Military service
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Digital gallery of Corporal John Windram
Digital gallery of
Corporal John Windram
Corporal John Windram 629127; 47th British Columbia Battalion; 10th Infantry Brigade
On the morning of 16 Mar the 47th Battalion staged a trench raid opposite the PIMPLE at the north end of the ridge between Souchez and Givenchy-en-Gohelle. Four raiding parties, one from each Coy, entered the trenches beyond a barrier of mine craters that ran along no-man’s-land.
The Battalion War Diary records the raid starting at 03.45 and that within 6mins the enemy’s retaliatory bombardment started to fall on our lines and 2mins later in the Souchez Valley beyond. The raiders met with strong opposition and severe hand to hand fighting took place, many casualties were inflicted on the enemy but no prisoners were taken. The diary then records the service numbers of casualties but not their names. 8 killed, 31 wounded and 9 missing. Among the killed is the number 629127 of John Windram.
Source: Canadian Archives RG9, Militia and Defense, Series III-D-3, Volume 4940 Reel T-10746-10747
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Corporal John Windram 629127; 47th British Columbia Battalion; 10th Infantry Brigade On the morning of 16 Mar the 47th Battalion staged a trench raid opposite the PIMPLE at the north end of the ridge between Souchez and Givenchy-en-Gohelle. Four raiding parties, one from each Coy, entered the trenches beyond a barrier of mine craters that ran along no-man’s-land. The Battalion War Diary records the raid starting at 03.45 and that within 6mins the enemy’s retaliatory bombardment started to fall on our lines and 2mins later in the Souchez Valley beyond. The raiders met with strong opposition and severe hand to hand fighting took place, many casualties were inflicted on the enemy but no prisoners were taken. The diary then records the service numbers of casualties but not their names. 8 killed, 31 wounded and 9 missing. Among the killed is the number 629127 of John Windram. Source: Canadian Archives RG9, Militia and Defense, Series III-D-3, Volume 4940 Reel T-10746-10747
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 352 of the First World War Book of Remembrance.
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VIMY MEMORIAL Pas de Calais, France
Canada's most impressive tribute overseas to those Canadians who fought and gave their lives in the First World War is the majestic and inspiring Vimy Memorial, which overlooks the Douai Plain from the highest point of Vimy Ridge, about eight kilometres northeast of Arras on the N17 towards Lens. The Memorial is signposted from this road to the left, just before you enter the village of Vimy from the south. The memorial itself is someway inside the memorial park, but again it is well signposted. At the base of the memorial, these words appear in French and in English:
Inscribed on the ramparts of the Vimy Memorial are the names of over 11,000 Canadian soldiers who were posted as 'missing, presumed dead' in France.
A plaque at the entrance to the memorial states that the land for the battlefield park, 91.18 hectares in extent, was 'the free gift in perpetuity of the French nation to the people of Canada'. Construction of the massive work began in 1925, and 11 years later, on July 26, 1936, the monument was unveiled by King Edward VIII.
The park surrounding the Vimy Memorial was created by horticultural experts. Canadian trees and shrubs were planted in great masses to resemble the woods and forests of Canada. Wooded parklands surround the grassy slopes of the approaches around the Vimy Memorial. Trenches and tunnels have been restored and preserved and the visitor can picture the magnitude of the task that faced the Canadian Corps on that distant dawn when history was made.
On April 3, 2003, the Government of Canada designated April 9th of each year as a national day of remembrance of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
For more information, visit Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
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