WW1 Centenary : Bernard Joseph Hagan (1894 – 1916)

On 1 July this year, we will observe the centenary of the beginning of the Battle of the Somme in the First World War.   Our family has a connection with this battle through my mother's uncle, Bernard Hagan.  To make this commemoration more relevant and meaningful for the family, Mum put together the information she had gathered about Bernard and his time in Belgium and France a hundred years ago

Troops 'going over the top' at the start of the Battle of the Somme

Bernard Joseph HAGAN  1894 – 1916
Private 489246  27th Battalion Canadian Infantry (Manitoba Regiment)

Early Years

Bernard was born at Upper Hutt on 5 January 1894, the ninth child and fifth son of Richard and Mary Ann Hagan.  Within a couple of years the family moved to Te Horo on the Kapiti Coast about 9 kilometers south of Otaki and Bernard would have attended the local school.

I have no information about Bernard’s early years but life must have been hard in the small crowded Te Horo house with Richard’s wages as a county roadman being the sole income.  The isolated house was situated on 3 acres of land a quarter of a mile back from the main Wellington to Palmerston North highway and 3 miles south of Te Horo.  They kept a horse, two cows, a pig and some hens.  Facilities were extremely primitive with a wood fire and colonial oven and no reticulated hot water. There were only three bedrooms, the parents had one and there was a girls’ room and a boys’ room.  The beds were just hammocks made of sacking.

Hagan house at Te Horo

I do not know how long the various children remained living at home with their parents and the older girls, Beatrice Ellen b. 1879, Mary Ann b.1880, and Christina Margaret b. 1881 may well have left home to seek employment soon after Bernard’s birth. However James Edward b.1884, William George (Paddy) b.1886, Alice Jane b.1887, Richard John (Dick) b.1889, and Francis Peter b. 1891 were probably all still living at home at that time and were soon joined by Harold b.1896, d. 1898, Hannah Josephine (Annie) b. 1898, Catherine May (Cassie) b. 1900, and finally my father Leonard Joseph Thomas Pearson (Tom) b. 1903. As if this wasn’t enough, eighteen months after Tom’s birth, Richard and Mary Ann took in their grandson Henry b. 1905, and raised him as their own son.  He was the illegitimate son of their daughter Alice.  Later in life Henry changed his surname to Hadfield which was probably the name of his natural father.

Te Horo school1910.  Tom Hagan is
sitting between the sign and a Maori boy

In 1914, my father Tom’s last year at primary school, his older brother, Bernard, was very keen to volunteer for active service in the First World War but, according to Tom, Bernard was too young to enlist in New Zealand. This seems unlikely since Bernard was 20 years old in 1914.  Tom’s nephew, Alan Wells (Cassie’s son), understood that Bernard’s father, Richard, would not give Bernard permission to enlist. This also seems unlikely since parental consent was not required to enlist and there was an intensive campaign to encourage enlistment at that time.

April 1915 – Te Horo Supply Store.
Farmers in town after a cream delivery. (source)

Besides, as he subsequently indicated on his Canadian Attestation Papers, Bernard had previously done 6 months compulsory service with the 3rd Wellington Regiment. The New Zealand Defence Act 1909 Section 35 brought in a general compulsory training requirement for males 12 to 14 years old (Junior Cadets), 14 to 18 (Senior Cadets), 18 to 21 (General Training Section), and 21 to 30 (the Reserve).  Later when only 30% of men eligible for military service volunteered, conscription was introduced in 1916.

Whatever the reason for his being unable to enlist in New Zealand, Bernard was determined to take part in overseas service and so he signed on as crew on a merchant ship that took him to Canada and on 10 December 1915 at Halifax, he enlisted in the 17th Battalion of Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Forces. He presumably undertook a brief period of training in Canada but was then shipped to England where he arrived on 31 January 1916 and was in camp with the 17th Battalion at East Sandling, Kent.

