The Price of Humanity in War

 
 

The Price of Humanity in War; The death of Lt. Col. Samuel Simpson Sharpe

by Mark Carmichael

This is an article that I researched and wrote and lead to me starting this journey of discovery, remembrance and recognition. It was published today in the Fall 2021 edition of The Maple Leaf, The magazine of the Central Ontario Branch of the Western Front Association.

(Estimated reading time...get yourself a tasty beverage and a comfy seat....this is going to take 10-15 minutes of your time)

It started with a handshake. Followed by a countenance of gratitude…of sincere thanks for their commitment to enlist and serve alongside him. Hundreds of these handshakes built his battalion. From post offices, community centers, churches and fairgrounds across Ontario County he recruited men to enlist in the Canada’s newest infantry battalion, the 116th. Firm reassuring handshakes were shared with mothers and fathers, farmers, bankers and blacksmiths, architects, students and their teachers. It all started with handshakes.

In October 1915, Lt. Colonel Samuel Simpson Sharpe, former Major in the 34th Ontario Regiment (RCAC), lawyer and Member of Parliament for Ontario North, received approval to raise a battalion to serve alongside the other Canadian forces already fighting in France. Without delay and from behind tables stacked with attestation forms in towns situated across Ontario County the task of building a battalion began.

Sharpe’s first task was to build his leadership team. An effective officer corps is essential both in the recruitment of soldiers and in the management of them, teaching them the skills necessary to earn a position and be effective on the field of battle. He began by approaching the men he knew and trusted best, the former officers of his mother regiment, the 34th Regiment. 33 officers agreed to sign up and help lead the 116th. Some were close personal acquaintances and others were business and political associates. These included his partner at his Uxbridge law firm Sharpe and Cooke, Major Henry Porter Cooke. New Lieutenant’s Harold Gould, Thomas Hutchison and Walter Shirer were local Uxbridge boys. Even his 19 yr old cousin, Lieutenant Charles Lennox, joined his team. His officer corps included relatives of prominent citizens, like Lieutenant Francis McGrotty, the son of Ontario’s Chief Constable. Lieutenant John Doble was a banker who worked in nearby Sunderland and NCO Sergeant Oliver Drew, the 25 yr old graduate of University of Toronto was a schoolteacher from Cannington. The commonality amongst his officer corps was that most of them enjoyed a longstanding personal relationship with Sharpe prior to joining the battalion. While this may have been an asset in creating an effective fighting force, it turned into be a rather unfortunate and unforeseen disadvantage once they were deployed to France.

Sharpe was a natural politician. The skills gained out on the hustings were put to good use in the recruitment process. In the winter and spring of 1916, Sharpe established recruitment offices in several Ontario County towns including Oshawa, Whitby, Beaverton, Port Perry, Brooklin, Sunderland, Cannington and with the headquarters situated in Uxbridge. Almost immediately men flocked to sign up. Once the battalion roster was filled Sharpe, always the politician, orchestrated a 75-mile roadshow that meandered its way throughout the county. He wanted to give his constituents a chance to gather and cheer as their sons, fathers and husbands marched alongside their battalion mates through the main streets of their hometowns. At every stop Sharpe would recite his rehearsed speech that promoted the importance of patriotism and service. As their member of Parliament, he would have visited these same towns many times before. He would have attended church service with them and spoke to them at the same fieldhouses and community halls. He would have visited regularly either to service the needs of his constituents or ask for their support in the upcoming federal election. Excited children would scream “Daddy! Daddy!” as their father marched by. Their wives and mothers would nervously wave with the hope that these flighting glimpses of their sons and husbands would not be their last. With newspapers foretelling of the dreadful stories of death and loss over there, the reality of what these men were heading into dampened the optimism normally raised by the sounds of the pipes and drums.

