SAMUEL CHRIMES JR.

1897 – 1981

Samuel Chrimes Jr was certainly one of the most interesting of the Chrimes of the 20th Century. In 1904, at the age of six, he is listed as the licensee of the White Swan Pub in Dudley, England. His father, Samuel is the licensee of the Grand Turk. The White Swan still is operation, although in a new building (1969). One of the earliest photos of Samuel Jr, is that of him sitting in his father’s lap in front of the Grand Turk Pub, Queens Cross Street, Dudley.

Grand Turk

AMERICA

At the age of eight (8), he immigrates to the United States with his mother and the rest of his family to join his father in Pittsburgh. In the 1910 census, Samuel is listed with his family as living on Homestead Street. Residing next to them is the Jabez Johnson family.

His mother has but one brother, John , a former British soldier, out of the service when Samuel leaves England. But as a young boy, Samuel must have idolized his Uncle Jack. John would be called to return to service at the outbreak of WW1. John dies from wounds received in battle, on May 29, 1917. This tragic event in all likelihood effects Samuel’s actions .

Four months after John’s death, Samuel enlists in the Canadian Army. He related to his nephew, Earl Johnson that this was not his first choice. He and three of his friends went to enlist in the American Army Air Corps in Pittsburgh. But they were told that the Air Corps was not accepting volunteers at that time. There was a Canadian recruiting office across the street from the American Army Air corps office; the four teenagers went across the street an enlisted in the Canadian Army. Samuel at this time was still a British citizen, so this was not unexpected.

World War I

Samuel reported to Toronto on September 17, 1917 for induction into the Canadian Army. Samuel’s military service is a subject of numerous stories. Fortunately there is a great amount of detail available. We were able to get Samuel’s service record as well as the War Diaries of his unit for the time he was overseas. Both of these records are very detailed and enlighting.

From his enlistment papers we learn that he was living with his parents prior to enlisting, 130 Whipple Street. He listed his occupation as a “benchman”. He is listed as being 5’6 1/2 “ tall and weighs 112 pounds. For some reason, he lists his birth date as July 2, 1898, when actually it is 1897. This appears to be corrected later, for he is discharged at the age of 21 in June 1919. Soon after entering the Army, Samuel is hospitalized (September 29) with influenza. There is no record of his release, but in 1917 and 1918 , if the 'flu didn’t kill you (and it did kill 2000 Brits per week), it usually lasted only 3 to 4 days. He has some training in Canada, and left Canada for England on November 20, 1917, arriving December 7, 1917 on the SS Scotian. Prior to departing for England, he made arrangements for $15 of his monthly pay be sent to his mother, It appears his monthly pay was about $35 per month.

He continued his training in Sandling He was sent to the “Field” (France) on March 29,1918 and on April 2, 1918, he reported to the Canadian Corp Reinforcement Camp (CCRC). He was assigned to the Canadian Machine Gun Corp on April 18, 1918. His assignment to the Machine Gun Corp (called the “Emma Gees”), was at the time the Canadian Machine Gun Corp was being realigned. Instead of machine gun crews being assigned to Infantry companies, the machine gun crews formed Machine Gun Battalions, and were used in a manner similar to artillery units. A Machine Gun Battalion consisted of three companies and each company had eight batteries. A battery consisted of four machine guns, each with a 6 man crew of gunners. The battalion was a comparability large unit compared to today’s battalions. It had 96 machine guns, and over 1500 men. The battalion was then assigned to an Army division as support.

Samuel is assigned to the 4^th Battalion, Canadian Machine Gun Corp (CMGC), which is in support of the 4^th Canadian Army Division.. He reports to his unit on the 25^th of May 1918. His arrival is recorded in his units War Diary ; 5 PM : 7 officers and 101 Ors (other ranks ie enlisted men) reinforcements report for duty from Divion.

The war Diaries are an excellent source of the day to day activities of the unit. The first part is a daily log of the Battalions activity, to include movements, locations, engagements, casualties, parades, sports, battalion strength and many other details. Also included are monthly summaries of each of the three line companies, the two transport companies, the signal section and the Armourers Department. After major engagements, the line companies often offer a critique of the action, to include improvements that need to be addressed.

