The servants bowed when their master walked into the room. A smarter husband than Auré could not be found in his Sunday suit. A lover of children and flowers, a good friend and patriotic136, Kellynch, who actually seemed to get along with Auré and was the closest acquaintance who could pass for a chum, was now a regular guest at Pembina for Sunday brunch.
René was taking his daily walk, which took place precisely at ten in the morning around Pembina’s grounds. The Laurentien twins, Joseph and Marie, were with him to-day for a treat. Before the group departed, Joseph was asked by his uncle Auré what he wanted to be when he assented to manhood. “Corps Commander!” was the reply, a position utterly unthinkable for a Canadian had Currie not attained the rank.
Daily fresh flowers along with hot and cold dishes of roast, fowl, pigeon, pheasant, venison, partridge, and hare adorned the table. Their Edwardian brunch was lessened on account of the country-wide war diet.
Kellynch bit the tip of his pipe and explained to Aubrey what he and her husband discussed over the morning. “We went over fundraising events for the Patriotic Fund. Thanks to the board members’ wives, of course, another enormous amount of jam is being made for those recovering in Ottawa. Auré suggested a billiards tournament at Pembina.”
Aubrey was agog. Auré had never been in the billiards room. She was unsure if he even knew where the room was located.
Fitzwilliam then told Aubrey she had good reason to be a proud wife.
Pourquoi Je M’enrole was so successful; the general public wanted to know more about one of Ottawa’s star soldiers. Maclean’s wanted to publish a full story about Auré’s Victoria Cross capture, along with his time behind enemy lines.
Auré picked at his Ox tongue.
“It would be most advantageous, Auré,” Fitzwilliam continued. He turned to Aubrey and said, “You have a husband who is a stubborn as a Welsh dog.” Fitzwilliam finished, “What say you, old stick?”
Auré agreed with Kellynch, half-sighed, and replied, “Of course.”
Auré looked resigned. Fitzwilliam beamed. Aubrey was perplexed. She thought, If he did not want to do the magazine article, would he not say no? Ever since his return, he has been bending at the will of all Anglophones, though he has the most formidable of backbones. Her husband left abruptly, presumably to change into his afternoon suit.
Needing anything to boost the morale of England, and particularly interested due to Auré’s past as a Mountie, Britain’s News of the World picked up the article and ran the story on their front page. England’s colonies, in turn, ran the article of the tall, dark, and dashing Mountie (minus the trial!) who captured a Victoria Cross. A picture of Auré and his beautiful aristocratic wife beside him at the Palace headed the full article. The Richardieux name was now known in every corner of the Empire.
Across from Chateau Laurier and outside Russell Theatre, Aubrey’s opera hat was adorned with rosettes, cherries, and lace. Other ladies’ hats were of whole birds, stuffed hummingbirds, massive plums, blackberries, and gerberas with ribbon streamers. Even so, the usual wide and elaborate hats to reach past a lady’s shoulders were being replaced by smaller, sleeker military-style ones to reflect the trend of the time. The most popular headwear for females was the cloche hat, which was similar to a military helmet.
To every lady’s delight, Auré was present, if only for the short time it took to escort his wife to the entrance hall. He would not stay to view the performance. Many ladies blushed to have a Victoria Cross recipient help her alight from her carriage or the ever-more-common automobile.
Peter was conversing with an Ace. Englishmen stood stationary while their wives chattered carelessly. Aubrey knew that the Englishmen present would not leave Auré, lest he be harassed by a Francophone. Nearly all jolly activities had been suspended indefinitely. Solely functions related to the war were socially acceptable. Beethoven, Mozart, and Bach had become banned in music halls. A concert, “To Our Heroes, the Boys in Khaki,” was to take place, and, afterwards, a lecture entitled “On Land and Sea, with Our Veterans.” Money was being raised for an orchestra for their Duke of Edinburgh’s Own Battalion.
Silk top hats and the new, more plain, low-crowned design were raised in gratitude of service to King and Empire, as Auré doffed his topper left and right in acknowledgment of his time on the front lines while he escorted Aubrey through the gathered assembly. A man greatly beloved137, he stayed long enough to see Aubrey through the doors; then, amidst much protest, he retired to Pembina for the remainder of the evening.
“Dandy fellows all,” Auré and Courtney said in toasting those who were cut down in the early morning of their days. By 1917, almost all originals were gone. Of their old brigade, Auré and Courtney were the only ones left. Their brigade’s cognac sat before them.
