COL. DONALD J. VANCE Col. Donald J. Vance, C.D., served for 25 years in Canada’s Reserve Forces (Militia). He first enrolled in the 63rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment in Arvida, Quebec where he qualified as a Second Lieutenant, serving subsequently with the 6th Field Regiment in Quebec City, then the 40th Field Regiment in Kenora where he completed the Militia Staff Course and was promoted to Major. Upon moving to Toronto he joined the Toronto Scottish Regiment in which he became Commanding Officer. Then he moved to North Bay where he was promoted to Colonel and appointed Officer Commanding Northern Ontario Militia District. When he retired from his employment with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources he took up his hobby of military history, in particular the study of The Great War. He has taken numerous trips to the battlefields in France and Belgium and also to Turkey to visit historic sites of the Dardanelles campaign. Colonel Vance also visited battle sites in South Africa “because you can’t understand the Great War if you don’t know about the Boer War.” He continues to take an active interest in the Toronto Scottish and in the Irish Regiment in Sudbury, as well as the Militia in general. THE DEAD OF THE 75TH BATTALION Publisher: Wallbridge House Publishing Author: Col. Donald J. Vance Price: $20 CAN/$16 US ISBN: 0-9688255-3-2 Year: 2004 Cover: Soft Pages: 112 Category: Military history Col. Donald J. Vance has compiled complete lists of all the war dead of the 75th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, of the First World War. He was once commanding officer of the Toronto Scottish Regiment, which had grown out of the 75th Battalion. The Battalion arrived in England April 10, 1916 as part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. It was transferred to France August 12 and arrived at Ypres the next day. Each company spent a few days in the line with the 22nd Battalion, then took over from them. The first fatal battle casualties, Cpl Stanley Brooks and LCpl Edward Hughes, were on August 21 and the first officer fatality, Lt Deane S. Bartle, on August 24. On October 3 the Battalion entrained for the Somme. LtCol Samuel Gustavus Beckett, Commanding Officer of the 9th Mississauga Horse, was authorized to form the infantry battalion in 1915. He did not survive the war, as he was killed along with 92 other officers and men during a disastrous trench raid on the German lines on February 28/March 1 1917. During the war hundreds of the Battalion’s men died, as many as 130 in a single week (Vimy Ridge). Charts display in graphic detail the carnage of the worst weeks of battle, and the long lulls of inactivity between. The lists of dead are compiled year by year: alphabetically, chronologically and by service number. Comprehensive notes add colour and detail about the lives, and deaths, of some of the officers and men of the 75th Battalion. A fold-out map depicts the area where the 75th Battalion operated.   Grave marker of LtCol Samuel Gustavus Beckett HOME | SITE MAP | ORDERING INFO | AUTHOR SIGNUP | ADVERTISE | CONTACT US