.

The stone in question is a memorial to two Ruthven lads who died in World War One. One lost his life the battle that it is one of Canada's most famous. The other died in what is one of Canada's most unknown military expeditions of the war.

Lorne Gore Lane was born July 28, 1897. His younger brother, Wilfred Charles Lane was born February 10, 1899. They were the fourth and the fifth of seven children of Gore and Mary Lane.

Their father was a farmer in Gosfield South Township, and a stockholder and a director of the Erie Tobacco Co. of Windsor.

The story I am about to tell begins in 1915. Wilfred, at 16 years of age, had just become a clerk at the Imperial Bank in Essex.

Lorne, at 18, had enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, signing up in Leamington on October 7, 1915, and reported on October 12, 1915.

Private Lorne Lane

(copyright All rights reserved Kingsville Historical Park Charlie Campbell Museum)

He was assigned to the 70th Overseas Battalion. After training, he shipped out from Halifax on April 24, 1916 on the S.S. Lapland. He arrived in England on May 5, 1916.

On June 28, 1916, after further military training in England, Lorne Lane was transferred to the 26th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, an infantry unit the 5th Brigade in the 2nd

Canadian Division. Along with other reinforcements from the 70th Battalion, he found himself in the trenches in France. By September 12, 1916, Lane was attached to his Brigade Headquarters as a scout.

On the night of November 22/23 1916, while on patrol in "no man's land" Lorne Lane and two others encountered a German patrol.

According to New Brunswicks Fighting 26th A History of 26th New Brunswick Battalion CEF 1914-1919 : "Scouts Lane, Parnham, and Larman, forming the 26th Battalion Patrol, had moved out from Southern Sap shortly after midnight when they detected a hostile patrol of three men moving in their direction through a patch of old wire. When the enemy patrol was within range, four bombs were flung at the Germans and the Canadian soldiers rushed in, kiling one and wounding another, but the third escaped towards his own line, The Canadians remained unscathed. The wounded and dead Germans were brought back to our front line trench where identification of the 21st Bavarian Reserve Regiment of the 6th Bavarian Reserve Div was secured."

The Essex Free Press, February 9, 1917 reported that Lane, in a letter to his parents, wrote that he "helped pull off a little stunt, which pleased the general commanding No. 2 Division, C.E.F., so much that he gave him a special 12 day's (sic) pass to England. Upon his return to France, the O.C. informed him that he had been awarded the Military Medal, for his little stunt."

This is confirmed by Lane's inclusion in the January 22,1917 Supplement to the London Gazette, and by a line in his military record: Awarded the Military Medal by H.M. the King The citation for his medal reads: For conspious bravery, daring and especially good work on the night of the 22/23 Nov. 1916. When in charge of a patrol of two other men they came in contact with a German patrol in No Man's Land and although both patrols saw each other, with great dash he outmanouvered the enemy, killing one and wounding two others. As soon as they threw their bombs at the enemy, they rushed them and forced them to retire, abandoning the man who was killed and the one who was wounded, both of whom where brought to our lines as identifications. This capture enabled us to entirely clear up the situation.

As a result of this capture, and identification of the German unit, the War Diary tells of a raid made the next evening on the enemy trenches.

War Diary 26th Battalion, Library and Archives Canada

In April 1917, Private Lorne Lane found himself in one of the most memorable battles of the war - the battle for Vimy Ridge.

Situated in northern France, Vimy Ridge was a seven kilometre stretch that was heavily-fortified by German troops. Previously both French and British troops had tried, and failed, to take the ridge.

Four Canadian divisions, fighting together for the first time, stormed the ridge at 5:30am Easter Monday, April 9 1917. More than 20,000 Canadian troops overran the Germans all along the front. On April 12, 1917, the Canadians came out of the battle victorious.

It was this battle that is often credited with Canada becoming a nation. But the price paid was heavy. Almost 3,600 were killed and over 7,000 wounded.

One of those killed on April 9, the first day of the battle, was Private Lorne Lane. His body was never found, and he is one of many who have no known final resting place. His sacrifice marked with his name on the Vimy Ridge Memorial.

Private LG Lane MM – Vimy Memorial

================================================= Back in Canada, Wilfred Lane had continued working with the Imperial Bank in various branches. In March 1917 it was reported that he was sent to Hotel Dieu hospital in Windsor, and operated on for appendicitis.

Wilfred soon followed the path that his brother took into the army. He volunteered for service, was not conscripted, and and was attested at Toronto May 23, 1918 and joined the 70th Overseas Battalion.

After training in Petawawa as a gunner, The Essex Free Press reported he made one last trip home around the middle of August.

Shortly after his visit, a small article in August 30th newspaper stated that Mary Lane, his mother, had an accident in which she fell from a hayloft while collecting eggs, and remained bedridden at home, paralyzed from the waist down.

Private. Wilfred Charles Lane (Copyright All rights reserved the Kingsville Historical Park Charlie Campbell Military Museum)

By late in the summer of 1918, it looked like the allies would win the war in that year. There remained, however, the matter of the Russian Revolution. Of the many reasons for the intervention

in Russia, one was that the Allies were fearful of the Communists and decided to send a force to Siberia to assist in defeating them. In addition to several other nations, the US, Britain and Canada mobilized forces to counteract the perceived threat.

On 12 August 1918, Canada's government passed an Order in Council, and the the Canadian Expeditionary Force Siberia was formed.

4,209 men (and one woman, a nursing matron) were mobilized for service.

