28th Battalion

The Vimy Pilgrim

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Lieutenant Colonel D.E. Macintyre, D.S.O., M.C.
28th (Northwest) Battalion
Macintyre

At Vimy, Canadians for the first time during the war were a united body. They did what the French failed to do, what the British couldn’t do. They captured the ridge and did it in one jump, in such a manner that it shocked the Germans and caused their leader, Ludendorff, considerable dismay. The French today even are amazed that Canada did that, just as they are amazed that Canada sent 600,000 men to war when she didn’t have to.

(Lt. Col. Macintyre speech, Owen Sound Sun-Times, 9 Apr 1938, 11)

Born on 17 May 1885 in Montreal, Duncan Eberts Macintyre went west at the age of fifteen. He became, as he termed it “a Prairie storekeeper,” as well as land broker and insurance agent in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. He was commissioned as a lieutenant in the 28th Battalion in October 1914. He was promoted to captain shortly after the battalion deployed to France and by early 1916 was serving on the general staff with a series of Canadian brigades. He organized and led the 1936 Vimy Pilgrimage, and further helped to cement the battle in public consciousness with his 1967 book, Canada at Vimy. 

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Maj. Bond

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Major George Bond, D.S.O., M.C.
28th (Northwest) Battalion
Bond

… he went forward under heavy fire to his most forward troops and made a personal reconnaissance of the situation, afterwards establishing a line from which the village was captured next day. Throughout the operations his work was excellent. (Bond, D.S.O. Citation, 19 Oct 1919, 3202)

Born on 14 November 1889 in Wappella, Saskatchewan, George Frederick Daniels Bond moved to Winnipeg in 1905 and later attended the University of Manitoba Law School. He interrupted his studies to volunteered with Lieutenant Colonel F. J. Clarke’s 45th Battalion in August 1915.

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The Liaison

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Brigadier General John Embury
28th (Northwest) BattalionEmburyJFL

Words can but inadequately express our feelings. Your personality at work or at play was an inspiration to all ranks, your personal disregard of danger, your sympathy with the wounded, and your human understating of our frailties will always dwell in our memories.

(Illuminated address to Embury from 28th Bn. Officers, 1920)

John Fletcher Leopold Embury was a Regina lawyer and commanding officer of the 95th Saskatchewan Rifles. Born on 10 November 1875 in Hastings County, Ontario, he was a graduate of the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall. In late 1914, Embury was authorized to form the 28th Battalion from the Northwest. The battalion’s official history declared, “No better choice could have been made. The colonel was a man’s man and won the confidence of all ranks…”

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The Myth Maker

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Brigadier General Alex Ross, D.S.O.
28th (Northwest) BattalionARoss

…the barren earth erupted humanity. From dugouts, shell holes and trenches, men sprang into action, fell into military formations and advanced to the ridge–every division of the corps moved forward together. It was Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific on parade. I thought then, and I think today, that in those few minutes, I witnessed the birth of a nation.

(Brig. Gen. Ross, History of the 28th Battalion, 1961, preface)

Alexander Ross was a Saskatchewan lawyer who rose from a militia lieutenant to brigadier general of the 6th Infantry Brigade. Born on 2 December 1880 in Forres, Harashire, Scotland, Ross immigrated to Regina in the Northwest Territories with his family at the age of six. After graduating from the University of Manitoba with a law degree, Ross became a barrister with King’s Counsel and joined the 95th Rifles. In December 1914, he enlisted as a company commander with the 28th Battalion recruited from Saskatchewan.

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