“A Toronto boy138 — our mate said had we not had our rum, the Allies would have crumbled long ago. I suppose no one thought the war would last as long as it has. Died for King and country while keeping line open under shellfire139… Billy Bishop garnered the VC last month on June 2nd. He took on an enemy aerodrome near Cambrai and took out three of their aircrafts by himself… buried in the motherland… After stand to, I finally hacked off about a foot of my greatcoat to free myself from the two or so cumbersome stones of wallow… It was frightfully chilly, we were dressed as well as could be, and the gunners, or suicide club as they’re called, four or five of them to a gun, working with their shirts off it’s so hot for them during a scrap… at the start when all anyone thought about was signing up in time… Once the Bluebirds arrived, our officers’ quarters immediately felt like our proper residences. Our tents were soon adorned with wild flowers and photos and the like. Women have that effect in wartime… When the 1st Canadian Contingent docked in Plymouth, Kaiser Bill jeered, because thirty ships brought us Canadians, but thirty row boats would return those of us who would make it through. Every fellow in the Corps fancies telling that story,” the pair related to one another.
“I say, the Corps is on the way to Lens,” Kellynch commented, cradling his cognac in hand. The trio was in Pembina’s study one bright summer day for an informal Patriotic Fund meeting. Kellynch added, “When the boys attacked Vimy, Newfoundland was stationed close by, at Monchy-Le-Preux, where they once more fought with distinction. Before they were at Le Tansloy and — what was the second place called? ‘Silly-Sally’ is the nickname their boys call it — right, Sailly-Saillisel was the place. They too were part of the battle of Arras that started on Easter Sunday, just as Vimy did: Easter Morn140. Monchy is a small town, eight kilometers south east of Arras. Their regiment went into action on April 14th. They were to capture Shrapnel Trench and Infantry Hill, some thousand yards east of Monchy. To the left of Newfoundland was the British 1st Essex Regiment. However, the creeping barrage that went off at 0530 hours was poorly carried out; it was reportedly far too thin.
The Essex managed to take their objective, though. Shrapnel Trench was empty and Newfoundland overtook it. While the Regiment traversed the long slope of Infantry Hill, numerous were wounded as they met with an enemy barrage. Newfoundland’s ‘D’ Company reached their goal and a lot advanced into a wooded area nearby, though they did not come back out. ‘C’ Company were right on their target concerning the Hill, although the second wave that was supposed to pass through them, along with the Lewis guns meant to cover them, were wiped out. ‘A’ Company obtained their goal, a windmill. Then they went on and took Machine Gun Wood. The enemy was forced away. After this, all the Regiment’s snipers and scouts were soon knocked out. This happened in the first ninety minutes of the scrap.
The remaining Newfoundlanders were quickly surrounded on three sides of the Bois du Sart and the Bois du Vert by about seven hundred enemy. They were without reinforcements because all the runners had been knocked out, too. Essentially, Headquarters did not know what was happening. At Headquarters, their Lieutenant Colonel ordered one of the officers to go out and reconnoitre the situation. The officer arrived back and reported not a single one of the Regiment’s lads was unhurt. As well, up to three hundred enemy soldiers were seen coming towards them less than a quarter mile off. The telephone line to Brigade Headquarters was cut.
The Lieutenant Colonel gathered together all the fellows he could, twenty in all, and they went out to hold off the Germans until reinforcements could come in. The lot dashed down the hill to where the foe was advancing. While they went from ruined dwelling to ruined dwelling in the town, they picked up ammo and guns from the corpses that were spread over the ground. In the southeast area of the town, the Colonel stopped his lot at a certain residence. After he climbed a ladder to reach a hole in one of the walls, he could see the enemy not far away. The foe was climbing into the trench the Regiment had attacked earlier in the morning.
Between that trench and the lot was a hedge, well-banked. The lot dashed over one hundred yards of open ground, in aim of the enemy, and reached the hedge. By this point, nine of our lads were left: two officers and seven others, one of whom was an Essex regular. They opened fire on the Germans and made damnably sure they aimed well, specifically given their limited ammunition. A Newfoundland corporal came to after being hit ninety minutes earlier and dragged himself over to the hedge.
So, there were ten in total who held this line for four hours. They were really rather bright in how they managed the situation; they were careful to take out Fritz’ scouts, who went ahead of the German infantry to determine the size of what the enemy was against. Thus, the Germans were left unawares of the Regiment’s small party. The Germans thought they were being challenged by a remarkably larger force than what there really was.