In the autumn of 1918, the troops for the Expeditionary Force began to arrive at Willows Camp in Victoria, British Columbia. The initial troops sent to Siberia, the advance party, departed for Vladivostok on October 11, 1918. With the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918, many soldiers of the Siberian Expeditionary Force, particularly those who had been conscripted under the Military Service Act, questioned why they were being sent overseas. The war after all was over. The Canadian Prime Minister, however, was adamant that the Force be deployed, overruling his cabinet’s recommendations that no further troops be deployed and that the Force be returned to Canada.

The main body of the Expeditionary Force began its movement to Vladivostok on November 17, 1918 and the first two sailings went relatively smoothly. However, things changed with the third sailing – a mutiny occurred. On December 21, a group of troops refused to board ship. The mutiny was put down, and the soldiers were marched at gunpoint onto the ship. The deployment to Vladivostok continued.

Most of the troops had arrived in Vladivostok by January 15, 1919.

As time progressed, it became apparent that the Force was interfering in the internal affairs of Russia and should never have been despatched in the first place. The Canadian government imposed restrictions on the movement of the troops, basically confining them to the Vladivostok area. It became increasingly obvious that there were no meaningful tasks for the troops to perform in Siberia. With the mission being very unpopular in Canada, the government decided to withdraw the force. The troops returned to Canada between March and June 1919. Influenza was rampant, and the majority of those that did not return died of illness.

When Pte. Wilfred Charles Lane joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force in May 1918, he probably thought that he would serve in France or Belgium. It was not to be – he would serve on the other side of the world.

Shortly after his brief return home, Wilfred was assigned to the Mobile Veterinary Section No. 6 of the Canadian Expeditionary Force Siberia, and then was attached to Canadian Headquarters (Siberia).

As a member of H.Q., he shipped out of Vancouver on November 17, 1918 aboard the ship, the S.S. Monteagle. He arrived at Vladivostok on December 5, 1918.

On Februay 13, 1919 his military records indicate he entered the base hospital with severe bronchitis and an ear infection. On February 21, he is discharged as recovered.

But the conditions continue to flare up. On March 1, he walked on board the ship, Empress of Japan, headed back to Canada along with other soldiers considered too ill to continue serving.

Chronic Bronchitis, ear infections, swollen adenoids, and a deviated septum had invalided him out of the army.

Once aboard ship, his condition deteriorated. By March 7, his condition was so serious that, when the Empress of Japan stopped at Hong Kong for refitting, Wilfred was sent to Bowen Road Military Hospital, delirious with pneumonia. At 6 pm on Tuesday March 10, 1919, one month after turning 20 years old, Pte. Wilfred C. Lane died.

These days, we are used to seeing ramp ceremonies and repatriation cememonies as fallen soldiers are returned home. However, protocol at the time dictated that soldiers were buried near to where they died.

Wilfred was laid to rest with full military honours in Hong Kong on March 11, 1919 in Happy Valley Cemetery, Grave 8341, Section C. The China Mail reported on his funeral: "Full military honours wer accorded to the late Pte. W.C. Lane, who died on Monday last at the Military Hospital, and who was on his way home to Canada, after serving with the Canadian forces at Vladivostok, at his funeral yesterday.

The Rev. Gimblett, read the service ath the Church, and graveside, and the funeral was attended by a large number of soldiers, including Capt. Duckwood, C.A.S.C, Lieut. G.C.L Brassart of the 259th Battalion, and all men of the different Canadian details at present stationed in Hongkong, as well as others from English and Scottish Regiments.

The band of the the 18th Infantry Regiment played the Dead March, and a party of the 88th Co. R.G.A in charge of Lieut. R.F. Forbes marched by the gun carriage-The same party under Sergt. J. Gilhooey fired the three volleys over the grave, and two trumpters sounded the "Last Post."" - China Mail March 12, 1919 The article goes on to list the large number of floral tributes.

It also states that photographs were taken to be sent home to relatives.

The Essex Free Press, in his obituary on March 21, reported that on being notified, the Lane family had immediately cabled Ottawa, requesting his body be brought home. His mother was still ill, and they feared for her health.

Bradley Hall, from the Canadian Agency Commonwealth War Graves Commission, can only guess at why and how it might have been allowed.

In an email in response to my queries he states: “my assumption is simply that some interpretation of the rules occurred after the Armistice of 11 November 1918 for those who died outside the main European Theatre prior to the date which was eventually agreed upon by the Commission's participating governments as the official end date of the war for commemorative purposes (31 August 1921).

I am sure it must have been especially difficult on those families who lost more than one son during the war - certainly there are an unfortunately large number where this occurred. One never knows perhaps it was the fact that the brother's remains had never been found that contributed to an official "bending the rules" in this case.�

Whatever the case, the Lane family prevailed. The order was eventually given, and July 11, 1921, the body was exhumed, and placed on a ship for Vancouver. The Essex Free Press reported his body was expected at Vancouver by August 2, 1921.

On August 10, 1921, the body of Pte. Wilfred Charles Lane arrived in Ruthven on the Pere Marquette Railway. His body was taken to his parents home, and after a funeral service, he was laid to rest in the Ruthven Cemetery, on the northwest corner of what is now County Road 34 and County Road 31.

In the Ruthven cemetary there is a large stone marker in memory of both Wilfred and Lorne Lane. Because Wilfred Lane is laid to rest here, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission considers the site a War Grave, and makes regular inspection visits.

Photo by P. Subity 2009