Lieutenant Vernon Cuthburt Lick
Born West Oxford/Embro, ON 1895
Died July 23, 1917 Fosse 4 Raid at Avion, France
Buried at Ecoivres Military Cemetery, Mont St Eloi
For the past five months they were just allowed to watch. Meanwhile, other battalions would get the nod to lead each attack. From Vimy to Scarpe to Second Scarpe, Arleux, Fresnoy (aka Third Scarpe) and then Avion they were told to sit back, watch and learn. The 116th would be placed in reserve, on the flanks or were positioned far back from the fighting and be seen marching back and forth in the parade grounds. Just another round of training for the boys of the 116th. They had not earned the confidence of the top brass that they could lead an attack. The 116th Battalion was one of the newest battalions to joint the fray and was manned by raw recruits whilst their counterparts in other battalions were lead by veterans. The 116th came with just too much risk.
This would all change in July of 1917. The affair they were tasked to lead was minor in comparison to the larger divisional operations that included a number of battalions operating in a detailed, coordinated fashion. In this task, the 116th was asked to conduct a raid. When the concept of a raid is considered, my mind conjures up a squad of men or two crawling across no-man’s land at night…sneaking through shell holes, navigating cuts in the barbed wire before the reach the enemy trenches….hopefully undetected…then bounding from the top of the parapet, jabbing a couple Huns, grabbing a few others before trying their best to make it back before being pilloried with a stream of lead belched by an alert machine gunner. But this one would be different…this raid would be much larger. Over 800 men, 4 companies going over the top all at once.
On July 23rd, 1917 one of the men who would be asked to lead the raid was Lieutenant Vernon Cuthburt Lick. Like many of his peers, Vernon was a soldier before he became a soldier. The Embro, Ontario native would start his military career by serving 3 years with the Cadet Corps before joining up with the 22nd Regiment “Oxford Rifles”. It would come as no surprise that when the waves of war rushed over Canada, the now 21 yr old would enlist for the cause. He signed up with the Woodstock raised Oxfords, the 168th Battalion, move over to the 173rd, train in England with the 2nd Reserve Battalion and on the eve of Vimy Ridge would be sent to France to join the 116th.
The job of a Lieutenant was rather straightforward…he was tasked to lead men in war. The definitive word in this statement is “lead”. His own training would begin with understanding what makes a soldier and how he needs to mould others into becoming effective tools in the art of military warfare. His task was to transition farmers, bank clerks, school-teachers and carpenters into fit, resilient, disciplined, expert soldiers. Thus, upon joining the 116th on March 20th, 1917 he would be tasked with the critical role of turning these civilians into weapons of war.
From their arrival in France in early February, much of their time was spent in training. Under the leadership of a Captain, the Lieutenant was accountable for a platoon of approximately 50 men. With the support of his NCO’s (Sergeants, Corporals) he needed to teach these men how to fight. How to use the weapons…from mills bombs to bayonets. He needed to teach the men how to operate as a team, as a fully functioning independent unit. He needed to earn their respect, gain their trust and win their support. Most importantly, when leading men in war he needed to do so my following the operative definition of the word…by being the first. The first out of the trenches. The first across the battlefield. The first to the objective. He needed to lead.
On the 23rd of July, Lieutenant Vernon Cuthburt Lick was put in command of “D” Company. As the clock struck one and the whistles blew, “A”, “B” and “C” Companies followed the creeping barrage across the theatres of this midnight raid. Lick was put in charge of Company “D”, the Reserve Company. As soon as the other Companies either achieved their objectives or were called upon for support, it was Lick’s job to rush to their raid and support. As the men from the other companies rushed across the battlefield and took on the Germans, Lick stood by his men, watched and waited. His men patiently, in the midst of a torrent, waited and watched Lick…watched and waited for him to give them orders.
The expectation was for Lt. Lick to lead his men forward at daybreak. With the sun lightening the blurred edge of the horizon, Lick prepared his men. And yet…like a sprinter stumbling out of the blocks at 4:45am Lick’s position was hit. An artillery shell killed him instantly and wounded his Sergeants and Corporals. The men he chose to lead the boys in their first, most significant baptism of fire in France were wiped out in an instant. Others would take their place and lead the men in support but to the men in “D” Company they didn’t only lose a Lieutenant, they lost a man who had earned their trust.
Lest we forget.