Officers and Men of the 26th Battalion, CEF prior to embarkation for Europe,
St.John, New Brunswick, 1915 (link)

Two months of further training followed.  The Canadian soldiers had quite a reputation in England.  They were the best paid of all the British Empire soldiers and were gaining increasing respect as a fighting force.  They were also known as a fairly unruly, undisciplined group which yet managed to avoid most serious trouble. Nevertheless Bernard’s record shows that in March he lost 14 days pay for leaving the quarantine hut and being drunk in the nearby village of Hythe.

A Co’ y ‘ 18th Bn. CEF resting in Hatch Park (source)

The Western Front

Across the Channel, following the outbreak of war in October 1914 and the German advance across Belgium, a stalemate situation between the Allied and the German armies had existed on the Western Front in the Ypres area, West Flanders, from January 1915. In order to deny the enemy a route across the rest of Belgium to the French ports of Calais and Dunkirk the Allies, including from April 1915, the 1st Division of Canadian Infantry, sat firm in a defensive semi-circular Front Line running from the northeast, east and southeast of Ypres.

The Ypres Salient during the Second Battle of 
Ypres as at about 30 April 1915 (source)

The occupation of this ground east of Ypres pushed a bulge (wiki link), called a “salient” in military terms, into the German Front Line here. To the advantage of the Allies it forced the Germans to provide extra manpower to hold a longer section of Front Line. However, a serious Allied disadvantage was that the Germans had secured relatively good positions along the edges of this salient. From the south of Ypres there is a naturally occurring spur of slightly higher ground which continues around the eastern side of the town. It runs generally in a northeasterly direction creating a ridge from Messines in the south to Passchendaele in the north.

First Glimpse of Ypres by Lieutenant Cyril Henry Barraud  (link)

The Allied determination to protect Ypres at all costs left them in a difficult position defending a saucer-shaped salient of some 24 square kilometres (Wikilnk - Second_Battle_of_Ypres). The town of Ypres was to the rear of their defensive Front Line in the centre of the saucer. The German Army, however, was dug in to selected good defensive positions on the slightly higher ground around the rim of the saucer which provided the Germans with the crucial advantage of a view across the Allied positions and rear areas. But also the daily life of the German soldier was greatly affected by the better drainage of the positions located on higher ground. The area of Belgian Flanders around Ypres is generally low-lying.  It consists of heavy, waterlogged, clay-based soil, has a damp coastal climate and is prone to flooding.

Ypres in ruins (source)

The 2nd Canadian Division arrived in France in September, 1915 and had met up with the 1st Canadian Division in the Ypres sector by mid-month. Together these divisions formed the Canadian Corps. Although no major offensive occurred over the winter, they were engaged in the ongoing fierce trench fighting which took place around the town of Ypres.

Soldiers wearing gas-masks (source)

Yer despite fearsome losses and the German use of chlorine gas neither side was able to achieve control of the area.   By the Spring of 1916 the Canadian Corps was engaged in the sector of the British Front Line south-east of Ypres around the hotly-contested ground of Hill 60 and Zwarteleen, and to the south the hotspot at St Eloi.

Battle of the St Eloi Craters (link)

The Battle of the St. Eloi Craters was the first major engagement for the 2nd Canadian Division, following its arrival from England. It ended in disaster.  Following tunneling activity under the Front, British forces had previously blown a series of underground mines to destroy the sector’s German defences, but the effort had left massive, mud-filled craters for the attackers to occupy. When the Canadians relieved British troops on the night of 2/3 April, they found few actual trenches in which to take cover, and most of those were waist-deep in water.

One of the large craters on the St. Eloi battlefield (source)

The battle was fought in appalling conditions over sodden ground that had previously been and continued to be heavily bombarded.  The entire front was under observation and incessant fire from the Germans.   Enemy artillery had obliterated most of the trenches; other trenches lacked parapets, were muddy and some were full of water. Each man had to dig in order to provide as much protection for himself as possible.  Parapets also had to be repaired and the dead removed from the trenches.   Small L trenches were dug into the banks of the main trench and these helped reduce casualties.

