Corneloup, Claudius, L'épopée du 22e, Montréal, La Presse, 1919, 150 p.
The Battle of Courcelette
Like many Quebeckers and other French Canadians, Claudius Corneloup enlisted in 1915 as a volunteer with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He immediately joined the ranks of the only Francophone infantry unit, the 22nd Battalion, where he experienced the exhausting routine of trench life and the indescribable horror of combat. His prior military service very likely helped him rise through the ranks and no doubt contributed to his survival.
A Frenchman, like a significant number of his fellow soldiers, Corneloup's career was rather unconventional. His prior experience (a five-year campaign in Tunisia) set him apart from the outset. He also appeared before a court martial and was sentenced, but this did not prevent him from moving up through the ranks and being decorated twice. He also suffered three slight injuries.
Corneloup was very different from his fellow soldiers in that he left a written record of his memoirs. One can count on the fingers of one hand the number of veterans from the 22nd who published their memories of World War I, and there are very few handwritten journals. In 1919, Corneloup published a chronicle of the battalion and, fifteen years later, a novel set in the Somme in 1916. In writing these two publications, the author no doubt drew on his personal diary - the whereabouts of this diary is unknown.
Chronicler
Corneloup served for a long time as orderly to the commanding officers for the unit and had received permission to keep a personal diary of the unit, no doubt with a view to writing an epic of the battalion. Published in 1919, his story is a gripping account of the operation at Courcelette, as cannot be conveyed in official reports. This operation, and the one a few weeks later at Regina Trench, are episodes in the bloody Battle of the Somme. In total, there were nearly one million dead, injured or missing, including some 24,000 Canadians. The heavy losses and the nominal gains in territory were a serious blow to the victory of the British and French troops. The troops' morale also suffered greatly, as they felt they had been needlessly sacrificed. In Canada, reinforcements became a matter of great urgency.
Library and Archives Canada, PA-000877
Canadian Soldiers Receiving Their Last Instructions before Battle, October 1916
These soldiers were no doubt preparing to attack Regina Trench, a solid German position beyond Courcelette.
Library and Archives Canada, Corneloup, Claudius, L'épopée du 22e, Montréal, La Presse, 1919, 150 pp. Claudius Corneloup, 1919. Rights for digital reproduction and communication to the public obtained by licence issued by the Copyright Board of Canada in cooperation with the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (CANCOPY). Any alteration, further distribution or sale of this excerpt, in any form, is strictly prohibited.
Excerpt from L'épopée du 22e
The style is grandiloquent and lacking in subtlety, but then Corneloup was no neutral observer. In any event, only three years passed between the events described and the time of publication.
Library and Archives Canada, PA-000682
Canadian Soldiers Ready to Attack, Carrying Picks and Shovels to Dig Holes for Themselves, September 1916
This picture shows the heavy load the soldiers had to carry and suggests that, in a static war, the best protection from enemy fire was still a hole in the ground.
Library and Archives Canada, PA-000832
Canadian Soldiers Back from the Trenches during the Battle of the Somme, November 1916
With the Courcelette episode having ended two months earlier and the Regina Trench engagement coming to a close, the soldiers were visibly exhausted.
Library and Archives Canada, RG9 III-C-3, vol. 4089, folder 20, file 11
Brigadier General A.H. MacDonnell, Commanding Officer of the 5th Canadian Infantry Brigade, at 2nd Canadian Division Headquarters: Map Accompanying the Report of the Brigade's Attack on Courcelette, September 24, 1916
This stained map shows signs of the hardships of life in the trenches.
Library and Archives Canada, RG9 III-C-3, vol. 4089, folder 20, file 11
Brigadier General A.H. MacDonnell, Commanding Officer of the 5th Canadian Infantry Brigade at 2nd Canadian Division Headquarters: Report of the Brigade's Attack on Courcelette, September 24, 1916
Records of this type complete the campaign journal of the 22nd Battalion, which offers little information about the events of September 15 and 16, 1916.
