Private Robert Love Gracie 14th Battalion CEF 1916
404091 Private
R L GRACIE
14th Bn. Canadian Inf.
20th March 1916
GRACIE, R L
Rank:………………Private
Service No:………...404091
Date of Death:……..20/03/1916
Regiment:………….Canadian Infantry
……………………..14th Bn.
Grave Reference:….25. 164.
Cemetery:………….NORWICH CEMETERY, NORFOLK
CWGC: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2803144/GRACIE,%20R%20L
The Service Records and attestation papers for Private 404091 Robert Love Gracie can be seen on line at the Canadian National Archive.
www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-wo...
Born Toronto, Ontario on the 9th March 1893, he gives his next of kin as his mother Elizabeth Gracie, of 184 Hogarth Avenue, Toronto.
At the time of his enlistment in April 1915 he gave his occupation as Clerk. He was already a member of the Militia. He was described as 5 feet 8 and a half inches tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and dark brown hair. He had a distinguishing mark of a scar 3 and a half inches long on the right lower abdomen. His religious denomination is given as Presbyterian.
He sailed from Montreal aboard the S.S.Metagama on the 4th June 1915.
Between August and October 1915 he was in England, being treated for Gonorrhoea. He had probably contracted this on the 2nd July at Seven Kings.
Part of his pay was made over each month to his widowed mother.
On the 19th January 1916 he was drafted from the 23rd Reserve Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force, (C.E.F.) to the 14th Battalion. He arrived at the Canadian Base Deport at Le Havre on the 20th January 1916, but had to wait until the 2nd February until he could be dispatched to his unit, and didn’t actually catch up with them until the 5th.
At some point he had been a Sergeant, (the will in his paybook actually gives that rank), but when he arrived with the 14th Battalion there is a reference to a letter of reversion, so presumably he asked to be returned to the ranks.
He was initially treated in France at No.1 Canadian General Hospital, Etaples, and was said to have been wounded on the 7th March 1916 and brought into the 1st Canadian Casualty Clearing Station.. He was sent to England on the 13th March 1916 on the Hospital Ship Brighton. Initially he was at the Norfolk War Hospital and then the Norfolk and Norwich War Hospital.
There is an x-ray included showing shrapnel still in the leg.
Robert died at the Norfolk War Hospital He was initially admitted with Shrapnel to right hand and right leg, however even on admission on March 14th, things did not look good.
His condition continued to deteriorate and despite two exploratory operation, he started haemorrhaging badly early in the morning of the 20th. An emergency operation led to an amputation of his leg but it uncovered even more extensive infection. Before anything further could be done he died half an hour after the operation, at 10.45.
One of his medical sheets almost mentions Gun Shot Wound to Spine but this does not appear on any of the documents completed by the medical staff who treated him. There is one reference to a back splint being applied, possibly at the CCS.
He was buried in the Norwich Cemetery on the 23rd March 1916. Officially he is recorded as having Died of Wounds. The correspondence between the Hospital and the Canadian Records Office, and with the undertaker, all give Roberts’ rank as Acting Corporal although this is not on his service sheet.
By the time his medals were issued in 1920, his mother was living at 95 Oakwood Avenue, Toronto.
Other information sources
The birth of Robert Love Gracie on the 9th March 1893 at Toronto appears on the Canada Birth and Baptism list. His parents were Robert and Elizabeth Humphrey, nee Clark.
Source: familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F2GL-MXS
The same information is also in the Ontario Birth records. The register is signed by his father and mother. His fathers profession was Teamster.
Source: familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FMCB-B99
Other likely birth records include:-
Mary Nylie Hyndman Gracie, born Ontario 20th January 1900
Source: familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F2TT-BYG
On the 1901 Canadian census the family were recorded at West Toronto. A Robert Gracie, born c 1893 and the son of the householder was described as a Presbyterian Canadian of Scottish Descent, born Ontario.
Head of the household was a 40 year old Elizabeth Gracie, born England. As well as Robert, other children in the household are:-
John……..aged 12…….born Ontario
Edna…….aged 3……….born Ontario
Mary…….aged 1……….born Ontario
Source: familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KHGJ-VB8
By the time of the 1911 Canadian Census, the family are recorded at Toronto Centre Sub-Districts 18-62. The 18 year old Robert was born March 1893 in Ontario.