The Diarys themselves are interesting reading. It is difficult to imagine the difficulties that Samuel endured during this time. One of the entries made in the diary for the day before Samuel’s arrival is :40 Ors –transport men leave for Marles Les-Mives to draw 96 horses for the 3 Coy (Company) transport . The movement was by horse and mule drawn limbers, only occasionally by motor lorrie. And they moved frequently. The 4^th had just arrived in Marles- Les – Mives the day that Samuel joined them. They had been on the line , and were sent to the rear on the 7^th of May. They would stay at Marles Les Mives till July , when they returned to the line.

I was not able to determine which company or battery that Samuel was assigned to. The officers get mentioned by name in the Diary whenever they reported, left for leave , returned, got sick , received an award , were wounded etc. The other ranks (Ors) were only mentioned by name if they were killed, or occasionally if they were to be transferred, wounded or sent to England for advanced training. Samuel’s name does not appear in the diary.

In Samuel’s personnel file we can find certain specific details, ie illness , wounds etc. With the Diary, we can follow his unit's activities in what were the final days of World War I.

Samuel was fortunate to be assigned to a unit just beginning to go thru the changes within the CMGC. His unit at May 1 was about 1000 men with two companies. At the end of May there were three companies and about 1500 men. This “new” unit need training and they were out of the line for almost two months. During June, there were endless training parades, marches and sports. An additional 100 soldiers were added to the battalion.

Early July finds the 4^th returning to the line. As one Company commander described it , the three weeks on the line in July were “uneventful”. Some gas attacks on both sides. It probably was a great relief to Samuel that his first experience on the line was “uneventful”. The Battalion casualties were very light in July only one Private killed, and one officer and Or were gassed.

August however brings a very different scenario. The Allies decide to mount a major offensive with the intent to push the Germans back to the Hindenberg Line. The Canadian and Australian troops are selected to lead this offensive. The opening battle is The Battle of Amiens. Within 100 days, the war is over. This offensive convinced the German military that they could not win the war and they eventually removed the Kaiser and sued for peace. This was a bloody and horrific offensive. Twenty per cent of all of the Canadian battle casualties of WW1 were suffered in this offensive.

This battle was one of the few to use tanks. Later analysis of the battle, military critics state that the tanks were not very effective. In the Diary, the commanders of the units of the 4^th Battalion make the same comment. The tanks were supposed to bring the machine gunners up with the infantry so they could support them. The guns were far to heavy to be carried and maintain pace with the infantry. It did not work, mostly because of the tankers got lost, or chased targets of opportunity instead of following their mission plan. We do not know if Samuel was in one of the tanks, since he survived the battle, he probably was not. He probably was trying to keep up with the infantry on foot. The battle raged for four days, with the Canadians advancing about 14 miles. The 4^th Battalion position after the battle was heavily shelled by enemy artillery. They pushed on again on August 20, again suffering heavy casualties. On the 24^th of August, they are relieved and sent to the rear.

During August, the 4^th has two officers and sixteen Ors killed, two officers , and 70 Ors wounded. It also had nine missing (all named in the diary) and one officer and two enlisted men captured.

On September 1^st, they participate in the Second Battle of Arras, a three day battle , in which the 4^th losses are 24 killed and 135 wounded. On the 7^th of September they again are relieved and proceed to the rear. At this point, the 4^th has spent a considerable amount of time in combat, constantly on the move. As a result, they have a heavy incidence of illness in September. They evacuated four officers and 135 Ors to the hospital for illness, Samuel Chrimes was among them. He is evacuated on September 25 , for diarrhea. This more than likely was dysentery, but he recovered quickly and returned to his unit on October 5^th. He did miss a major battle his unit participated in, The Capture of Bourlon Woods (Canal du Nord), which took place from September 27 till October 2. The 4^th had 30 men killed in this engagement.