The 116th Battalion began in Central Ontario as a rural country battalion, mainly comprised of farmers and labourers from small town Ontario. The battalion trained in both Uxbridge and Niagara and once ready, the men stepped aboard the SS Olympic and traveled to England in the July of 1916. Upon arrival, while their preparation continued many men from the battalion were transferred to other units, including the 2nd 3rd and 18th Battalions. However, by the strength of Sharpe’s political expertise, he was able to save the battalion from the fate suffered by many of the other regional battalions and ensure they were not broken up prior to deployment. Instead as they readied themselves for battle, they grew in number by absorbing men from other units including the 126th, 157th, 164th, 169th, 173rd and 208th battalions. These men predominantly hailed from the regions around Toronto, Simcoe County, Peel and London. Many other more experienced battalions derided the 116th for their relative greenness and referred to them as the ‘Umpty-Umps’ or the “Baby Battalion”. (1-2) In February 1917, the battalion was given their chance, transported to France and immediately placed in the Vimy sector. From that engagement forward, they were tossed into the meat grinder of the Western Front.

The battalion’s baptism of fire occurred as they stood in as a reserve battalion at Vimy Ridge. Their next engagement was at the Maricourt Maze in Avion where they successfully executed trench raids on the German Fosse 4 trench system. Next, the battalion racked up battle honours at Hill 70, then Passchendaele, Amiens, Le Quesnel-Parvillers, Boiry-Notre Dame/Artillery Hill, Bourlon Wood and the most notably at the Canal du Nord near Cambrai. From engagement to engagement, the battalion suffered breathtakingly horrific losses. The most telling statistic from the history of the battalion was that of the 1100 men recruited by Sharpe, by November 1918 only 160 were still actively serving soldiers. And yet, when the sounds of the guns grew silent, Sharpe’s boys stood at the very spot where the war began…on the outskirts of the town of Mons, Belgium. These are storied achievements by a truly impressive leader. And yet despite over 100 years passing since his death most Canadians are completely unaware of this great Canadian hero. Why? Because on May 25th, 1918 Lt. Colonel Sam Sharpe, after suffering a series of nervous breakdowns initiated in the fields in France, jumped out the window of the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal and died by suicide. The official cause of his death was listed as shell shock, however a closer look as his story reveals a more complex situation.

In the convention of great war history, PTSD or “shell shock” was defined as resulting from prolonged and intense exposure to shell fire leading to severe physical and emotional disorders. Their injuries were manifested in both physical (tremors, limb paralysis, anxiety) and mental injury (insomnia, nightmares) impairing their ability to continue to perform their soldierly duties. A case can be made for Sharpe that his PTSD was the result of a gradual, continuous and progressive degradation of the soul and spirit of a man desperately trying to lead, to protect, to conserve and to desperately return the men he convinced to enlist safely back home. Sharpe’s story is a vivid demonstration how the burden of leadership and conscience when parried against the brutality of war leads not only to the deaths of men through physical violence, but often through mental violence as well.

Jonathan Scotland’s “Soldier Suicide after the Great War: A First look” (3) denotes that in the year following the end of the war, 80% of all recorded suicides in Toronto (as reported by The Globe and The Star) were Great War veterans. The published ‘causes’ included economic, trauma or unbearable pain due to physical injuries or mental heath (depression). In the case of Lt. Colonel Sam Sharpe there is evidence that his mental breakdown was related to his inability to manage or control one of our most valued attributes, namely, his ‘humanity’.

Proving that someone’s inability to manage their own ‘humanity’ contributed to them taking their own life is rather tricky. How can one place themselves into the mind of a person who was in such unconscionable level of distress that they thought the only way out was to take their own life? An analysis of their letters, conversations or statements can assist, however for Sharpe, taking a closer look at whom he might have expressed a higher level of empathy and humanity for may provide the best insight into his state of mind. To begin this exercise, it might be best to investigate the cumulative impact of deaths of people who he held dear by detailing the timeline of deaths that he had to manage.

Summary of the men who were killed under his command.

  • 33 officers were killed while under Sharpe’s command in the field (up to Dec 26, 1917)

  • 13 of the officers killed were 116th ‘originals’ (with the battalion from enlistment)

  • 5 were former members of the 34th Regiment. Sharpe would have commanded these men in the years prior to the outbreak of war

  • 74 private soldiers would die under his command

  • Battle of Vimy Ridge (April 9-13th, 1917)

  • Lieutenant John Doble (former 34th) – banker in Sunderland, located close to Uxbridge

  • Lieutenant William Kift (former 34th) - lived in Uxbridge, 19 yr old student.