Novelist
In addition to his chronicle, Corneloup published a novel in which patriotism figures prominently. But he also described the behaviour of the soldiers who served alongside him in the trenches. Most of the story takes place in the summer of 1916, during the Battle of Courcelette, which ended in September 1916 when the soldiers entered "no man's land" and attacked enemy positions. Death and desolation abounded.
Library and Archives Canada, C-104800
Hamilton, Mary Riter: Shelter Trench on the Somme, 1919
Painting of a shelter used at the Front. Shelters with real armour were rare indeed.
Library and Archives Canada, Corneloup, Claudius, La Coccinelle du 22e, Montréal, Librairie Beauchemin, 1934, 237 pp.
Claudius Corneloup, 1934. Rights for digital reproduction and communication to the public obtained by licence issued by the Copyright Board of Canada in cooperation with the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (CANCOPY). Any alteration, further distribution or sale of this excerpt, in any form, is strictly prohibited.
Excerpt from La Coccinelle du 22e
Corneloup was one of the few French-speaking Canadians who left a written record of his war experiences. Besides this 1934 novel, he wrote a history of the 22nd Battalion, published in 1919.
Library and Archives Canada, C-104242
Hamilton, Mary Riter: Courcelette-au-Bois Cemetery, 1919
This cemetery is probably the one shown on the map of the operation at Courcelette, just east of the village, where we see the symbol for a sunken road and a turn to the left.
Library and Archives Canada, C-104799
Hamilton, Mary Riter: Sadness of the Somme, 1919
Lifeless landscape. Yet the battle had been over for three years when the artist painted this scene.
Library and Archives Canada, PA-000786
"No Man's Land," the Area Separating the Canadians from the Enemy, near Courcelette, October 1916
An area of complete devastation, swept by snipers, where patrols dared not venture until after nightfall. This photograph shows too many features (explosions and carefully arranged corpses) to be anything but a montage.
Rebel
After the Battle of the Somme, reinforcements became a pressing issue. Caught in the bureaucratic complexities established by the Minister of the Militia, Sam Hughes, the troops were not even able to leave England. In Canada, the pool of volunteer soldiers had been exhausted and the last battalions left the country often not having reached authorized strength. Reform had become inevitable and the only solution being considered by political and military authorities was compulsory military service, an unlikely alternative as long as Hughes was in office. With the Minister's resignation in November 1916, Prime Minister Borden made an about-face. Having promised that compulsory service would never be imposed, Borden went back on his promise, running up against overwhelming opposition among the people of Quebec to any measure leading to compulsory service. On July 25, 1917, the Military Service Act was passed, and opposition continued to grow.
To garner government support with respect to soldiers, it was decided that soldiers' parents would be exempted from compulsory service. In spite of this decision and the crying need for reinforcements, many soldiers were opposed to the measures. Corneloup was one of them and, during a period of calm after the Battle of the Somme, he wrote a letter of protest to Henri Bourassa of the newspaper Le Devoir. The letter also accused a number of officers of incompetence. Lost by the author, this letter was found by a battalion officer. Courneloup was court martialed and sentenced to a humiliating punishment, which was later somewhat reduced. Nevertheless, Courneloup finished the war on a more honourable note, earning a promotion to warrant officer, the Distinguished Conduct Medal and a military medal.
Library and Archives Canada, C-009092
Henri Bourassa in July 1917, Portrait on a Card Announcing His Death in 1952
Henri Bourassa, founder of the newspaper Le Devoir, was an ardent defender of a nationalism that was Canadian rather than imperial. He was a fierce opponent of the government's policies on conscription.
Library and Archives Canada. RG24, file 649-C-1596, reel T-8653
Claudius Corneloup, Soldier, to Henri Bourassa, Publisher of the Newspaper Le Devoir, Draft Article Opposing Conscription and Critical of Canadian Military Leaders, January 23, 1917 (Document Seized and Never Sent) (Original French version)
Addressed to Henri Bourassa, this article was seized and used as evidence of the author's dereliction of military duty. Corneloup did not deny having written the article, but confirmed that he had intended to show it to the censors. He was sentenced to four months of internment and forced labour, which was commuted to three months of Field Punishment No. 1 -- the court did not agree to hearing testimony in Corneloup's favour from some officers, as they were too far away.