Bernard Hagan to Flanders

In Kent, England on 1 April 1916, Bernard Hagan was transferred to the 27th Battalion, Canadian Infantry. With other reinforcements, he was then shipped across the Channel and joined his new battalion in the field on 7 April. They arrived in the midst of the 27th Battalion’s ‘baptism of fire’ at the Battle of St. Eloi, 5 kilometres south of Ypres.

The 27th Battalion had relieved the 17th Canadian Infantry Battalion in the trenches in front of St Eloi on 3 April and remained there until 7 April when they were relieved by the 21st Canadian Infantry Battalion and returned to billets at B camp at Renighelst/La Clyte.  The Battalion had lost 40 men killed and 189 wounded. Surviving officers and men were exhausted having been without sleep for 4 days.

A view of the devastation at the crater on the
bluff looking towards St. Eloi. (link)

A series of German counterattacks on 6 April had driven the Canadians out of the muddy craters and produced confusion throughout the division and at higher headquarters.  Through two weeks of hard fighting, Canadian commanders were often unclear as to the location of their troops. Most soldiers dug in under heavy fire and isolated from one another in the shell-pocked terrain, could supply their commanders with little accurate information on the progress of the battle.

Battle of St Eloi Craters (source)

After aerial photography helped reveal the true German and Canadian positions, the battle ground to a halt on 16 April, with enemy forces holding most of the key points.  In total the Canadians suffered 1,373 casualties during the confused fighting at St. Eloi without any advantage being gained.

St Eloi Craters (source)

The 27th Canadian Battalion remained in the Ypres Salient for the rest of April and throughout May west of St Eloi and in the area of Renighelst and Dickebusch.  Periods of three to four days under fire in the front line trenches, alternated with from four to eight days in billets behind the line while another Canadian battalion took their place at the front. Behind the lines they provided night work parties repairing and strengthening trenches or billets, inspected and cleaned equipment and made up shortages or undertook training.

Reserve Trenches (source)

Periods of relative quiet alternated with heavy artillery activity.  Training consisted of gas helmet drill, instruction in preventive measures against gas, bayonet exercises, instruction in grenade bombing as well as physical exercises.  On occasion there were church parades and recreation including baseball or football matches and even listening to band music.

The Battle of Mount Sorrel (wiki link)

On 2 June, the 27th Battalion in the St Eloi area could hear the sound of heavy artillery from the direction of Ypres. The battle of Mount Sorrel, directly east of Ypres had begun. Trenches on the high ground occupied by units of the Third Canadian Division, were being subjected to a tornado of enemy shellfire. It destroyed not only a line of trenches but a whole area, and almost every living thing within the area. Therefore, when the first German attacking wave came over in the early afternoon of June 2, they met with little opposition. A few knots of dazed survivors surrendered, or died fighting, and the Germans swept on to their final objective.

Battle of Mount Sorrel - destroyed dugout and shelters
Prior to the war, most of the terrain here was
heavily wooded.(source)

However, the Germans did not press their advantage to the full and the arrival of reserves made it possible for the Canadians to hold up a further advance. But a counterattack undertaken the following day failed and on June 6 the Canadians lost the village of Hooge to the north where the enemy blew up 4 mines and then attacked. It began to look as if the Canadians had once more been defeated. Two senior commanding officers had been lost and whole battalions had been virtually wiped out of existence.

On 6 June the 27th Battalion including Bernard Hagan was ordered to fall in and move at once to provide support to the 31st Battalion in the area of Zillebeke. Because of heavy shelling  they proceeded, frequently diving for cover on the road and moving by platoons at 100 yd intervals until met by guides. Intense bombardment by both sides continued. On 8 June the 27th Battalion relieved the 31st Battlion in the front line.  They remained there, supported by intensive bombardment by Canadian artillery of the higher enemy positions on Mt Sorrell and Observatory Ridge, until relieved by the 31st Battalion on the night of 11 June. Two hundred and eighteen guns had been assembled on the Canadian front and on June 12 these guns inflicted devastating damage on the Germans trenches, comparable to that suffered by the Canadians a few days before.