  • Lieutenant Henry Major (former 34th) - Pickering area native. Severely wounded in the knee, lost his leg then died on June 15th from septecemia

  • Sergeant Clayton Fuller – joined the battalion at Camp Niagara

  • 7 Other Ranks killed – William Hill (31), Albert Sterrett (22), Karl Dusome (20), Albert Fulton (24), Vernon Bordon (20), Alexander Brownlie (20), David McInnes (20)

June 2017

  • Corporal Bernie Branch

  • Corporal Frederick Daniels

  • 3 other ranks killed – William Rogers (20), Edward Montgomery (19), Walter Middleton (21)

Fosse Raid at Avion (July 23rd, 1917)

  • Lieutenant Charles Lennox – 19, cousin of Sam Sharpe, he signed up with his Dad and they both served, his father in a construction battalion.

  • Lieutenant Thomas Hutchison – 27, close friend and former member of the 34th Regiment. Was a banker living in Uxbridge

  • Lieutenant Vernon Lick – 22, veteran of the 22nd regiment, killed by shell fire

  • Lieutenant Frank Neil – 27, 109th Regiment Swift Current SK

  • Lieutenant George Weber – 25, Student U of T, veteran of 91st CH

  • Sergeant Oliver Drew, 25 – Graduate of U of T, schoolteacher from Cannington, ON

  • Sergeant William Fell, 34

  • Corporal Percy Arnold, 22

  • Corporal Edward Doughty, 34

  • Corporal Leonard Hinchcliffe, 35

  • 27 Other Ranks – Harry Paul (19), William Wood (18), John Cooper (28), Henry Dowton (28), Fletcher Miller (23), Henry Parish (29), Frederick Hyland (29), Ambrose Archer (21), Jack Bowerbank (23), Wesley Campbell (27), Orren Congdon (23), Harold Crockett (26), Thomas Dickson (33), Valdes Gardiner (21), Martin Kubiak (22), Alfred Litherland (41), William McFarlane (19), John Owen (29), Robert Park (19), Richard Unsworth (20), John White (29), Andrew Wilson (28), Harold Wilson (22), John Fairman (21), Joseph Montgomery (25), Frederick Gouldsborough (27)

Hill 70 (Aug 22-31st, 1917)

  • Sergeant Richard Howson – 27

  • 22 Other Ranks – Norman Binkley (26), Oliver Arnold – one of the first soldiers recruited by Sharpe (22), Howard Kemp (21), George Moore – original 116th, school teacher (24), Frederick Crampton (26), James Gowanlock (29), Robert Hunter (25), John McMIllan, original 116th from Beaverton, ON, Roy Switzer (20), Harry Waters (20), Charles Barlow (28), Frederick Pulsford (29), Friedrich Church (29), William Painter (21), James Guthrie (26), William Lloyd (34), Thomas Loughlin (34), James Langley (20), Albert Vasseur (21), Arthur Allen (25), Issac Beauchamp (22), Albert Reid (20)

September 1917

  • Sergeant Harvey Keller – Died of suicide, jumping out of the window of the hospital in England after being injured in the Fosse raid.

  • Corporal John Lawrence

  • Other Ranks – Charles Bennett (25), Lister Dewes (30), William Johnson (22)

Passchendaele (Oct 23rd-Nov 2nd, 1917)

  • Sergeant Walter Blunden

  • Sergeant Alfred Knibbs

  • Sergeant George Howstrawer

  • Corporal Tom Rivers

  • Corporal Reuben Crawford

  • Corporal Albert Matlby

  • Corporal John Campbell, 116th original from Woodville ON

  • Corporal William Hawkins,

  • Lance Corporal George McKinnon

  • Lance Corporal Sydney Howe

  • Other Ranks – Harold Sproule (21), George Borman (28), Henry Eastwood (37), William McCall (29), William Puddicomb (21), Thomas Turnbull (29), Henry Ellery (21), Albert Ashborough (28), Herman Desrouches (29), Henry Pimlott (116th original, 35), William Braithewaite (21), Everette Brewster (22), John Macklow (20), Lloyd Park (21), David Churches (24), Alfred Johnson (29), Pete Muldoon (23), Hubert Corless (19), Thomas Heath (25), John May (21), Robert Raasflaub (23), James Hogarth (20), Charles Harvey (20), John Shefield ()

December 1917

  • Sergeant Sam Caufield

  • Lieutenant Francis McGrotty – 116th original, died by machine gun fire while working on wiring

  • Other Ranks – James Sayers (4)

Dec 26th – Sharpe left his men and proceeded to England to receive his DSO.