Other members of the family are the Head of the Household, the 49 year old widow Elizabeth Gracie, (born England June 1862), the 22 year old John, (born Ontario May 1889), the 13 year old Edna, (born Ontario January 1898) and the 11 year old Mary, (born Ontario in 1900).
Source: familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:276Y-4CZ
The Canadian Virtual War Memorial has a clipping from the Toronto Star which includes a picture of Robert.
Sgt.Gracie Wounded
Two months after he first entered the trenches and four days before his 23rd birthday, Sgt. Robert L.Gracie, of the 14th Battalion, was admitted to No.1 Canadian Hospital, suffering from shrapnel wounds in his hand and leg. How slight or how serious his wounds may be, is not known here. Only a day before the official telegram arrived, his mother, Mrs Elizabeth Gracie, who resides at 331 Logan Ave., received a cheerful letter from, descriptive of life in and near the trenches. He said “We are kept pretty busy where we are. Fritz is only 450 yards away. I saw one of them through my telescope. We had a little excitement one morning. The Germans sent over one of their ‘whiz! Bangs!’. It went through a dug-out. The boys were all asleep except one, who was going on guard. No-one was injured. The shell was dug out and one of the boys is keeping it as a souvenir….The houses and barns around here are all blown down. Not far away is a Canadian grave-yard. It is on a hill. Several boys of the C.M.R. are there.”
Sergt. Gracie formerly worked in Eaton’s. For five years he was in the 48th Highlanders. For overseas service he was drafted to the 35th. In England he was transferred to the 23rd Reserve, and again in France to the 14th. A brother and two sisters reside at home.
www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-vir...
On the day he was wounded
The casualty report states he was wounded on the 7th March 1916. A check of the 14th Battalion War Diary confirms they were in the front line. However the entry for the 7th reads:-
No activity on either side, heavy snow, working party of 9, others cancelled
The diary entry for the 8th throws up a potential scenario in which Robert may have been mortally wounded.
Great aeroplane activity on both sides, our reserve Co. shelled by howitzers, working party 171.
There are no useful appendices that add anything more.
Source: www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/lac-bac/results/images?module...
Private Robert Love Gracie 14th Battalion CEF 1916
404091 Private
R L GRACIE
14th Bn. Canadian Inf.
20th March 1916
GRACIE, R L
Rank:………………Private
Service No:………...404091
Date of Death:……..20/03/1916
Regiment:………….Canadian Infantry
……………………..14th Bn.
Grave Reference:….25. 164.
Cemetery:………….NORWICH CEMETERY, NORFOLK
CWGC: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2803144/GRACIE,%20R%20L
The Service Records and attestation papers for Private 404091 Robert Love Gracie can be seen on line at the Canadian National Archive.
www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-wo...
Born Toronto, Ontario on the 9th March 1893, he gives his next of kin as his mother Elizabeth Gracie, of 184 Hogarth Avenue, Toronto.
At the time of his enlistment in April 1915 he gave his occupation as Clerk. He was already a member of the Militia. He was described as 5 feet 8 and a half inches tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and dark brown hair. He had a distinguishing mark of a scar 3 and a half inches long on the right lower abdomen. His religious denomination is given as Presbyterian.
He sailed from Montreal aboard the S.S.Metagama on the 4th June 1915.
Between August and October 1915 he was in England, being treated for Gonorrhoea. He had probably contracted this on the 2nd July at Seven Kings.
Part of his pay was made over each month to his widowed mother.
On the 19th January 1916 he was drafted from the 23rd Reserve Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force, (C.E.F.) to the 14th Battalion. He arrived at the Canadian Base Deport at Le Havre on the 20th January 1916, but had to wait until the 2nd February until he could be dispatched to his unit, and didn’t actually catch up with them until the 5th.
At some point he had been a Sergeant, (the will in his paybook actually gives that rank), but when he arrived with the 14th Battalion there is a reference to a letter of reversion, so presumably he asked to be returned to the ranks.
He was initially treated in France at No.1 Canadian General Hospital, Etaples, and was said to have been wounded on the 7th March 1916 and brought into the 1st Canadian Casualty Clearing Station.. He was sent to England on the 13th March 1916 on the Hospital Ship Brighton. Initially he was at the Norfolk War Hospital and then the Norfolk and Norwich War Hospital.
