John Kerr - Link to Dennyloanhead

Private John Kerr. Authors image

436522 Private John Kerr, 49th Battalion, 3rd Canadian Division

Age: 24

Date of death: Between 2 June & 5 June 1916

Buried: Ypres Reservoir Cemetery Grave IX.J.35

Family history: Son of Alexander and Christina Kerr, Belmont Cottage, Dennyloanhead. He was employed as a Miner when he enlisted in Edmonton on 20 January 1915. He sailed from Montreal to the UK on 11 September 1915 and arrived at Shorncliffe Camp on 14 September joining the 49th Battalion on 30 September. He went to France on 9 October 1915.

Action leading to his death

On the 2 June 1916 the Germans launched an attack to take the Canadian held positions on Observatory Ridge at Tor Top and Mount Sorrell. The Battalion received orders to move to Belgian Chateau and left Camp F with a brass band leading the way. On arrival at Belgian Chateau they came under shell fire and they moved in small parties to the Ramparts in Ypres. They were then ordered to move to Sanctuary Wood as part of a counter-attack force consisting of the 49th, 52nd^, and 60th Battalions.

Trench map showing the area of the action

On 3 June the Battalion counter-attacked at 7am and pushed the Germans out of their outposts gained at Rudkin House and Maple Copse and consolidated their positions being relieved at midnight on 4/5 June. However, the main objective of retaking the positions lost to the Germans on Observatory Ridge, tor top and Mount Sorrel was not achieved. This would have to wait until a major Canadian counter-attack on 13 June. The War Diary records that 45 Other Ranks killed, 257 wounded, and 69 missing. John’s body was found on the battlefield at Observatory Ridge and reburied at Ypres Reservoir Cemetery after the Armistice. He had been identified from his disc. His parents were listed as his next of kin.

Battle of Mount Sorrell

The attack here was launched by the Germans against the Canadians on the afternoon of 2 June 1916, the attack stretched from here to the Appendix in the north part of Sanctuary Wood near Hooge, with the Germans blowing several mines on Mount Sorrel and breaking through from Mount Sorrel to Tor Top and capturing several strong points. They came under heavy fire from Maple Copse however, the Canadians had to withdraw from around the Appendix on the left of the line in fear of being outflanked by the Germans. The Canadians did consolidate their line by clearing the enemy from the line Maple Copse to Rudkin House and the vital strong points on Observatory Ridge. The first Canadian counter-attack on 3 June was a failure and they and GHQ had a rethink. Killed in this action was Major General M.S. Mercer who commanded the 3rd (Canadian) Division. He and the commander of the Canadian 8 Brigade Brigadier-General Williams were caught in the German preliminary shell fire. Both had there ear drums shattered and took cover in the Tor Top tunnel were there was a Battalion HQ and an aid post. Mercer refused to stay in the tunnel and said he wanted to get back to his HQ and soon after leaving was hit  in the leg by a bullet and was killed by shrapnel fire as he lay in the trench. His partially decomposed remains were recovered by a battlefield clearance party on 24 June and he is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery. Williams was  taken prisoner. Commanding the Canadian Corps was a British officer Lieutenant-General Sir Julian Byng and he decided to concentrate his next attack on Mount Sorrel and Tor Top. Concentrating some 218 guns to range on this narrow strip of ground and at 1.30am on 13 June the attack went in under torrential rain, the cover of smoke and a massive artillery barrage. The Germans were ejected from their gains.