Sharpe’s demonstration of humanity was most evident in his chosen profession. Less a military man, Sharpe was ever more the politician. He was the twice elected member of the riding of Ontario North, ran a successful law practice in Uxbridge prior to the war and was also active in the community including being a member of the locally based Zeradatha Freemason Lodge. Each of these positions provided him with the social connections, skills and necessary principled outlook needed to effectively communicate and aid in the recruitment of soldiers for the war effort. They also necessitated that he would need to have a certain degree of humanity which while being an essential asset in the persuasion of men would have been a liability when the corresponding care and concern attributes collided with the brutal realities of modern warfare.

The evidence in his skill at persuasion was demonstrated in his ability to convince 31 former officers of the 34th to joined him and the 116th. This fact leads to a reasonable expectation that Sharpe would have enjoyed longstanding personal relationships with each of these men prior to the war. Thus, when three of his lieutenants were killed in the battalion’s first real action in France it would have been a significant personal blow to Sharpe. Lieutenant’s Kift, Doble and Major were all local Uxbridge boys while being former officers in the 34th. He would have known them well. Doble worked as a banker in nearby Sunderland. Kift was just a young student/soldier but as he was born and raised in Uxbridge, Sharpe would have seen him around town since he was a boy and being a small close community he would have also known his parents. Finally, Lt. Major was also a student/soldier and hailed from a military family being the great grandson of a United Empire Loyalist.

Sharpe was known to have an overtly familiar relationship with his men. This differed from typical commanding officers and their men. It was not merely the fact that he was personally close to many of his men, rather it was due to the level of accountability he assumed for his soldiers. Articles written after his passing reflected on how his men always “spoke highly of him as an officer. He was always up with the men, careful of their comfort and sharing all the war conditions of the men in the trenches.” (5) More specifically, this was detailed in the 116th Battalion History when it outlined by the actions he took in advance of the Fosse 4 Raid on July 23rd. On the day prior to the engagement, the battalion history records how Sharpe personally surveyed the territory that the battalion was planning on traversing from the “second story of a ruined house”. (6) However, a newspaper clipping published in the Globe on May 27, 1918 recounted that “so anxious was the Colonel that there should be no failure in his first important action of the One Hundred and Sixteenth that on the night before the raid, he went out with some subalterns and laid strips of white tape to mark the practicable breeches in the enemy’s wire. It was by these narrow tape-marked paths winding among the steep wire barriers that the men of Sam Sharpe’s command reached the enemy positions with relatively few casualties. (7)

This level of care and concern, while evident in his practicable steps to reduce the risk for his men still resulted in significant casualties. On that bloody day, Sharpe lost 12 officers and 28 other ranks (not including those wounded in action). His thoughts were expressed in a letter he wrote to his sister after the raid. He talked how their success provided the 116th “great renown” but the losses were great and gave them (him) so much grief. “To lose so many fine young officers and NCOs and men made us all feel so sad, and took away the real pleasure of our great success” (

The tragedy of the losses from the raid would have mounted in Sharpe’s mind and compounded as he assumed his duty of notifying the next of kin of the loss of their loved one. Two examples of letters he sent are representative of the heartfelt sorrow he felt in losing men under his command who were also people who he considered as a friend in civilian life.

The following is a copy a letter that Sharpe sent to the family of Private Orren Congdon. Orren was born in Uxbridge and was a typical boy who signed up to the 116th. He was a 23 yr old farmer who lived in the community of Atherley located in the northern portion of the riding.