In the first few hours, forty enemies fell, of which three quarters of those casualties were caused by their brilliant Colonel alone — Forbes-Robertson, I believe is his name. At about two o’clock in the afternoon, when enemy fire had died down considerably, the Colonel had their sole runner go back and give an update on the situation with an appeal for aid, including that artillery shell Machine Gun Wood that appeared to be an enemy headquarters of sorts, given the nuisance in that area. The message proved delivered. And against orders and under heavy enemy fire, the runner returned to the Colonel to assist further. Some forty-five minutes after the message was received at Headquarters, reinforcements relieved the ten chaps and, simultaneously, artillery started to fire on Machine Gun Wood.
It would be one of the worst battles for the Regiment of the war in terms of fatalities and casualties. More than 160 Newfoundlanders were killed, more than 140 were wounded, and more than 150 were made Prisoners of War. General de Lisle, who commands the British 29th Division, agreed if it weren’t for Newfoundland’s nine sons and the Essex lad, forty thousand Allies would have been required to recapture Monchy. Work smart before you work hard, eh, old boys? The Regiment is now on its way to the battle of Steenbeek, which is a part of the Third Battle of Ypres.”
With his untouched cognac before him, Auré added, “To date, Canada has sent soldiers to nearly every country to see action. We work extensively in England, of course; our Foresters toil in British forests for timber and create Allied airfields for the different air forces. Canadian foot soldierz have been posted to the desertz of Egypt. A Canadian ‘ospital ship was on the Mediterranean. Our pilots do train new recruits in America. I believe there are infantry and artillery garrisons in St. Lucia and Bermuda. Mesopotamia played ‘ost to some of our engineer units az they worked barges on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. At ze front, railway battalions, normally working under shellfire, lay and do the maintenance for the majority of the English light railway routes. And one company ‘ad to refashion rail bridges in the Yarmuck Valley after they were toppled by Turkish troops in Palestine. Newfoundland was in Cairo for two weeks before they were sent to Gallipoli.”
Kellynch related the news of Tomryn’s youngest son, Gavin. In the beauty and strength of early manhood141, he enlisted shortly after Vimy. After the Vimy Ridge battle, recruitment in Canada increased for a time. “Gavin told his father, ‘I am going, my country needs me142.’ The laddie went on to inform Tomryn by that he meant Canada. Of the nine Tomryn children, seven were of military age, including their daughter, who is serving as a VAD in England. Six brothers in all answered the call, one crippled, three killed143, as of yet. The Canadian Tunneling companies, including Gavin’s unit, played a crucial part in Messines in summer. After months of toiling under the Messines ridge, which Germany had in its possession, a number of great big mines were placed directly under the ridge. I believe the number was twenty-five, if I am not mistaken. The 1st and 3rd Canadian Tunneling companies, along with the British and Anzacs, laid them. Almost one million pounds of explosives went off the morning of June 7th. It was the single biggest eruption made by man in history, and it took ten thousand enemy lives. So, it seems mining warfare has ended with Messines.”
Auré interrupted, “Tunneling must be eh terrifying war.”
Kellynch finished, “The explosion was so loud it was said that Lloyd George himself heard the noise in London. At any rate, Gavin’s team had been digging one day when a unit of the enemy came upon them from behind. In their broken English, those Germans explained that some in their unit were trapped. And, by and large, the enemy’s English is superior to most Allies’ German. We can forgive them for one thing. As it turned out, the enemy’s tunnel, God only knows where, had partially collapsed and had blocked some of their unit in a confined area. The good, steady lad and his mates abandoned their sapper roles and joined those Fritz to form a small search team. They dug for hours, how much time Gavin doesn’t know, though to no avail. They dug until they could not longer hear the SOS signals. The enemy’s tunnel collapsed further, most likely from a shell explosion overhead. The bodies were not found.”
Kellynch went on to say that the youngest Englishman, or boy rather, to see action in the trenches was twelve. Auré replied the youngest Canadian in the trenches was twelve as well. Courtney laughed to say that the youngest Canuck to enlist was ten and the eldest eighty.
Even Royalty was known, upon parade inspection, to step up to a very young lad and whisper, “You cheeky boy,” wink, then turn away. In recent months, the Canadian public became most vocal about their distaste for the endless butchering, specifically concerning the underage. The fourteen-year-olds of the initial years, after their identities uncovered, were moved to England or stayed on as buglers or drummers. However, overseas still saw grand numbers of fifteen and sixteen-year-olds. Officers did what they could to keep the young ones out of direct fire. Fetching stock for the front lines and the like were what the underage were often made to do. As well, delivering messages usually fell to them, although that was still a remarkably perilous task.
