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HomeMy WebLinkAboutGoderich Signal Star, 2017-04-05, Page 7Wednesday, April g, 2017 • Signal Star 7 co -u • www.goderichsignak • Lieutenant Lionel Hyman Eliot and Vimy Ridge The entire Dominion knew that Canada's capture of Vimy Ridge on Easter Monday, April 9, 1917 was a momentous event. The Canadians had done what the French and Brit- ish had failed to do in seizing the impregnable German stronghold on the western front. Victory concerts and special church services were held throughout the county to celebrate the triumph of Canadian arms. Yet, the `Huron Signal' noted that the "great victory of the Canadians at Vimy Ridge was not won without the sacrifice of many lives and Goderich has paid a part of the cost." One of those Goderich lives sac- rificed in the assault on the Ridge was Lieutenant Lionel Eliot. Lionel Hyman Eliot was born in London, Ontario on September 16, 1887. He was oldest of three children born to. William and Annie Eliot. The family moved to Goderich when their father, a Bank of Montreal accountant in London, became the Goderich branch manager in March 1896. In 1900, at age 13, Leo Eliot attended Goderich Collegiate Institute where he was active in the drama club, literary soci- ety and several sports teams. According to Elea- nor Smith in 'The Win- dows of St. George's Anglican Church,' Eliot was confirmed in the church in 1903. After graduation from the collegiate in 1905, Eliot entered the Bank of Montreal service: When war broke out, he was an accountant for the bank in Hamilton. In June 1915, he enlisted as a pri- vate in the 58th infantry battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force but Huron History David Yates his Leadership abilities marked him out for officer training. Eliot was commissioned a lieuten- ant and went overseas in 1916. Lieutenant Eliot was sent as a replacement officer in October to the 75th (Mississauga) battal- ion then fighting in the Somme battles. The 'Sig- nal' later reported that Eliot `served with distinc- tion' in the capture of Regina trench in Novem- ber 1916. In December, the 75th battalion dug into posi- tions at the base of Vimy Ridge to begin prepara- tions for a major assault on the German strong point. On March 1, 1917, Eliot's battalion took part in a disastrous trench raid where the unit suffered over 100 casualties, including the command- ing officer who was killed. Eliot was one of only four officers in the battalion who survived the raid unwounded. Yet, despite the heavy losses sustained in the ill- fated raid, the 75th battal- ion was ready for the great assault on Vimy on Easter Monday morning. At midnight, the battal- ion's war diary records that everything was in position and ready to go. Lieutenant Eliot's com- pany spent the night waiting for Zero hour in Tottenham Tunnel. Their objective was Hill 145 (where the Vimy Memo- rial is now located). Can- ada's official Great War historian, C.W.L. Nichol- son called it "the highest and most important fea- ture on Vimy." H.M. George V standing at Lieut. Lionel Eliot's grave, July 1917 When the assault com- menced, Eliot's company was in the first wave of attack at 5:30 in the morning. `Murderous fire' soon took a dreadful toll on the attacking infantry. By 6:00 am, the first wounded streamed into the Tottenham dress- ing station. Hill 145 proved difficult to take. It was not until mid-day on April 10th that the hill was completely in Cana- dian hands. The victory came at a terrible price for the 75th battalion. The bat- talion's war diary reported that only one officer came "through this operation, unwounded, after hav- ing gained his objective." Nineteen of the twenty officers in Eliot's battal- ion who went over the top were killed, wounded or missing. The battalion's other ranks lost 97 killed, 159 wounded and 59 miss- ing. Amongst the dead was Lieutenant Lionel Eliot of Goderich. On April 19, the `Signal' reported the news of Eli- ot's death "in the assault on Vimy Ridge in which the Canadians covered themselves with glory." The paper offered the bereaved parents and two sisters the condolences of the entire town on "the loss of a brave spirit given up on the field of honour." In August 1917, Eliot's parents in Goderich received a package and letter from a wounded Motor Machine Gun officer who came across their son's lifeless body on the battlefield. This officer wrote that he found Eliot's body "sev- eral yards in advance of his men and was killed in the attitude of leading" them forward with "a cig- arette in'his lips, and the semblance of a smile on his face." The officer noticed two rings on his fingers that he thought might be of "precious value to some of those who loved him" which he sent in the package to his parents in Goderich. The wounded soldier comforted the family by writing that "any man who had the fortune to die on Vimy Ridge did so upholding the oldest and greatest traditions of the British Empire, and nothing Contributed Photos .vt L ��2•�'a Nat Ws:SE iso: The Lieut. Eliot window, St. George's Church )kY 14.,(1,01?)" or I: lotit 1::1 1,'_►1:.` StF'i .16. lo6i. t:4Ni-,t1? 'DON l )u Lieut. Eliot window in St. George's Church finer can be expected or desired of human men. Such men as your son are the men who have carved the name of Can- ada in the halls of fame in every civilized country of the world." The Eliot family told the `Signal'. that they were "very grateful to the officer" for his kindness in relating the account of their son's death. Unintentionally, Lieu- tenant Eliot in death became a symbol of Canadian sacrifice. When King George V visited Vimy Ridge on July 11, 1917 to pay tribute to the Canadian victory, His Majesty paused at Lieu- tenant Eliot's gravesite. A photographer immortalized the moment when King George bowed his head in reverance at Lieuten- ant Eliot's grave. The famous photograph was published in newspapers throughout the Empire. Church historian, Elea- nor Smith, records that Bishop David Williams dedicated the beautiful stained glass window at St. George's church in Lieutenant Eliot's mem- ory in 1918. A century later, the great and terri- ble sacrifices made at Vimy Ridge are still Cana- da's defining moment and justly deserve a hal- lowed place in our his- tory. Lieutenant Eliot is a local symbol of a nation's courage.