War Interlude 1916 -1919
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“Setting out again at nightfall on Monday, August 4th, we crossed the River Somme and encircled Amiens so that by daybreak we were securely hidden in the woods in front of Boves, about 6 miles south-east of Amiens. The woods were full of troops and all were cautioned to keep under cover. Fires were not permitted and with a penetrating rain falling on the night of the 5th through the 6th it was very uncomfortable. . . . With the remaining wagons I left the woods about 4.30 in the morning of the 8th and halting on the high ground at the edge of the woods we saw the great outburst of firing that opened up this great battle." “Early in the morning of Monday, November 11th when I went to the orderly office to check up on the nominal roll for my indents I was told, hush, hush, that a message had been received at Column H.Q. stating that the war would end at eleven o'clock that morning. Strangely, it created no emotional effect and the same applied to most of the men who were paraded at eleven o'clock to receive the announcement and also orders to give the animals an extra good grooming. The end of the war had been expected to occur before winter set in but I think most of us hoped that it would end on German soil."
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About the Book
In 1916, a young bank clerk from the Niagara region joined the Canadian Artillery and was shipped off to France and Belgium. Three and a half years later, he returned to Canada and rejoined the bank, eventually to become one of its most senior officers. This is his own account of that interval, during which he survived the battles of the Somme, Lens, Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele, and the Canadian spearhead of the Allied advance during the last one hundred days of the war.
About the Author
Harold Hesler was born near Port Colborne, Ontario in 1893. At the age of 16, he was hired by the Royal Bank of Canada as a junior clerk at its branch in Welland, Ontario. In January, 1916 he resigned from his position as accountant at the branch in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and enlisted in the Canadian Artillery as an ammunition driver. He saw action in all the major engagements of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in France and Belgium from October 1916 until the end of the First World War. Following his return to Canada in May 1919, he rejoined the bank and remained there until his retirement. By that time, the Royal Bank of Canada had become one of the largest banks in the world, with Hesler serving in various executive positions including General Inspector, Secretary of the Bank, and head of its extensive foreign operations. He died at Montreal in 1982, survived by his wife Edith Aimée Gravel, his son William Hesler, and two grandsons.
William Hesler is the author of “Muleskinner: the European War of a Niagara Artilleryman”, published in 2010. He lives in Montreal.