Auré had told Aubrey of a new underage in his unit, a Newfoundlander who enlisted with the Canadian army. So excited was the lad to finally find himself on the frontlines, they actually told him to speak quieter while they made their way through the formidable labyrinth that was now the front. Behind the front trenches were nearly fifty kilometers of intertwining support and communication trenches. One of the other officers nicknamed him Labrador; he was akin to a puppy that would not let them be. They told him the name was derogatory.
Once at the fire trenches, Labrador raised his head high enough over the parapet to catch his first glimpse of No Man’s Land. Before they could finish shouting to him, he felt the ping of the sniper’s bullet and was gone to glory. Who died for his King and country at the tender age of 17144, Labrador had his identification tags removed by Auré and given to a runner to take back to a superior a few hours after the party’s arrival.
Labrador’s parents forbade him from enlisting. In turn, he ran away. Because he enlisted under a false name, the military was having a hard time locating his parents to inform them of where his body was interned. Auré told Aubrey that he heard similar stories all the while.
At long last, the Canadian Government responded to its people’s outrage. A cable was dispatched to London. The Young Soldiers Battalion was formed for Canadian lads. Those not of age were made to return to Britain. The young ones sang, “When Your Boy Comes Back to You” and “Goodbye Mother Dear,” while being taught Boy Scout-like drills after two years of attritional warfare. They were made to stay in England until they turned the newly raised minimum age of nineteen, after which they could return to the front.
The petition, which both Auré and Aubrey signed, was the only one she knew of that all Canadians, French and English, agreed upon.
“We were regular mud larks, were we not?” and “Merci Monsieur, et prenez soin (Thank you, Sir, and do take care),” were said over handshakes. Auré actually laughed as he and Courtney parted ways. Aubrey could count on one hand how many times she had heard him laugh in the years she had known him. Courtney left by the front door. In the old days, such an action could have resulted in dismissal. The only child of aged parents145, Courtney returned to his native Sudbury to take employment at a bank and to assist his father and mother.
The eldest generation was of the opinion the Empire was descending to Hell with her fall of ethics. Etiquette changed so drastically from the war that elders lamented there were no rules at all anymore. Currie was the only general of the Empire to appear in battle without a mustache. In now bygone moral times, an officer who appeared clean-shaven at St. James would have seen disciplinary action akin to having presented himself without trousers. In the first years of the effort, it was against the law for a soldier to shave his mustache. Soldiers were not permitted to shave their upper lip or they would answer to a colonel. Up to ten days in barracks for showing oneself clean-shaven was standard practice. However, once overseas, officers let their men be.
Mothers were beside themselves over their daughters’ behaviour. “Khaki fever” was a pervasive problem. Girls waited until they were young ladies to wear their hair up. Young girls who flirted with men in uniform still had to wear their hair down in braids or pigtails that would swing in the wind. The pet name “flappers” was given to these outrageously forward girls who would go on to set the fashion trend of the following decade. Instead of awaiting their first kiss until their wedding day, young people feigned indifference to bedroom-like situations. Young adults discovered circumstances surrounding the bedroom that were unimaginable at the onset of the effort.
With the entry of the United States into the war, the Yankees were asking their females to help them to victory in the cessation of corsets! Steel was needed to manufacture guns, shells, ships, and any number of other articles. A different sort of undergarment, called the brassiere, was to replace what had been the staple of the female wardrobe for three centuries.
Summer saw the King change the family surname from their longstanding Germanic one to an English one. Streets in England were also renamed. Berlin, Ontario, changed to Kitchener, after the leader. Along with a new name, a new age was being ushered in.
Uneasiness and anxiety were created for the returning soldier who found turmoil in recognizing his dominion. Soldiers were stunned to find women wearing the century’s forbidden and illegal trousers. Furthermore, women were employed in their posts! However, this breach of conduct was no longer deemed such because females entering the workforce was now a temporary patriotic and necessary measure to win the war. Hemlines rose steadily. Prices soared to reflect the inflated economy of the endless military machine that was now the Empire. The youngest generation outlandishly thought they had a place in society. The silver ribbon that would soon connect the country in its entirety was well underway. Cavalry, transport mules, sabres, and passenger pigeons clashed with radios, machine guns, motorized vehicles, and aeroplanes.