Pte
Harold Calkin Turner
Information about birth
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Date of birth: 28/01/1898 |
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Place of birth: New Minas, Kings County, Nova Scotia, Canada |
General information
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Last known residence: New Minas, Kings County, Nova Scotia, Canada |
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Profession: Carpenter |
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Religion: Baptist |
Army information
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Country: Canada |
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Force: Canadian Expeditionary Force |
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Rank: Private |
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Service number: 282794 |
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Enlistment date: 20/03/1916 |
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Enlistment place: Kentville, Kings County, Nova Scotia, Canada |
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Units: — Canadian Infantry, 85th Bn. (Nova Scotia Highlanders) (Last known unit) |
Information about death
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Date of death: 30/10/1917 |
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Place of death: Vienna Cottages - Stein Hof, Passchendaele, Belgium |
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Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.) |
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Age: 19 |
Cemetery
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Tyne Cot Cemetery Plot: LVI Row: B Grave: 4 |
Distinctions and medals 2
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British War Medal Medal |
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Victory Medal Medal |
Points of interest 4
| #1 | Place of birth | ||
| #2 | Last known residence | ||
| #3 | Enlistment place | ||
| #4 | Place of death (approximate) |
My story
Harold Calkin Turner was born and raised in New Minas, Nova Scotia. He worked there as a carpenter until he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in nearby Kentville in March 1916. He was assigned to a machine gun section of the 85th Battalion, better known as the Nova Scotia Highlanders, part of the 12th Canadian Brigade within the 4th Canadian Division.
On 28 October 1917, the 4th Canadian Division moved from their camp near Ypres to the front, where they relieved the 44th Battalion at Keerselaarhoek, between Decline Copse along the railway and Passchendaele Street. The next day, on 29 October, the soldiers prepared for the attack by sheltering in shell holes and narrow trenches.
On 30 October 1917, the Canadians resumed their attack on Passchendaele. The 85th Battalion followed the Ypres–Roulers railway line toward Vienna Cottages — a hamlet that, before the war, consisted of a few houses along the railway, by then reduced to a landscape of mud and craters. The Highlanders suffered heavily: the artillery that was supposed to support them sank into the mud and could barely provide covering fire. As soon as the men pulled themselves free from the muck, they came under heavy fire. But the storm forward was unstoppable. In exchange for the stinking pits near Vienna Cottages, half of the Highlanders were killed, missing, or wounded. Even before returning to Canada, the 85th Battalion erected a memorial pillar near their point of departure.
Harold was killed on 30 October 1917. He was initially buried between Passchendaele Street and Vienna Cottages. Today, he rests in Tyne Cot Cemetery: Plot LVI, Row B, Grave 4.
On 28 October 1917, the 4th Canadian Division moved from their camp near Ypres to the front, where they relieved the 44th Battalion at Keerselaarhoek, between Decline Copse along the railway and Passchendaele Street. The next day, on 29 October, the soldiers prepared for the attack by sheltering in shell holes and narrow trenches.
On 30 October 1917, the Canadians resumed their attack on Passchendaele. The 85th Battalion followed the Ypres–Roulers railway line toward Vienna Cottages — a hamlet that, before the war, consisted of a few houses along the railway, by then reduced to a landscape of mud and craters. The Highlanders suffered heavily: the artillery that was supposed to support them sank into the mud and could barely provide covering fire. As soon as the men pulled themselves free from the muck, they came under heavy fire. But the storm forward was unstoppable. In exchange for the stinking pits near Vienna Cottages, half of the Highlanders were killed, missing, or wounded. Even before returning to Canada, the 85th Battalion erected a memorial pillar near their point of departure.
Harold was killed on 30 October 1917. He was initially buried between Passchendaele Street and Vienna Cottages. Today, he rests in Tyne Cot Cemetery: Plot LVI, Row B, Grave 4.
Sources 5
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Commonwealth War Graves Registers, First World War (Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa (LAC), RG150, 1992-1993/314, Box 39-244; Box: 130). https://library-archives.canada.ca/ Sources used |
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Hayes J., The Eighty-Fifth in France and Flanders, (Halifax, Royal Print & Litho Limited, 1922), 90-96. Sources used |
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McCarthy Chris., Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account (London, Unicorn Publishing Group, 2018) 153. Sources used |
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Personnel Records of the First World War (Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa (LAC), RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 9837 - 8). https://library-archives.canada.ca/ Sources used |
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War diaries: 85th Canadian Infantry Battalion (Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa (LAC), RG9-III-D-3, Volume number: 4944, Microfilm reel number: T-10751--T-10752, File number: 454). https://library-archives.canada.ca/ Sources used |
More information 4
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Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/464966 |
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Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=5b7cc58d-6b38-42bd-8fae-c12db49d7601 |
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The Canadian Virtual War Memorial https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/464966 |
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Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/5757923 |