There is an x-ray included showing shrapnel still in the leg.
Robert died at the Norfolk War Hospital He was initially admitted with Shrapnel to right hand and right leg, however even on admission on March 14th, things did not look good.
His condition continued to deteriorate and despite two exploratory operation, he started haemorrhaging badly early in the morning of the 20th. An emergency operation led to an amputation of his leg but it uncovered even more extensive infection. Before anything further could be done he died half an hour after the operation, at 10.45.
One of his medical sheets almost mentions Gun Shot Wound to Spine but this does not appear on any of the documents completed by the medical staff who treated him. There is one reference to a back splint being applied, possibly at the CCS.
He was buried in the Norwich Cemetery on the 23rd March 1916. Officially he is recorded as having Died of Wounds. The correspondence between the Hospital and the Canadian Records Office, and with the undertaker, all give Roberts’ rank as Acting Corporal although this is not on his service sheet.
By the time his medals were issued in 1920, his mother was living at 95 Oakwood Avenue, Toronto.
Other information sources
The birth of Robert Love Gracie on the 9th March 1893 at Toronto appears on the Canada Birth and Baptism list. His parents were Robert and Elizabeth Humphrey, nee Clark.
Source: familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F2GL-MXS
The same information is also in the Ontario Birth records. The register is signed by his father and mother. His fathers profession was Teamster.
Source: familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FMCB-B99
Other likely birth records include:-
Mary Nylie Hyndman Gracie, born Ontario 20th January 1900
Source: familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F2TT-BYG
On the 1901 Canadian census the family were recorded at West Toronto. A Robert Gracie, born c 1893 and the son of the householder was described as a Presbyterian Canadian of Scottish Descent, born Ontario.
Head of the household was a 40 year old Elizabeth Gracie, born England. As well as Robert, other children in the household are:-
John……..aged 12…….born Ontario
Edna…….aged 3……….born Ontario
Mary…….aged 1……….born Ontario
Source: familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KHGJ-VB8
By the time of the 1911 Canadian Census, the family are recorded at Toronto Centre Sub-Districts 18-62. The 18 year old Robert was born March 1893 in Ontario.
Other members of the family are the Head of the Household, the 49 year old widow Elizabeth Gracie, (born England June 1862), the 22 year old John, (born Ontario May 1889), the 13 year old Edna, (born Ontario January 1898) and the 11 year old Mary, (born Ontario in 1900).
Source: familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:276Y-4CZ
The Canadian Virtual War Memorial has a clipping from the Toronto Star which includes a picture of Robert.
Sgt.Gracie Wounded
Two months after he first entered the trenches and four days before his 23rd birthday, Sgt. Robert L.Gracie, of the 14th Battalion, was admitted to No.1 Canadian Hospital, suffering from shrapnel wounds in his hand and leg. How slight or how serious his wounds may be, is not known here. Only a day before the official telegram arrived, his mother, Mrs Elizabeth Gracie, who resides at 331 Logan Ave., received a cheerful letter from, descriptive of life in and near the trenches. He said “We are kept pretty busy where we are. Fritz is only 450 yards away. I saw one of them through my telescope. We had a little excitement one morning. The Germans sent over one of their ‘whiz! Bangs!’. It went through a dug-out. The boys were all asleep except one, who was going on guard. No-one was injured. The shell was dug out and one of the boys is keeping it as a souvenir….The houses and barns around here are all blown down. Not far away is a Canadian grave-yard. It is on a hill. Several boys of the C.M.R. are there.”
Sergt. Gracie formerly worked in Eaton’s. For five years he was in the 48th Highlanders. For overseas service he was drafted to the 35th. In England he was transferred to the 23rd Reserve, and again in France to the 14th. A brother and two sisters reside at home.
www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-vir...
On the day he was wounded
The casualty report states he was wounded on the 7th March 1916. A check of the 14th Battalion War Diary confirms they were in the front line. However the entry for the 7th reads:-
No activity on either side, heavy snow, working party of 9, others cancelled
The diary entry for the 8th throws up a potential scenario in which Robert may have been mortally wounded.
Great aeroplane activity on both sides, our reserve Co. shelled by howitzers, working party 171.
There are no useful appendices that add anything more.
Source: www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/lac-bac/results/images?module...