It (the tour) was terrific. I was a bit apprehensive about how much extra value there would be over group tours… Absolutely worth it. Jon did an outstanding job of research etc., made the trip very personal.

My reason for this part of our trip was to honour the memory and lives of my grandfather Ronald Law, and his brother 2Lt Ralph Law MC. Both were part of the 19th Canadian battalion initially, and Ralph later was sent to officer school and became a tank commander in the British Army.

I hired Canadian Battlefield tours and through them a guide Jon Haslock, a British fellow who is very knowledgeable, and he did a lot of research on the specifics of the journeys of the two brothers. He was able to find quite detailed info and his guiding was 1st class.

One of the battles of the Somme was at Flers – Courcelette September 15-22, 1916. Tanks were used for the very first time ever at Courcelette. The 19th Canadian battalion was sent in to relieve another Canadian battalion that had advanced. Ronald was wounded badly by shrapnel on the 16th and had to be evacuated. After several months of recuperation he returned to Canada with a permanently fused knee. The medical records are quite grim reading (we called him the “shot” grandpa).

Jon took us to a very specific spot (a winding track past a farmers barns and cows etc.). He told me that Ronnie had almost certainly been wounded within 100 feet of where we were standing, and would have been in the trenches (a defensive position). To my surprise, that was a huge relief to me, as I realized I had been forcing myself to not think of him wounded, lying in mud or a crater in “no man’s land” for hours or days. In a few minutes of looking, Jon found 4 shrapnel balls and said “these are the shrapnel pieces that did not kill your grandpa”.

Ronald later attained a PHD in veterinary medicine, but suffered from his leg wound for the rest of his life. Later in life he developed bad lungs from being poison-gassed at Ypres earlier in the war.

So the story switches to Ralph: he went to officer school and joined the Tanks. Maybe seeing Ronald wounded, and then seeing the tanks were part of the reason he went to the tank corp.

I was given Ralph’s medals by Tom Wardlaw, and he told me that no one knew the story of Ralph’s experiences that led to award of a Military cross. I eventually found the citation for his medal, and then found a tank museum in Cambrai. I contacted Philippe Gorczynski at the tank museum by email – he replied immediately and said “of course we know about Ralph- we have a photo of his tank B21 nicknamed ‘Bedouin’ and a copy of his battle diary”.

The first large scale tank battle was Cambrai Nov 20-dec 6, 1917. Ralph was commander of Bedouin, and captured the Marcoing bridge and then helped the battle in Fontaine-Norte dame.

Jon was able to show me the route they took, the narrow streets of Fontaine, and a German gun machine gun emplacement that may have been the one that hit Bedouin and caused the radiator to leak, and the tank to stop, not quite making it back to the British line. Thre of the crew were killed. Part of Ralph’s citation includes, “although in a state of collapse he insisted in going back to his tank after darkness to bring back his wounded driver. He then found his tank in no man’s land and that his driver had died”. Jon took me to see the memorial inscription for Thomas Boucher, the driver.

Jon also introduced me to Philippe Gorczynski, who remembered our previous correspondence. We went to his Cambrai tank museum where Philippe generously gave me a signed copy of his out-of-print book “Following the tanks: Cambrai.”

Ralph had a long distinguished career as a teacher “Pop Law” at Upper Canada College in Toronto. My father told me that Ralph never got a drivers license, and despite being in Toronto in the early days when it was cold and snowy, he never had a winter coat. If it was really cold, he would wear two raincoats.

I remember meeting the two brothers at various times in Toronto when I was about six years old. It has been in the back of my mind for many years, and this has been an amazing experience. I have learned so much more about them and gained even more respect and appreciation for their sacrifices.

There were red poppies in bloom in many of the roadsides.

Thank you, Gary, for organizing and making this happen.