Immediate postwar pictures of France and Belgium

The Menin Gate Memorial commemorates seven men of the 15th Company Canadian Machine Gun Corps – all were killed in late October 1917 as the Canadian 3rd Division took part in the Battle of Passchendaele.

One of those commemorated is Private Kenneth Edmonds Massey. His parents were particularly distressed that his grave had never been found – this no doubt influenced his brother, Ronald, to visit the area with his wife, Therese. The couple had married in July 1921, so it is probable that their visit was during their honeymoon, particularly as their first son would be born in the following year. Photographs taken by Ronald on their visit have survived but some locations have yet proved impossible to identify. If you can assist in the identification of any of these locations, then please use the ‘contact us’ form attached to this article.

The Massey family

The Massey family lived in Amyand House, North Park, Eltham – obviously a large property as at the 1901 Census there were 18 people noted in the household - parents Edmond and Katherine Massey, seven sons (including Ronald and Kenneth); five daughters and four servants.

Kenneth emigrated to Canada in 1908 on board the Empress of Britain, arriving on 9 April 1908 at St. Johns in New Brunswick. He joined his friend, Guy Gordon Dunnell in Manitoba, where he intended to farm. Meanwhile, in the 1911 Census, Ronald was listed as a patient in Mundesley, a tuberculosis sanitorium in Norfolk, with his occupation noted as 'journalist'.

Wartime service – Ronald and Kenneth

Following the outbreak of war in August 1914, Ronald was gazetted 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery, 2nd London Brigade.

Ronald served on the Western Front from 14 February 1916 until August 1917. During this period, he was treated several times for recurrences of a lung disorder. He was admitted to No. 2 General Hospital, London from 4 September 1917 until 11 September 1917, having been gassed earlier in the war. He later served as an Intelligence Officer until retiring from service in 1921 as a Lieutenant.

Meantime, in Canada, Kenneth enlisted at Calgary on 16 November 1915, stating his occupation as farmer. He left Canada on SS Olympic on 2 June 1916, arriving in Britain on 8 June 1916.

Kenneth went to France on 8 February 1917 serving in the 89th Battalion but was transferred to the Machine Gun Corps on 10 February 1917. The Company spent the next seven months in France, mainly in the Vimy area. Towards the end of September 1917, Kenneth spent two weeks at a rest camp before rejoining his unit on 4 October 1917.

The Canadians at Passchendaele

The Third Battle of Ypres had started on 31 July 1917 but by mid October, the British and ANZAC forces had suffered significant losses. The Canadians were brought in to Ypres to take part in a final push to capture the Passchendaele ridge, with the four Canadian Divisions involved. They spent some time to prepare for the assault on the ridge, which began on 26 October.

The 15th Coy. Machine Gun Corps arrived at Ypres on 22 October 1917 and on the next day went into the line. Their War Diary notes that two other ranks were killed on 24 October 1917 – the graves of these two men were later concentrated into Tyne Cot Cemetery. The terrible conditions were noted in the war diary – "Owing to weather conditions being bad, the transport lines and camp being muddy caused much discomfort for the men".

Over the next few days, the war diary notes that there was severe shelling and on 28 October Lt, E. Rodnight and four other ranks were killed by shellfire. On 30 October, the Diary records - "Our troops attacked and captured Passchendaele Ridge….our positions were heavily shelled throughout".

The final fatality in 15th Company was noted on 31 October 1917. On 1 November, the Company was relieved and moved to Abeele on 2 November 1917. The village of Passchendaele would not be finally captured until 6 November 1917. During their time at Ypres, the Canadians lost 4,000 men, with a further 12,000 wounded.

All of those killed from the 15th Coy. Canadian Machine Gun Corps after 24 October are commemorated on the Menin Gate.

Ronald and Therese’s Photograph Album

The looseleaf album contained 40 photographs.

Several pictures have been identified as being in Cassel, Northern France – for example, this picture of the Hotel du Sauvage has been confirmed as being in Cassel. There are also several pictures of the Grand Place, Cassel and one of the church at Mont-Cassel.

Those below have yet to be positively identified but may well be of the same town/area —

There is one picture taken in the Grand Place in Ypres, with restoration work to the Cloth Hall clearly evident. Two pictures may depict restoration work to Saint Martin's Cathedral in the town —

A further two pictures are of a church under restoration but it has not yet been possible to positively identify the location.

There are only two war cemetery pictures, possibly of Tyne Cot —

And a further two pictures of what might be Ypres Town Cemetery —

There are two that might be of the Belfry Tower in Bruges and one that may be the Grand Place in Brussels.

But there are several pictures which have thus far defied identification – can you help?

If you can assist in the identification of any of the album pictures featured in this article, then please use the form below.