Library and Archives Canada, RG150, accession 1992-93/166, box 2010-13
Excerpt from Claudius Corneloup's Personnel File: Statement of Service
Like other similar documents, this one lists a soldier's or officer's transfers and postings, awards and punishments, illnesses and injuries. This document cites the court martial sentence of four months of internment with hard labour. This sentence was reduced to three months of Field Punishment No. 1.
Library and Archives Canada, MG30-D 80
Sir Robert Laird Borden, Prime Minister of Canada, to Monsignor Paul Bruchési, Archbishop of Montreal, January 18, 1916
The Prime Minister states forcefully that his government has no intention of making military service compulsory in any form, despite what some of the press might be saying.
Library and Archives Canada, MG26-H, vol. 219, file RLB 1430, pages 123399-123402, reel C-4403. With the permission of the Archdiocese of Montreal.
Monsignor Paul Bruchési, Archbishop of Montreal, to Sir Robert Laird Borden, Prime Minister of Canada, May 22, 1917
Monsignor Bruchési recalls Borden's earlier promises, now broken; he wonders about the suitability of compulsory military service and expresses concern about the possible turn of events.
Library and Archives Canada, MG26-H, vol. 219, file RLB 1430, pages 123399-123402, reel C-4403. With the permission of the Archdiocese of Montreal.
Monsignor Paul Bruchési, Archbishop of Montreal, to Sir Robert Laird Borden, Prime Minister of Canada, May 27, 1917
Before receiving Borden's answer to his May 22 letter, Monsignor Bruchési states his opinion. The Borden fonds contains extensive correspondence about conscription. The letters are from opponents and supporters of the government position. The Laurier fonds, dating from his term as Leader of the Opposition during the war, is also of interest in this regard.
Library and Archives Canada, RG9 III-C-3, vol. 4121, folder 2, file 6
R.M. Brade, of the Department of War, to the General Officers Commanding-in-Chief Overseas, Instructions Regarding Field Punishment No. 1, January 12, 1917
Field Punishment No. 1, its unique British Army title, was a humiliating sentence in which the offender was attached to a fixed object, while standing at attention, for two hours a day, for a period not exceeding three months. This note was to remind commanding officers of the right way to attach the soldier. If the soldier had the misfortune of being exposed to the sun, lice or mosquitoes, humiliation quickly turned into torture.
Library and Archives Canada, RG9 III-C-3, vol. 4121, folder 2, file 6
Lieutenant Colonel Édouard de Bellefeuille Panet, Acting Quarter Master General (AQMG), Canadian Corps, Instructions about Rations for an OffenderSentenced to Field Punishment No. 1, March 31, 1916
It was quickly recognized that a malnourished soldier was less effective in battle and tended to get sick. Convicted almost a year after the publication of a directive intended to remedy this situation, Corneloup received generous rations.
Library and Archives Canada, C-006859
Anti-Conscription Parade in Victoria Square, Montreal, Quebec, May 24, 1917
The gathering in this photo looks calm. Riots that resulted in the death of four demonstrators occurred nearly a year later in Quebec City.
Library and Archives Canada, C-147825
Military Medal
Decoration awarded to non-commissioned officers and enlisted men in recognition of an act of bravery.
Record of Claudius Corneloup's Trial by Court Martial
Library and Archives Canada holds nearly 12,000 records of courts martial conducted at the Front or in England. The original documents have disappeared, leaving only the microfilm copy, a negative copy that is unfortunately of poor quality.
This file is fairly typical and consists of the court convening order, an order of commutation of sentence, the confirmation of the sentence by the corps commander, the division commander and the brigade commander, the record of proceedings, a record of conviction and a conduct sheet.