“I cannot give an estimate of our
casualties, but
I believe they are severe”-Capt.
TW MacDowell,
O.C.
‘B’ Coy, 38th (Ottawa) Battalion
Kingston,
Ontario, January 1918
The young
officer appeared a great deal more settled.
A recent medical board, convened to assess his condition had noted that
he had begun to show much improvement.
Three months’ rest and observation in hospital seemed to have been
sufficient to regain emotional control and his sleep had gone from frequent insomnia
to being practically normal. Although it
seemed he was of good physical condition, he did complain of being more easily
fatigued. Well, that could be
overlooked. After all, the gentleman was
only requesting a return to a staff position in England, not duty in
France. Other doctors had made note of
the progress the patient had made, and now it rested with Major Russell,
Canadian Army Medical Corps to make the final decision.
“You’ve seen a fair bit of this
war. It wouldn’t be ill thought of if you
remained at home.”
“Thank you, Sir, but I must get
back. Surely I can be allowed to do what
I can.” He spoke evenly, and at a sedate
pace. The infrequent stammer seemed to
have gone. His hands rested naturally,
the tremor also having diminished.[i]
“It’s very admirable of you,” the
Major admitted, “you’re certain about this, Captain MacDowell?”
“Captain MacDowell!” Only feet away, Kobus had to shout as he
pointed towards the redoubt, the barrage overwhelmingly crashing down, taking
over all sound. Formed by staggered
sandbags slightly raised from the trenchline, not ten yards away, two machine
guns within it were hammering away at the advancing troops. MacDowell looked about and could only account
for Kobus and Hay, his company runners.
“You two, follow me!” he ordered,
“make ready with bombs.”
Vimy,
France, April 1917
The first bit
had gone famously. ‘D’ Company had
gained possession of the enemy’s front line.
Springing from a tunnel which led out into No-man’s Land a stone’s throw
from the German trenches this first rush came directly behind the creeping
barrage and these forward positions “had been taken with practically no
opposition, and the other waves swept on after the barrage to their objectives
further into the enemy’s line.”[1] ‘A’ and ‘C’ Companies fanned out to the right;
en route to clear out a series of fortified craters and gain touch with the
left-hand battalion of the 11th Canadian Infantry Brigade. Captain MacDowell and his ‘B’ Company were
tasked with securing the “Main Line of Resistance,” a tangled intersection of
trenches beyond the front line which was where the Germans were expected to
stand firm. Lifting and dropping
sequentially, the barrage worked well to shield them on approach, but its
protection was fleeting. Once in, ‘B’
Company would have to clear out this position on their own while the artillery
concentrated on BLACK Line targets in preparation for subsequent waves from the
78th Battalion.
Soon after
breaching the MLR, a “nest of German Machine Guns were encountered near the
junction of CYRUS and BABY”[2]
trenches. Once pointed out, Captain
MacDowell knew exactly what to do. Luck
would have it, this wasn’t his first dance with a prepared MG emplacement. “He led his company against an enemy position
with great courage and initiative, capturing three machine guns and fifty
prisoners,”[3]
was the substance of his citation for the Distinguished Service Order he’d been
awarded for actions at the Somme last fall.
Now, he’d have to do it again, and with only Kobus and Hay to assist
him. ‘B’ Company had become scattered,
working in isolated groups. The line,
pummeled over a week’s heavy bombardment was no longer contiguous and now
resembles a mess of disjointed, shallow ditches rather than a formidable
defensive line.
“Captain
MacDowell DSO 38 Bn. with his two runners bombed up BABY Trench and dislodged
two of the guns, killing some of the crews and capturing on of the guns.”[4] The men pursued the other gun and crew which
had made haste to a dugout at the junction.
It turned out to be teeming with enemy troops still sheltering from the
barrage. Far more, it seemed, than was
wise for the three men to face up to on their own. All the same, the three here were all there
was to work with.
“By a judicious
amount of bluff, Capt. MacDowell fooled the enemy into thinking he had a large
party with him.” Brought out in batches of twelve at a time between his
runners, they were “dispatched towards our lines with a few parting shots. The capture of this party was admirably
carried out and it is due entirely to the bravery of Capt. MacDowell.” Taking what turned out to be seventy-seven
prisoners with just himself and two privates, MacDowell wasn’t able to
accomplish this feat entirely clean. “Some
of the prisoners showed fight when they found out the smallness of the party. This was promptly and effectively prevented
from spreading by immediate and drastic measures.”[5]
When the last of
them had been sent off, Captain MacDowell began work to organise his position
into a strong point. Very quickly, he
scrawled out a report and sent it back to Battalion HQ. It was now eight o’clock in the morning.
“A report came
in,” Battalion logs note, 45 minutes later, “from Capt. TW MacDowell by runner,
timed 8 a.m., that he was on his objective at BABY Trench.”[6] Of that MacDowell had written “I am afraid is
not fully consolidated. The mud is very
bad and our machine guns are filled with mud.
I have about 15 men near here and can see others around and am getting
them in hand slowly….I cannot give an estimate of our casualties but believe
they are severe….The 78th have gone through…The line is
obliterated.”[7] Suggesting Brigade machine guns would be well
suited to the fields of fire he had, Captain MacDowell prepared to defend his
position with what men he could muster.