In October, the units are advancing with the infantry and there no major engagements though seven soldiers are killed and 42 wounded. This is the same for early November. On November 6th or 7th, 1918, Samuel is wounded. As he has related to his nephew, Earl Johnson, he was trading fire with a German machine gun when he was struck in the face. The 4^th diary mentions six soldiers being wounded on November 6, none on the 7^th, but at this point , they were not listing the names of the Ors that were wounded. The hospital records show him brought by ambulance on the 7^th,. He might have been wounded the night of the 6^th, but not taken to the hospital till the 7^th. There is some conflict in the nature of the wound; all the records record it as Sw, which is the abbreviation of shrapnel wound. The notification of next of kin record states “g.s.w.Face, which stands for gun shot wound, to face. If the round did not penetrate his face, then it is possible they assumed it to be shrapnel. Though the next of kin notification must have been terrifying to his mother ( the record it was sent to his father), in that her brother, John Hunt, died from a facial wound.. In any event, he was released to join his unit on November 10, 1918. reporting back on November 11, 1918 , Armistice Day..

His returned enabled him to participate in the Great Victory March, The March to the Rhine by the allied troops. On November 16^th , the 4^th battalion marched from Onnaing ,France to Dour Belgium, a distance of about 10 miles, Samuel was in Belgium for the first time in his military career On the 20^th , they proceeded to march to Frameries, Beligum. There they stayed for about three weeks, mostly having inspections and playing sports. They began marching again on December 12th. They marched for six days , arriving at Tourrinnes, a small city south east of Brussels. There they spent the rest of the month in sports and preparing for the “Educational Program” which was to begin at the New Year. On January 3^rd 1919, they marched to Ottignies, where they stayed for the rest of the month. Here, they began to prepare lecture halls for the Educational program”. This program would educate the machine gunners in Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Agriculture, Book keeping, Shorthand, French, History (Canadian & English) Reading, and Writing, grammar, motor mechanics and composition. The intent was to prepare the soldier for life after the war.

Samuel, like many of his comrades, probably was not as enthusiastic as others with this plan. He requested and was granted on January 11, 1919, 14 days leave . Most of the Ors took their leave in England, though it appears that taking leave in Belgium was being allowed. We know not where Samuel went, but we do know he did not come back in 14 days. He did not return till February 27. He was confined awaiting court martial from March 2 to March 10^th. He was found guilty of being Absent without leave, and sentenced to forfeit 60 days pay, plus an additional 29 days pay (the period he was gone).

Where Samuel was during that time is time is a mystery. Is this the time he spent with a young Belgium lady? The story he relates of being overrun by Germans and hidden in a Belgium farmhouse is probably a fabrication. We know he was not in Belgium till after the war was over. But he might of spent time in a Belgium farmhouse hiding from the Canadian Army with a young lady.

We will never know what really happened with regard to the Belgium girl and the possible child. But what is obvious that Samuel was a machine gunner and he was involved in major campaigns of WW1. A machine gunner had a short life span in combat, when the gun started firing; the opposition wants to stop it. You hear the term “ take out the machine gun nest” , you do not hear, take out the grunt behind a tree. It is evident in the 4^th Battalion Diary that they experienced high casualties. Samuel must have had a very difficult, but fortunately short military career.

From his records, he was transferred out of the 4^th battalion CMGC on May 9, 1919. It appears he had to thru two months of the Educational Program. He was sent to England on May 12^th, but did not depart for Canada till June 6, 1919, on HMT Olympic, arriving Canada on June 12^th. He was discharged on June 16^th and crossed the Canadian border to the US on the same day.

The return of Canadian troops after the war was a serious logistic problem. The problem was so serious that there were a number of riots involving Canadian soldiers. The most serious was at Kimmle Park, where five soldiers were killed and 23 wounded.

Back In The States

Upon his return to the States, John moves back in with his family, and begins work as an inspector at Signal Works. He becomes a naturalized American citizen in July of 1921. From there we lose track of Samuel for about 15 years. In the early 1930’s we know he marries Viola Kaiser, who is about 14 years younger than him. He and Vi reside in Michigan in the 30’s and 40s.Samuel is working as a press operator in 1950. In that year , they are residing near Detroit, and his father and mother are staying with them. From the local directory we find that Vi is an office worker in a doctor’s office. In 1953, Samuel does not have an occupation listed in the directory. In the 1957 and 1960 directories, his occupation is listed as custodian or Janitor. Vi is now listed as a nurse for the same doctor of 1950.

Samuel’s obituary states that he retired in 1962. They eventually moved to Indiana, where Samuel died on May 24, 1981 at the age of 83. Vi passed away on June 3, 2002 at the age of 90.