Battle of Mount Sorrel - German trenches
demolished by artillery (source)

Finally an attack by the First Canadian Division, re-established the lost positions.  Because of the heavy shelling, communication was difficult and carrier pigeons were used with considerable success. Subsequently the 27th Canadian Battalion provided support close to Ypres and were again in the line during heavy shelling from 13 to 15 June when they were relieved by the 1st Battalion of the Coldstream Guards.

Sanctuary Wood, in the Ypres sector,
showing Mount Sorrel in the distance (source).

By this time the Canadian Corps had reclaimed all the high ground they had lost on 2 June but at huge cost.  In only two weeks between 2 June and 14 June 1916, the Canadian Corps lost a total of 130 officers and 3033 other ranks killed or missing and  257 officers and 5010 other ranks wounded; a total of 8430 casualties.

For the remainder of June, July and the first part of August the 27th Battalion was again stationed around St Eloi where the war of attrition continued and there was active shelling by both sides. They faced a lot of enemy activity and some gas alerts in the trenches of the St Eloi sector, trenches on the south side of the Ypres-Commines canal and the Hollandscheuer sector.  Raids on enemy trenches had limited success.

YMCA canteen (source)

When relieved from the front line they were mainly in B camp (Chippewa) engaged in training, inspections of equipment, practice using gas helmets, bayonets. Some men, including Bernard, attended Divisional Grenade School training. It seems Bernard may also have been assigned to a tunneling company for a time in early August (the record is difficult to read). In addition to training there was even a concert at the YMCA, Reninghelst on the evening of the 17 August.

Movement Westwards  

The 27th Battalion was now required elsewhere.  Southwest of Ypres the Battle of the Somme was being fought in an attempt by the Allied commanders to relieve pressure on the French defenders of Verdun to the south, by inflicting heavy losses on German forces farther north and drawing German reserves into the battle. The Somme Offensive had begun at the beginning of July with the objective of achieving a breakthrough in the German defences and enabling a return to mobile warfare.  However on July 1, 1916, the opening day of the offensive alone, 20,000 British Empire soldiers died and 40,000 were wounded; it was the single heaviest day of casualties in history. The German defenders along the Somme had constructed deep dugouts that were difficult to find, much less to destroy with artillery fire. Heavy losses continued in the following weeks and reinforcements were desperately needed.

Front-line 1915-16.  Ypres (north) and the Somme (south)

The 27th Canadian Battalion began its move towards the Somme battlefields with a night march westwards to Steenvoorde on 20 August, and to Volkerinckhove on the 21st where they were billeted for 6 nights, undertook training including sports and target practice and were issued with Lee Enfield rifles to replace their faulty Ross rifles.  On 28 August they marched from Volkerinckhove to Nortleulinghem where they were again in billets and undertook more training and shooting practice and even bathed in a river between Nordausques and Tournehem.

Sniper school (source)

Finally, on 4 September they marched eight miles, were loaded on to a train at St Omer in the early afternoon and arrived 12 hours later at Candas before marching 4 miles to billets at FMS du Rosel. The following night they marched 4 hours to Vadencourt and went into camp in temporary huts in the woods with more training and exercises.  On 7 September they marched on to Brickfields, near the brick works at Albert where they bivouacked on open ground.

The next few days were spent training, conducting reconnaissance of new ground and practicing attack until finally at 2.00 pm on 14 September they left Brickfields for the front line to take over from the 29th Battalion and to take up positions for the attack of the next day at 6.20 am.