“This is all I can think of at present,” he closed, “Please excuse
writing.”[8]
Battalion HQ had
no ability to help MacDowell for the time being. The C.O. was wounded and ordered out of the
line by the Medical Officer. Major Wood
had taken over operations, and ‘B’ Company wasn’t in the worst state. No one was in contact with ‘A’ Company, and
it was unknown if the right flank was secure at the craters or if contact had
been made with 11th Brigade.
Claiming the
large dugout which he had slyly wrested from the enemy as his headquarters,
Captain MacDowell sent back another dispatch at half-past ten. “There are only 15 men with me,” he reminded
Battalion HQ, “of whom two are stretcher bearers. The rifles are one mass of mud. I have two Lewis guns and only four pans. Both guns are out of action on account of the
mud.” He also couldn’t observe anything
from the 78th Battalion which had moved beyond his post, except that
there appeared to be wounded men out there.
Also out there were more German machine guns, pouring sporadic, grazing
fire on his isolated outpost, keeping him pegged. “I have no Subalterns or N.C.O.’s, and unless
I get a few more men with serviceable rifles I hate to admit it, but we may be
driven out.”[9]
Situation at
Battalion HQ had settled in the hours between Captain MacDowell’s reports. ‘A’ Company had lost most of its officers, so
Brigade reserve troops had been sent to reinforce the right. As MacDowell’s runner was relaying his own
urgent need for more men, “Pte. GJP Nunney who had come in to get a wound
dressed…volunteered, if he got a carrying party to go out again, get the
ammunition and go over to Capt. MacDowell.”[10]
Such a party was
pressed together, mainly from ‘D’ Company men.
Led by Lieutenant Kelty, they found Captain MacDowell and his band of
fifteen still holding firm, using captured German rifles, which, having been in
the dugout, were not stopped with mud.
Early in the
afternoon, Captain MacDowell sent back a third note. It had, aside from occasional bursts from
those German guns out and to the left, quieted down a great deal. He and Lt. Kelty had a chance to make a good
survey of this dugout. “I cannot impress
upon you,” he told Major Wood, “the strength of this position and the value of
it as a strong supporting point to the left flank.” From this point, he could see Lens and other
villages as well as enemy battery positions.
Taking the dugout intact had been a tremendous boon. It had been home to troops fresh to the line
and fully accoutered. “The cigars are
very choice,” MacDowell informed Wood with a slightly cheeky coolness, “and my
supply of Perrier water is very large.”
“Tell Ken to
come up for tea to-morrow if it is quiet.”
The room was
quiet. “Captain MacDowell?”
He shook his
head, returning to the time at hand. “Sorry, Sir?”
Major Russell
smiled, thinly. “I said that as to your
request to return to duty in England, I’m recommending that there is no medical
reason why you should not do so.”
“Thank you, Sir. I was hoping to be of some good use.”
“I’m pleased you feel so well about
it. We’ll get you back as soon as can be
arranged.”
Thain Wendell
MacDowell was awarded the Victoria Cross for his extraordinary efforts on 9
April 1917. In July, a bout of trench
fever put him in hospital and thence to Canada for a month’s medical leave to
recuperate. While home, the strain of his time at the
front pushed past his resolve and he was readmitted to hospital in Spetember,
suffering a nervous break from “stress of service and shell fire.” Symptoms of this had first begun after he was
wounded during the action at the Somme for which he was awarded the DSO.
Severely
debilitated with tremors, physical exhaustion, profuse sweating and
palpitations underscored by frequent “attacks of crying,” Thain MacDowell spent
three months under medical care. The man
he was came through to the surface and by January of 1918 was returned, by his
own request, to a staff position at Canadian Forces HQ in London.
He demobilised
in 1919 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and went on to a productive private
life. Lt Col. TW MacDowell VC DSO passed
away at 70 years of age in 1960.
None could
question the courage of a man with such decorations for valour, but perhaps the
bravest thing he did was seek help for his invisible wounds.
No
one
need suffer alone. If you or a loved one
is affected by emotional or mental health concerns, it is a great strength to
reach out for help.
In
Canada: Veterans Affairs Crisis Line:
·
1-800-268-7708
·
TDD 1-800-567-5803
United
States: Veteran’s
Crisis Line: call 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1
United
Kingdom: Veteran’s UK Helpline: Freephone:0808 1914
2 18
Telephone (overseas):+44 1253 866 043
Normal Service 8.00 am to
5.00 pm Monday to Friday
When the helpline is closed, callers will be given the option to be routed to Combat Stress or The Samaritans 24hr helpline.
When the helpline is closed, callers will be given the option to be routed to Combat Stress or The Samaritans 24hr helpline.
[1] 12th Canadian Infantry Brigade “Report on
Operations on Vimy Ridge” War Diary, April 1917, Appendix 5
[3] Supplement to the London Gazette, No. 29898, 10 January
1917, pg. 454
[6] 38th (Ottawa) Battalion “Report on
Operations of 38th Canadian Infantry Battalion” War Diary, April
1917, Appendix 2
[7] MacDowell, TW, Capt. “Battle Report, 8 a.m. 9 April
1917” 38 Bn. War Diary, April 1917, Appendix 3
[9] MacDowell, TW, Capt. “Battle Report, 10:30 a.m. 9 April
1917” 38 Bn. War Diary, April 1917, Appendix 3
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