116th Battalion

At the Sharpe End

/ Matthew K Barrett / Leave a comment

The Story of Lt-Col. Sam Sharpe

Further reading: Mathew Barrett, “’Absolutely Incapable of Carrying On’: Shell Shock, Suicide, and the Death of Lieutenant Colonel Sam Sharpe,” Canadian Military History http://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol25/iss1/19

In November 1915, Samuel Simpson Sharpe, Conservative member of parliament for Ontario North, organized the 116th Battalion and began recruiting men throughout Ontario County. After departing Canada on 23 July 1916, the 116th arrived for training in England. While almost all high-numbered battalions were broken up, Sharpe managed to ensure that much of 116th remained together when deployed to the Western Front in February 1917.

Sharpe 2023 1
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The Senator

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Lieutenant Colonel W.H. Sharpe, MP
184th (Manitou) Battalion
WHharpe

The man who is not prepared to serve his country at the present time should have no place in the affairs of Canada.

(W.H. Sharpe, Debates, 23 Jan 1917, 9)

William Henry Sharpe was a homesteader, merchant and politician. Born in Scott Township, Ontario on 19 April 1868, he moved to Manitoba and was elected Conservative MP for Lisgar in 1908. After a failed bid in the 1915 provincial election and an appointment to the Senate, Sharpe was authorized to raise the 184th Battalion. His younger brother Sam Sharpe, fellow Conservative MP, commanded the 116th Battalion.

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The Expendable

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Lieutenant Colonel F. A. deL. Gascoigne, D.S.O.
60th (Victoria Rifles of Canada) BattalionGascoigne

My own future is uncertain, but I can only hope that some day, we shall be together again, and I would ask for nothing better than to have you all back under my command but whatever comes, I shall never forget the many happy and glorious days I have spent with the old 60th Battalion.

(Gascoigne’s Farewell Address, 60th Bn. War Diary, 29 Apr 1917, 8)

A native of England, Frederick Arthur DeLong Gascoigne was born on 2 April 1866. After immigrating to Canada, he worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway in Quebec. In 1886, he enlisted as a private with the 3rd (Victoria Rifles) Regiment. After nearly thirty-years’ service in the militia he became commanding officer in 1914. Although illness prevented him from joining the First Contingent, in April 1915 Gascoigne was authorized to raise the 60th Battalion from Quebec.

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The United Farmer

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Lieutenant Colonel Doug Carmichael, D.S.O., M.C.
116th (Ontario County) BattalionCarmichael

He wears two decorations on the breast for doing things to the Germans, which, according to King’s regulations and the best methods of procedure, should have been planned by him and executed by some mere sub. But he was one of those majors and colonels, rare in any army, who actually led his men—personally led, out in front. He has many raids to his credit. He showed up well in all battles.

(Morning Leader, 18 Mar 1922, 36)

Dougall Carmichael was a Grey County farmer with ten years’ experience with the 35th Simcoe Foresters. He was born on 8 November 1885 in Collingwood, Ontario. Standing five-foot-five, he joined Lieutenant Colonel H. A. Genet’s 58th Battalion and rose to second-in-command.

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The Defence Minister

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Lieutenant Colonel G. R. Pearkes, D.S.O., M.C., V.C.
116th (Ontario County) BattalionPearkes

What kind of war must we be prepared to fight? With the introduction of nuclear weapons and the anticipated production of long-range ballistic missiles, it is obvious that the methods of waging any future war have clearly changed from those of World War II. Looking into the future is at best a risky business, but our military advisers must plan ahead, and it is their present opinion that a third world war would commence with a sudden ferocious thermonuclear attack of great intensity…

(Pearkes, Debates, 5 Dec 1957, 1900)

George Randolph Pearkes was a solider, politician, and winner of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the British Empire. He was born on 28 February 1888 in Watford, Hertfordshire, England and immigrated to Alberta in 1906. He joined the North West Mounted Police and fought with the 2nd and 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles. Pearkes began his military career as a private; he retired as major general.

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The Methodist

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Lieutenant Colonel Sam Sharpe, D.S.O., M.P. †
116th (Ontario County) BattalionSSharpe

But it is awful to contemplate the misery and suffering in this old world & were I to allow myself to ponder over what I have seen & what I have suffered thro the loss of the bravest & best in the world, I would soon become absolutely incapable of “Carrying on.”

(Sharpe to Muriel Hutchison, 21 Oct 1917)

Samuel Simpson Sharpe was a militia major and Conservative Member of Parliament for Ontario North (1908—1918). Born on 13 March 1873 in Zephyr, Scott Township, Ontario, he was a graduate from the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall. During his university days, he was a champion tennis player and became a prominent solicitor in Uxbridge.

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