British trench near the Albert–Bapaume road at Ovillers-la-Boisselle,
July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. Imperial War Museum

When the Canadian Corps arrived in the Somme Valley the British had been fighting there for almost 3 months and they had traded 250 000 men for eight kilometres of German trenches.  I wonder how much information the average infantrymen had about what awaited them as they marched toward Albert.  As they got closer they could undoubtedly hear the noise of artillery.  We talk about courage and valour.  I believe Bernard Hagan, like every other infantryman, must have felt terrified and alone.  Following their experience in the Ypres Salient they can have been under no illusions about what battle entailed


The Somme (wiki link) and the Battle of Courcelette (wiki link)

In the evening before September 15th the 27th Battalion was preparing to participate in one of the most notable battles of the Somme offensive: the Battle of Courcelette.  This battle was significant for the first employment of tanks in warfare. It also marked the debut not only of the Canadian Divisions but also of the New Zealand Divisions on the Somme battlefield.

Mark V 8 inch howitzers in action on the Somme, 1916. 

They would also benefit from two tactical innovations: a creeping artillery barrage, and the use of tanks.  Instead of trying to annihilate the enemy, the new creeping barrage resulted in thousands of shells slowly raking through the enemy lines, advancing 100 yards, or 91 metres, per lift. This barrage was not meant to destroy the enemy trench systems, although this sometimes happened, but to drive defenders into their protective dugouts. The infantry would closely follow the barrage, called ‘leaning on the barrage,’ in order to cross No Man’s Land before enemy troops could emerge from cover to fire at them.

Infantry moves off with armour for the first time in history
Battle of Flers-Courcelette (Photo: IWM Q5575)

To assist with cutting barbed wire and silencing enemy machine-guns, seven tanks, or armoured land cruisers, accompanied the Canadians in their first major battle at Courcelette. Mechanically unreliable and as slow as a walking person, tanks nonetheless struck fear into the enemy, many of whom surrendered when the tanks first appeared.

Mark I Tank prepares to advance on
15 September 1916. (Imperial War Museum photo)

With the new artillery barrage, tanks, and a carefully prepared infantry attack, the Canadians captured the ruined village of Courcelette on 15 September but at the cost of thousands of casualties.  Bernard Hagan, missing “killed in action,” was among those casualties. He has no known grave. He was 22 years old.

Canadian Soldiers prepare to go over the top (source)

The British, Canadian and New Zealand forces did make significant gains on that first day and in the week that followed. Further tactical gains were made in the capture of the villages of Courcelette, Martinpuich and Flers. In some places, the front lines were advanced by over 2,500 yards (2,300 m) by the Allied attacks.

No Man's Land, Courcelette, September 15, 1916 (source)

However the strategic objective of a breakthrough was not achieved and the Somme front reverted to an attrition struggle, which, with the onset of wet weather, created dreadful conditions in which the infantry had to live and fight.  It was a grinding affair where soldiers attacked and counter attacked repeatedly over the same ground, and always under heavy enemy fire.

Stretcher-bearers Courcelette, 15-Sep-1916 (source)

The fighting raged on until mid November until finally the offensive came to a halt in the mud all along the Somme front.  By the end it had resulted in over a million casualties to Allied and German troops.

Stretcher-bearers Courcelette 15-Sep-1916 (source)

In October 1916 Bernard’s mother received a brief form letter dated 30 September, advising of his death.  As was standard at the time, no other comfort or support was offered to the family, but this clearly was a time of great sadness in the Te Horo home.

Vimy Memorial (source)

Although Bernard has no known grave, his name is listed with the missing on the Canadian War Memorial at Vimy, Pas de Calais.

Ironically Merv and I visited Vimy Ridge while on a camping holiday in northern France and Belgium in the early 1960’s but at that time I knew nothing about Bernard Hagan being with the Canadians so we did not even look for his name on the memorial.

Bernard's name on Vimy Memorial

Unfortunately I have no photo of Bernard.