“It is my painful duty that your son Cpl O J Congdon has been missing since and attack on German positions on the morning of July 23rd. The battalion had received a special order to raid the German lines on a frontage of 600 yards to a depth of 400 yards. There were two objectives and “A” Company under Captain Gould took the first objective and captured many prisoners. The other objective was taken by “B” and “C” companies under Capt. Allen and Major Currie respectively. They reached their objectives and inflicted much loss on the enemy, bombed his dugouts and took many prisoners. On the whole we captured about sixty prisoners and the Battalion received complimentary messages from the Brigadier, the Divisional Commander and Corps Commander and the Commander-in-Chief, but these messages, I am afraid, offer small consolation to the fathers and mothers and relatives of those who has fallen, or who are missing. It was with exceeding regret that your son was among the missing. Orren was always bright and cheerful and was always an encouragement to the other men. He was never out of sorts but always cheerful under the most adverse conditions. Although he is marked missing, I cannot hold out any hope that he is alive. He was in a platoon with a son of a cousin of mine, Lieut Lennox who is a fine boy also. They are missing together. I have only one message for you, namely, that I am afraid they are both killed but there is a possibility that they have been wounded and are prisoners, but I am afraid that we shall never see the boys again. Orren carried on in a manner that reflected great credit to him and on the unit to which he belonged. He was popular in the battalion and his loss will be keenly felt. On behalf of the officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the battalion I desire to convey to you our sincere sympathy in your loss. Please convey to all members and friends of the family our regret at the loss of such a splendid soldier. We hope that you will take comfort and solace in the consciousness that if he has died, he did in full duty to his King and country, and his loss will be an inspiration to those who come after.” (9)

This letter is a fine insight into the personality and mindset of the Lt Colonel. His letter was extremely personal and customized to the family of the soldier. In the note he provides an extraordinary amount of information on the specifics of the attack, the result of the raid and the nature of how their son may have been killed. This signals how Sharpe might have been insistent on providing meaning to the sacrifice of their son to the war effort. He also ensured that the family was comforted in knowing that their son was respected and how he would be missed both as a teammate and as a person. Finally, he intimated that he also incurred a personal loss in the action. It was during the same raid whereby Sharpe’s own cousin, Lieutenant Charles Lennox died apparently after being shot in the head following being taken as a POW. The letter is an inordinately fine example of the lengths Sharpe would go to soothe the pain of the loss for the family of the dead soldier. This is a level of humanity that is rather remarkable and provides deeper insight into the type of leader and person Sharpe was.

The historical record also details a second letter Sharpe wrote to the next of kin for a fallen soldier from the Fosse Raid. This one was much more personal and with the man’s death significantly impacting the Lt Colonel. The letter was written to the widow of friend, former 34th Regiment officer and fellow Uxbridge native, Lieutenant Thomas Hutchison. Hutchinson’s loss hit Sharpe hard. His letter to the Lieutenant’s widow began with the emotive “We all do miss dear old Hutch so much! No man in the Battalion was more popular or beloved by everyone – he occupied a unique position in that respect. He was so soldierly, so thorough – nature’s nobleman in every sense of the word”. His heartfelt messaging provides extraordinary insight into the character and humanity of Sharpe. He knew Hutchison’s widow very well. Less than a month before they departed, Sharpe and his wife Mabel hosted a dinner party in the honour of their new marriage in their own home. Thus, it is a revealing look into his mindset when he ends his letter with the profound confession “But it is awful to contemplate the misery and suffering of this old world (and) were I to allow myself to ponder over what I have seen (and) what I have suffered through the loss of the bravest and best in the world, I would soon become absolutely incapable of “Carrying on”. (10)

This letter was written on Oct 21st, 1917 before the battalion took their position in the line facing Bellevue Ridge at Passchendaele. By the time he wrote the letter, 88 men under his care and command would have died since he led the battalion to France. While it cannot be confirmed he wrote them all, letters would have been written home to the next of kin for every person who fell. Based on how he recruited the men and how he served his riding, it should be expected that Sharpe personally knew the recipients of many of the letters. There is a good chance that he was the one to shake their hand, to offer thanks and make the commitment that he would look after their son or father over there. 19 of his officers had been killed. 8 of them were 116th originals and he would have known them for some time. And if the letter to the family of Private Orren Congdon is representative of the duty he sought to fulfill, he would have had to write up to 68 additional letters to the family of other private soldiers killed under his command. To personify this duty is to understand the devastating impact that the task had on one man’s psyche. This was why when he concluded his message of condolence to Murial Hutchison he confided that if this carnage would continue, soon he would become ‘absolutely incapable of carrying on”.

