BACKGROUND
This web site summarizes my research
on the Great War (1914 - 1918) as seen by Lt. George Van Wyck
Laughton, M.C., primarily as it applies to the Battle of Arras. This
includes the famous capture of Vimy Ridge
by the Canadian Expeditionary Force, a parallel assault to the
British action to the south, referred to as the First Battle of the Scarpe
(April 9 - 14, 1917). The subsequent Capture of Hill 70 is historically
referred to as the Second Battle of the Scarpe (April 23 - 28, 1917). The
Third Battle of the Scarpe (May 3 - 4, 1917) historically marks the capture of
Fresnoy by the 1st Canadian Division, in concert with the British 3rd Army.
Although a Canadian, Grandfather Laughton was
serving as an Officer with the British 3rd Army during the Scarpe
Battles. As such he was not directly involved in the capture of Vimy
Ridge, he was on the immediate south boundary of the 1st Canadian
Division on that fateful day in April 1917. Further details on this
topic are provided in the web site section Battle of
Arras.
All available maps, notes, letters, links and battle plans have been
posted and additional documents will be added as they are retrieved and
scanned. Additional documentation has been retrieved
from the Library and Archives
Canada in Ottawa and at the United
Kingdom National Archives (formerly Public Records Office in Kew). Thanks
to members of the CEFSG and GWF who continue to send in additional details - now
more than 7 years after the site was started.
This site was developed to rejuvenate the family's
knowledge of Grandfather Laughton and many other Canadian soldiers who served in
the Great War. This aspect of Canadian history had apparently been dropped
from the school curriculum sometime after I graduated from secondary school in
1969. A second Great War project was subsequently initiated to look into the
exploits of my maternal grandfather, Josiah
Chancellor Kennedy, also initially with the CEF (Princess Patricia's) and
later transferring to the BEF (Royal Irish Rifles).
The history of George Van Wyck Laughton as part of the
"Laughton Genealogy" is detailed on our Family Tree
Website.
There you will find George's
Page, which also has the links to the Toronto
Star Archives reporting on his exploits at Vimy in WW1. We have
recently realigned this web site to improve navigation through the various
pages.
I would welcome any input, criticism, corrections or
suggestions that relate to the information that I have collected. In some
instances I have transcribed words from the original documents that may not be
correct, so if you see an error, please let me know. As this information
is posted on the Internet you are of course welcome to use any of this
information in your own research, however an acknowledgement to the web site (in
honour of George Van Wyck Laughton) would be most appreciated. In
particular, I encourage the younger generation that did not have grandparents or
great aunts and uncles, who fought in the Great War, to learn from the exploits
of the Allied Soldiers. If you are a student and you want additional
information, please contact me by e-mail and I will do the best I can to assist
you.
I have now added links to all the documents and
photographs so you should
be able to "click" on them and see them in a larger format as scanned.
In memory of all of those that served,
Richard Van Wyck Laughton
Grandson