PRINT SOURCE: Thomas Raddall Fonds, Correspondence. From Thomas Raddall to Max Abrams, 17 October 1979. MS-2-202 47.28.
Subject HeadingsWhen T. H. Raddall acknowledges a letter of appreciation from the curator of his father's regimental museum for a donation of World War I items formerly belonging to T. H. Raddall, Sr., Raddall indicates his satisfaction with the museum's proposed arrangements. Raddall goes on to share information about his correspondence with the Padre who had officiated at his father's burial in war-torn France and relates the events leading up to the August 1918 battle in which his father was killed.
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BoT 1K0 October 17,1979 MWO Max Abrams CD,Curator, Regimental Museum, Royal Winnipeg Rifles, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Dear Mr. Abrams: Thank you for your letter of October 10, and please disregard mine of the 12th., which crossed with yours in the mail. My family and I are happy to know that the tunic, medals, and other relics of Lt. Col. Raddall are now safe in the museum,1 and that they will be displayed with his portrait. You mention the flag, now in the First Presbyterian Church, Winnipeg, which was used by Padre Whillans when burying the dead in August 1918. I had some correspondence with Mr. Whillans several years later, when he re-visited the battlefield. He sent me snapshots of Manitoba Cemetery, of Hos- pital Wood, from which the Rifles began their attack, and of Hatchet Wood. He had a hobby of cutting and polishing stones of various kinds, and he sent me a small plaque containing two flints from Lt. Col. Raddall's grave, set in marble from a French quarry. I visited the battlefield myself in 1958, noting the ground. Hatchet Wood still sat, dark and ominous, on its rise overlooking the wide draw which the Rifles had to cross. When Raddall saw the set-up, he said to his second-in-command, Major "Bug" Saunders, "Bug, this is going to be a bad one". And so it was. Nevertheless the Rifles did storm the wood, killing about 100 Germans and taking about 300 prisoners. This enabled other Canadian troops, on the exposed farmland to right and left of Hatchet Wood, to get forward, and the Rifles themselves pressed on to take Warvillers, their ultimate objective. Sergeants Brereton and Coppins received Victoria Crosses for that day's fighting -- but you know all that. With my deep appreciation of your interest, |
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