Thomas Turnbull - Link to Polmont
- Admin
- Feb 6
- 2 min read
690643 Private 116th Battalion (Ontario County), 9th Canadian Brigade, 3rd Canadian Division
Age: 29
Date of death: 26.10.17
Buried: Oxford Road Cemetery Grave I.H.9
Family history: Son of Thomas and Elizabeth Turnbull, 38 Burlington Street, East Hamilton, Ontario. The family emigrated from Polmont to Canada. Thomas was unmarried and listed his trade as a Furnaceman when enlisting in Hamilton, Ontario, on 28 March 1916 in the 173rd Battalion (Canadian Highlanders). He sailed from Halifax on the S.S. Olympic to England on 14 November 1916 and on arrival on 20 November went to the Bramshott Camp and from here joined the 116th Battalion (Ontario County) in France on 17 March 1917.
Action leading to his death
The Battalion was engaged in the Third Battle of Ypres and The Battle of Passchendaele II from 26 October to 10 November. By the 26 October operations on the slopes of Passchendaele Ridge had reached a deadlock. The troops engaged, consisting chiefly of Australians and New Zealanders, had advanced nearly three miles under conditions that must have been almost heartbreaking. It had poured with rain every day; the mud was well over their knees, and they were enfiladed from both sides by the German artillery, until finally, they were brought to a halt on the top of Abraham Heights through sheer exhaustion and heavy casualties. The German defences consisted of Pill Boxes - oblong, concrete constructions, divided into several compartments with small, narrow entrances either at the side or back. Having occupied several Camps in the neighbourhood of Wieltje, the 9th Brigade, with the 116th Battalion in support, attacked the Bellevue Spur on the morning of 26 October, and by the morning of October 27 had succeeded in taking the position. On the evening of the 27th the 116th Battalion took over the front line from the remnants of the Brigade, remaining there until relieved by the 49th Battalion (7th Brigade) during the early hours of the 29 October.
Battalion casualties were three Officers wounded, 42 Other Ranks killed, 101 wounded, 12 of whom were gassed. Thomas died of wounds, gunshot wound to the back and legs at the No.10 Canadian Field Ambulance.
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