BX May 6, 1915

Private Charles Roy Hamilton, whose name appeared in the casualty lists of a couple of days ago as having been seriously wounded, is a former Brantford boy who still has a large number of friends in this city. While here he was a member of A. Company of the Dufferin Rifles. Some time ago he went west and located in Winnipeg, where he was when the war broke out. He enlisted from there and was assigned to the first battalion. He has a brother and two sisters still residing in this vicinity.

BX May 13, 1915

Reported Dead

Mrs. Rutherford, of this city, has received a letter from her son, Wray of Winnipeg, in which he stated that he had seen in one of the Winnipeg papers that Charles Roy Hamilton, who left Brantford, four years ago and who enlisted for active service, had been killed in action. Private Hamilton’s sister, who is his next of kin residing in Millgrove, Ont., has previously been apprised of her brother’s wounding, but has not thus far been notified that he was dead. Pte. Hamilton’s Brantford friends are very anxious concerning his welfare and steps are being taken to have the report denied or confirmed at Ottawa.

October 18, 1915

Invalided Home

Private Charles Roy Hamilton, who left Brantford with the First contingent of the Dufferin Rifles, arrived home over the weekend, having been invalided out of the service, owing to wounds received in the early fighting, which will incapacitate him from further service. He is visiting in Paris this afternoon, and could not be reached by The Expositor.

October 19, 1915

Bullet in Jaw, Private Hamilton Slept After Four Days’ Fight – Walked Four Miles to Dressing Station – One of Survivors of the Eighth Battalion After Langemarck and Ypres, when Only 53 of His Battalion Were Unhurt, Private Hamilton Escaped Gas, Shot and Shell During Battle, Only to be Hit in a Counter-Attack After Big Fight

The victim of an explosive bullet which pierced his neck and shattered the right side of his lower jaw, but otherwise to all appearances is in the pink of condition, Pte. Roy Hamilton, a Brantford boy who responded to his Empire’s call while engaged in his vocation in Winnipeg, has returned to the city, and is now the guest of his uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Thos. Rutherford, 204 West Street.
Surviving Ypres, April 23 to 25, although only 53 out of his entire battalion – the Eighth escaped the casualty lists, Pte. Hamilton was wounded during a counter-attack which was launched to drive the Germans from the trench which his battalion had previously held and which had been lost to the Huns by the reinforcements, which had been sent forward to relieve the badly cut-up Eighth Battalion. To add to the distress, Private Hamilton had to endure the agony of his wounds for nine hours before he was enabled to receive proper medical care, he having to walk a distance of between three and four miles to a clearing station, where his wounds were dressed and his agony relieved in a limited measure, before being sent on to Netley Hospital, England, where he remained for two and a half months.

With an Expositor representative last evening Private Hamilton, who formerly attended the Brantford Collegiate Institute and who was at one time employed under M.A. Colquhoun at the Massey-Harris Factory, consented to chat regarding his experiences at the front, and his impressions of conditions existing there.

One of “Black Devils”
 
At the outbreak of hostilities Private Hamilton, who was then employed in Winnipeg, was alert to enlist for overseas service, he having been a member of the 91st Rifles (the Black Devils) of Winnipeg. In the Eighth Battalion, in command of Company Commander Capt. McMeans, who was a member of an old Brantford family prior to his death on the field of battle, Private Hamilton left for Valcartier and later for Salisbury Plain, where the severe and strenuous training was completed before the first contingent was taken across the channel into the trenches. As has often been repeated by soldiers returning from the front, there was little of unusual interest to record concerning life at the front until the fateful battle of Langemarck, in which the Canadians suffered so heavily, but “saved the situation.”

Wounded in Counter-Attack

From the fact that only 53 officers and men of the Eighth Battalion survived Ypres, some conception may be gained of the deadly hail of bullets and shells, to say nothing of bayonets, gases and bombs, which Pte. Hamilton was in the midst of. It will be recalled that through the use of the clouds of deadly asphyxiating gases, the Germans compelled a wide front of the French to retire on April 23 in the vicinity of Ypres and the Canadians on their flank saved a very serious situation by their pluck and courage in detaining the advancing Huns until reinforcements were brought up to hold the enemy. Pte. Hamilton was in the very thick of this struggle and grateful that he had been fortunate enough to escape injury, was retiring with the balance of his fellow soldiers, after they had been relieved by a fresh battalion, which was making its debut in the trenches. This battalion was driven out of the trenches, which had been held by the eighth, and Pte. Hamilton and the remains of his unit were ordered to return and assist in driving the Germans out of their former trench. It was in this counter-attack that the returned soldier received his wound, an explosive bullet striking him in the neck and the right side of his lower jaw.

Slept with Broken Jaw

Retaining consciousness, Private Hamilton endeavored to bandage up his wounds as best he could, he being assisted in his efforts by the colonel commanding his battalion who brought a towel which was wrapped around the bleeding wound. Having gone four days without sleep and enduring the most severe physical and nervous strain, Private Hamilton asked permission of his commanding officer to lie down in one of the shallow communication trenches to have a short sleep, and despite the bursting of shells on all sides, Pte. Hamilton told The Expositor last night that he enjoyed a few moments of splendid rest, until he was compelled to seek safety further in the rear.
 
Slept While Waiting

Proceeding then to a dressing station, Private Hamilton lodged himself in a corner attempting to catch a few more moments of sleep while awaiting his turn for medical attention. In a few moments the alarm was sounded that the Germans were approaching and all those who could were ordered to start out for themselves for the next station, some distance in the rear. The wounded soldiers, who were unable to walk, were piled in convalescences, one of which was struck by a shell and set on fire. Meanwhile, nearly exhausted through the loss of blood and the terrible strain through which he had come, Pte. Hamilton proceeded to the next dressing depot in the rear, at which he arrived in due course, having walked between three and four miles from the place where he was wounded. Here his wounds were dressed and parts of the splintered jaw were extracted and the remaining parts temporarily set in position, an injection being made as a preventative of lockjaw.

Japanese Medico

A five days’ journey was then made to England, where he was received into Netley hospital and was taken charge of by a Japanese doctor and nursed by a staff of Japanese nurses, who were associated with the British Red Cross. The Japs, said Pte. Hamilton, were very clean and efficient in their work, the Oriental physician being especially capable. After a term of two and one half months, the Brantford soldier was discharged from the hospital and sent to a convalescent home, where he remained until passed by the medical board of examiners as being unfit for further military service.

Securing his discharge papers, Private Hamilton returned on the S.S. Metagama to Quebec, where he arrived several days ago and was detained for four days before the Canadian medical board. He arrived at his former home in Brantford on Saturday and expects to remain here for several weeks before returning to Winnipeg.

Insect Life

Asked by The Expositor representative how the soldiers employed their time in the trenches during the comparative inactivity which characterized the trench warfare for several weeks prior to Langemarck, Pte. Hamilton explained that the soldiers went on “crumbing expeditions.”  When asked again to be somewhat more explicit, he stated that sanitary conditions in the trenches were not of the best, and lice constantly bothered the men. On these expeditions the men would seek to rid their clothing of these unwelcome disturbers of sleep and comfort, and unless these expeditions were held frequently, two or three times per day, life became almost unbearable.

Although passed as medically unfit for further service at the front, Pte. Hamilton stated last night that he was willing and ready to return to the firing line, just as quickly as his physical condition would permit. He frankly admitted however, that he believed he had done his little bit, and was of the opinion that there were still many others in Canada who were now shirking their duty, but who should come forward to take his place in the ranks.