In the ten days’ following his sending that devastating letter home to Murial, Sharpe watched as 11 more of his officers and 15 private soldiers killed at Passchendaele. The battalion was performing very well in the field however men continued to die under his watch. This would have been when the stress and pressures of his role would have started to wear him down emotionally and psychologically. In the next month, the battalion was moved back to rest and train and on Dec 23rd they moved back into the line. Within days, Sharpe left his men and proceeded to England. With his mentioning in Haig’s dispatches from Nov 7th ,1917 and subsequent DSO, he was set to receive the award at Buckingham Palace by the King. To add to the wave of positive personal achievements, he was ordered to Aldershot to attend an Advanced Officer Training program.

Yet, it was only upon being removed from his men when Sharpe mental state starkly deteriorated. He related he was “Troubled by war dreams and worried over the welfare of his men”. Sharpe also admitted that he “felt he was losing grip on himself”. As the days passed and he remained separated from his men Sharpe began to emotionally break down. While away from the men, he would have been notified of the deaths of 16 additional men from his battalion, including 8 officers. These included Lieutenant McGrotty and another young man he knew from home, Lieutenant Russell Wright Soper. Details on his time at Aldershot are not readily available, however on March 16th he was admitted to the Granville Canadian Military Hospital at Buxton. Suffering from insomnia coupled with persistent nightmares, he had lost 25 pounds. His medical records include notes of him confiding how he was starting to “lose his grip on himself”. (11) The program of massage, therapy and permission to convalesce with his wife Mabel, proceeded for 71 days before being discharged back to Canada on compassionate grounds.

Sharpe arrived back in Canada at Halifax in early May and proceeded towards home via train. Back in Uxbridge, his fellow townsfolks upon hearing of his impending return began to plan a parade celebrating the return of their Lt. Colonel. However, Sharpe would not make it. Confronted with the anguish and distress of potentially seeing so many of the mothers, fathers and wives of the men who died under his watch, his breakdown proceeded apace. In Montreal, he disembarked from the train and admitted himself into the Royal Victoria Hospital. During conversations with the medical staff, it was recorded that he was “worried about meeting the electors (and) answering questions about their boys.” That prospect was too much for a man who gave it all he had in the fields of France. He may have no longer been alongside his men in Flanders, however he remained at war. Yet, his war was no longer a battle against the enemy on the other sides of the line, rather it was a relentless clash within his own mind and conscience. After one day spent in hospital, the despondent Lt. Colonel found and took the opportunity to jump out of the window to the concrete pavement below. He did not survive.

On May 24, 1918 MP (now leader of the Opposition) Erin O’Toole who represents the late Lt. Colonel Sam Sharpe’s riding presided over the unveiling of a statue commemorating Sharpe’s life, death and legacy. The statue, created by artist Tyler Briley corrected a century old wrong, whereby we choose to forget to commemorate the tragic loss of one of our own primarily because our society held a short-sighted perspective on what types of war wounds counted and which one didn’t. A thorough review of Lt. Colonel Samuel Simpson Sharpe demonstrates the limit that a man’s mind can bear when forced to be constantly bombarded with death and loss. More so, Sharpe’s story shows how a man’s greatest strength as a man, turned out to be his greatest weakness in a time of war.

Lest we forget.

Notes:

1. The Adjutant, The 116th Battalion in France, p28

2. Matthew Barrett, “Absolutely incapable of ‘Carrying on:’” Shell Shock, Suicide, and the Death of Colonel Sam Sharpe”, Canadian Military History, Volume 25, Issue 1, pg 8

3. http://activehistory.ca/.../soldier-suicide-after-the.../

4. CEF Service records (www.bac-lac.gc.ca)

5. http://lmm.confederationcentre.com/.../collecting-6-2c.html

6. The Adjutant, The 116th Battalion in France, p 34

7. Globe, May 27, 1918

8. Anderson, Ros, Fidelis et Paratus,Fdelis et Paratus Publishing, 2016 p66

9. http://ramaracardendalton.com/archives/30237

10. Matthew Barrett, “Absolutely incapable of ‘Carrying on:’” Shell Shock, Suicide, and the Death of Colonel Sam Sharpe” pg 10

11. CEF Service records (www.bac-lac.gc.ca)