Table Of ContentA Rattle of Pebbles:
The First World War Diaries of Two
Canadian Airmen
Brereton Greenhous
Un crépitement de galets:
Les journaux de deux aviateurs canadiens
de la première guerre mondiale
Cover
The cover illustration reproduces a pen and ink sketch, “Personality Counts In
The Air”, by Frederick Horsman Varley (1881-1969), a founding member of
Canada’s Group of Seven. This sketch was one of a series drawn in 1917 for re-
cruiting posters and advertisements issued by RFC Canada — The Royal Flying
Corps training organization set up in Canada to provide pilots for the war in
Europe.
(Courtesy Canadian War Museum)
Couverture
L’illustration reproduite en couverture est une esquisse plume et encre intitulée
“Personality Counts In The Air”, de Frederick Horsman Varley (1881-1969), un
des membres fondateurs du Groupe des Sept du Canada. Elle fait partie d’une
série de dessins préparés en 1917 pour la conception d’affiches et d’annonces
visant le recrutement pour la RFC Canada, organisme du Royal Flying Corps
créé, au Canada, pour l’entraînement de pilots devant servir en Europe.
(Courtoisie de Musée de Guerre canadien)
DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENCE
MINISTÈRE DE LA DÉFENSE NATIONALE
DIRECTORATE OF HISTORY
SERVICE HISTORIQUE
Monograph No. 4
Monographie No. 4
Monograph/Monographie No. 1:
F.J. Hatch, Aerodrome of Democracy: Canada and the British Commonwealth
Air Training Plan 1939-1945
Le Canada, aérodrome de la démocratie: Le plan d’entraînement
aérien du Commonwealth britannique 1939-1945
Monograph/Monographie No. 2:
O.A. Cooke, The Canadian Military Experience 1867-1983: A Bibliography
Bibliographie de la vie militaire au Canada 1867-1983
Monograph/Monographie No. 3:
Jean-Pierre Gagnon, Le 22e bataillon (canadien-français), 1914-1919. Etude
socio-militaire [En colloboration avec les Presses de l’Université
Laval]
[English publication to follow]
©Minister of Supply and Services Canada 1987
Available in Canada through
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recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Publishing Ser-
vices, Canadian Government Publishing Centre, Ottawa, Canada K1A 0S9.
A Rattle of Pebbles:
The First World War Diaries of
Two Canadian Airmen
Edited and Introduced
Edités et Présentés
by/par
BRERETON GREENHOUS
Maps by
Les cartes par
William R. Constable
Un crépitement de galets:
Les journaux de deux
aviateurs canadiens de la
première guerre mondiale
[La traduction française se limite à la présentation.]
Though the great song return no more
There’s keen delight in what we have –
A rattle of pebbles on the shore
Under the receding wave.
William Butler Yeats, 1919
Bien que le grand chant ne revienne plus
Il y a un plaisir aigu dans ce que nous avons -
Un crépitement de galets sur la grève
Sous la vague qui se retire.
Acknowledgements
I wish to express my thanks to Mrs. N. Jennifer Fraser of Calgary
and the late Mrs. Rita McElroy of Ottawa for permission to publish
the diaries of their father and brother respectively.
I am indebted to Captain M.V. Bezeau, RCA (retd) for early work
on the editing of the diaries, done when he was on the staff of the
Directorate of History. Dr. Norman Hillmer polished the introduc-
tion. Dr. Jean Pariseau, Dr. Serge Bernier and Ms. Liliane Grantham
assisted with the French translation. Julie Sommerville helped with
the maps.
The manuscript was processed by Loretta Wickens and Guylaine
Plamondon.
Remerciements
Je tiens à remercier Mme Jennifer Fraser, de Calgary, pour son
aimable permission de publier le journal de son père, et feue Mme
Rita McElroy, d’Ottawa, qui a bien voulu me permettre de publier le
journal de son frère.
Au capitaine M.V. Bezeau, ARC (en retraite), je suis redevable
pour son travail de préparation des journaux, accompli alors qu’il
faisait partie du Service historique. Le docteur Norman Hillmer a
revu et corrigé l’introduction. Le docteur Jean Pariseau, le docteur
Serge Bernier et madame Liliane Grantham ont aidé à la traduction
française. Julie Sommerville a contribué à la préparation des cartes.
Loretta Wickens et Guylaine Plamondon se sont chargées du trai-
tement du manuscrit.
Table of Contents
Table des matières
Foreword................................................................................ viii
Avant-Propos..................................................................... ix
Introduction............................................................................ x
Introduction........................................................................ xxviii
The Brophy Diary/Le Journal de Brophy.............................. 1
The Price Diary/Le journal de Price...................................... 151
Maps/Les cartes:....................................................................
Brophy: Training in England, 1915-1916............................ 15
L'entraînment en Angleterre, 1915-1916....... 26
The Western Front, 1916....................................... 70
Le front de l'Ouest, 1916................................ 78
The Somme, 1916.................................................. 114
La bataille de la Somme, 1916....................... 121
Price: The Near East, 1917-1918..................................... 213
Le Proche-Orient, 1917-1918........................ 220
Mesopotamia, 1917-1918 ...................................... 234
La Mésopotamie, 1917-1918......................... 249
Tikrit to Sharqat, October 1918............................. 322
De Tikrit à Sharqat, Octobre 1918................. 333
vii
Foreword
Canadian airmen served in the British flying services during the
Great War of 1914-1918 in surprisingly large numbers, and in virtu-
ally every theatre of war. The official history of the Royal Canadian
Air Force describes their contribution in some detail. In the course
of preparing Volume I of that history, Canadian Airmen and the
First World War, S.F. Wise and the historians working with him
discovered a wealth of information about these pioneers of Cana-
dian aviation, both by meeting them and by uncovering many dia-
ries, letters, logbooks and photographs. Such sources tell us enough
about the period, and about the people who participated in the great
events of the time, to deserve wider dissemination, and I am pleased
that the opportunity has now arisen to publish two diaries of unusual
interest.
Don Brophy and Harold Price not only served in different thea-
tres of war, where warfare took rather different forms, but the two
men had very different backgrounds and personalities. They reflect
something of the diversity in the remarkable generation that went to
war in 1914, and their testament complements usefully other his-
torical accounts of the first war in the air.
This is the fourth in the series of monographs issued by the Direc-
torate of History.
W.A.B. Douglas
Director
Directorate of History
November 1986
viii
Description:the last 300 kms across the desert to Mosul, on the upper Tigris. The British, on the During the. Second World War he organized and supervised the medical inspec- tion depot at the RCAF recruiting centre in Calgary. Dr. Price died haven't had a fight or a riot, in spite of the meals, and I'll be
