Chapter XXXIII: THE 11th BRIGADE, C.F.A., AND COMPOSITE ARTILLERY COMPANY

The 11th Brigade was the junior Artillery Brigade of the 6th Military District. It comprised in addition to the Headquarters Staff, the 27th (Digby) Battery, the 28th (Pictou) Battery and the 29th (Yarmouth) Battery. Although the Brigade was not ordered out on active service, it contributed possibly more than its original strength in personnel to the prosecution of the Great War. Almost the first day of the War the Commanding Officer (Lieut.-Col. T. M. Seeley, of Yarmouth, N.S.) wired the offer of services to headquarters and the Battery officers busied themselves with looking to the details of organization.

Capt. F. W. Pickles, O.C. 29th Battery (Yarmouth), joined the 17th Battery of Sydney, one of the first Units on the march, with a detachment of eighteen non-commissioned officers and men from his Battery. Subsequently every artillery Unit and many of the Infantry Battalions had on their strength representatives of the 11th Brigade. This was made possible largely by the untiring efforts of a few senior officers, who for some good reason or other, were unable to proceed Overseas. Prominent among these were Majors H. S. Hamilton, of Pictou; D. C. McKay, of Digby, and A. K. Van Horne, of Yarmouth.

The services of the officers of the 11th Brigade, summarily put, were: Lieut.-Col. T. M. Seeley, O.C., was successful in organizing the 23rd Battery, C.E.F.; a Company for guard duty at Barrington Passage, Radio Station, and a Company in the 112th Battalion, C.E.F., under Colonel Tremaine, with which the latter crossed the Atlantic. Capt. A. A. Durkee, Adjutant of the Brigade, organized at Valcartier the first Ammunition Unit in the C.E.F., and proceeded Overseas with the First Contingent. He was early at the Front, and was promoted to Major and Lieut.-Colonel, and commanded, in turn, a Brigade Ammunition Column, a Battery, and a Brigade of Artillery. He was mentioned in dispatches and was awarded the D.S.O. Lieut.-Col. Durkee is also a South African War veteran. Capt. V. F. Connor, C.A.M.C., was on duty through the greater part of the War, and rendered valuable service at the time of the great explosion in Halifax, December, 1917.

The 27th Battery contributed to the C.E.F. Capt. Glidden Campbell, of Weymouth, who went over with the 85th Battalion, and who was awarded the M.C.; Lieuts. C. D. Shreve, M.C., killed in action in the artillery; K. V. Schurman and H. A. Marshall.

The 28th Battery had to its credit in the C.E.F., Major J. K. McKay, of Pictou, who went over in command of the 23rd Battery, C.E.F. He commanded a Battery and a Brigade of Artillery at the Front, being latterly promoted to the rank of Lieut.-Colonel. He was severely wounded and received the D.S.O. From the 28th, Lieuts. C. E. Churchill, H. P. MacKeen, J. E. Read, J. D. Hickman, H. P. MacKenzie, and possibly others, entered the C.E.F. Capt. V. C. Johnson, Corps Reserve, was Overseas.

The 29th Battery furnished (in addition to Adjutant Durkee, already mentioned) Capt. F. W. Pickles, who commanded a section of a Divisional Ammunition Column at the Front; Lieut. Ralph P. Harding, who rose to the command of a Battery, with the rank of Major, and returned with the M.C. and the D.S.O.; Lieuts. W. Arthur Porter, G. St. C. A. Perrin, E. J. Vickery, G. O. Rogers, E. J. Stekelin, who became Major; H. E. Crowell, who became Major; S. C. Hood, Jr., who became Captain, and M. B. Davis. The 29th Battery claims the honor of having had in its membership at one time Brig.-General W. O. H. Dodds, C.M.G., D.S.O., now of Montreal.

Composite Artillery Company

In April, 1915, detachments from the 27th Battery (Digby) and the 29th Battery (Yarmouth) and No. 1 Siege Company (Mahone), were assembled at Yarmouth, under Lieut.-Col. T. M. Seeley, for preliminary training, and in May following proceeded to Barrington Passage for guard duty at the Radio Station. Among their duties was the construction of a road three miles long through a very difficult country. Practically the whole strength of this Company transferred to Overseas Units. Officers, in addition to the O.C: Capt. W. T. Ernst, and Lieut. C. Melvin.