
General de Lisle Presenting Medals to Officers and Men
The Film
Year
1916
Running Time
04 min 30 s
Producer
Topical Film Company
Major-General de Lisle presenting medals, probably Western Front, 1916 (?).
An officer, possibly Major-General H B de Lisle, presenting medals to a kilted battalion, who then march past. A pan over a group from the battalion sitting and smoking. They are possibly the Canadian l6th Battalion (Canadian Scottish).
Images
Other Materials
The 16th (Canadian Scottish) (Princess Mary’s) Battalion
The 16th Battalion was formed on September 2, 1914, at Valcartier, Quebec. The formation integrated four unrelated Canadian Highland battalions: the 50th Regiment (Gordon Highlanders) of Victoria, the 72nd Seaforth Highlanders of Vancouver, the 79th Cameron Highlanders of Winnipeg and the 91st Argyll & Sutherlands of Hamilton. On December 16, 1914, on Salisbury Plain, the battalion was sub-titled “The Canadian Scottish.”
Under the commands of Lt-Cols R. G. E. Leckie and C. W. Peck, the 16th Battalion fought in many battles, including Ypres, Vimy Ridge, the Somme, Passchendaele and Amiens. At Regina Trench on October 8, 1916, men of the 16th were restricted at the wire by a storm of enemy machine-gun and rifle fire, not one being able to get through. With complete disregard for the gunfire, the 18-year-old piper James Richardson marched up and down playing his bagpipes, inspiring about a hundred of the Scottish to rush the wire. The soldiers managed to fight their way into the Regina Trench. At Vimy Ridge, Private W. J. Milne engaged in heroic action for which he was awarded a Victoria Cross posthumously. While his company was being held up by enemy machine gun, Milne crawled on hands and knees to bombing distance, wiped out the crew and captured the gun. Later that day, he was killed.
Adapted from Nicholson, G. W. L. Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914-1918.
Under the commands of Lt-Cols R. G. E. Leckie and C. W. Peck, the 16th Battalion fought in many battles, including Ypres, Vimy Ridge, the Somme, Passchendaele and Amiens. At Regina Trench on October 8, 1916, men of the 16th were restricted at the wire by a storm of enemy machine-gun and rifle fire, not one being able to get through. With complete disregard for the gunfire, the 18-year-old piper James Richardson marched up and down playing his bagpipes, inspiring about a hundred of the Scottish to rush the wire. The soldiers managed to fight their way into the Regina Trench. At Vimy Ridge, Private W. J. Milne engaged in heroic action for which he was awarded a Victoria Cross posthumously. While his company was being held up by enemy machine gun, Milne crawled on hands and knees to bombing distance, wiped out the crew and captured the gun. Later that day, he was killed.
Adapted from Nicholson, G. W. L. Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914-1918.