Canada’s fighting men received many accolades for their performance in the First World War and the sources of that reputation may seem obvious – Vimy, Hill 70, Passchendaele and the Hundred Days campaign stand out – but for the German troops opposite them, the Canadians were most known for their skill at trench raiding. A letter found on a prisoner confirms that often-cited story of how German commanders were always on alert for Canadians moving into their sector.

“I hope that the Canadians are not in the trenches opposite you, for they on the darkest night jump suddenly into our trenches, causing great consternation and before cries for help can be answered disappear again into the darkness.”[1]

Although Canadians were not the innovators of trench raids, they quickly became adept at it, increasing the number of raids and adopting new methods of carrying them out, often using primitive weapons at close quarters as well as pistols and bombs. By 1917, raiding had become a Corps-wide competition with various units vying for the greatest number of successful raids and the intelligence they provided – as well as the destruction it contributed to Field Marshall Douglas Haig’s war of attrition strategy.[2]

By the summer of 1917, it became the 116^th Battalion’s turn – and one young Torontonian in particular – to stage a raid on its section of front just outside the town of Avion, 5 kilometres north of Vimy. The sense of competition and pride these events occasioned can be heard in the words of LCol Samuel Sharpe, the battalion’s Officer Commanding. “When the news was communicated to the 116th Battalion that it has been selected to make a raid on the enemy’s Front Line system north of Avion, a thrill of satisfaction ran through all ranks. Now was the opportunity!”[3] In his narrative, Sharpe described the less glamorous work his new battalion had to perform since arriving in France in February, and said his men were anxious to have a “go” at the enemy.

Among those men was Sharpe’s young cousin from Toronto, Lieut. Charles Simpon Lennox, just 19 years old. He was the son of Charles David Lennox, an architect and partner with older brother Edward James Lennox, the designer of Toronto’s Old City Hall and Casa Loma, among other well-known commissions. Lennox’s’ middle name, which he shared with his commander, came from his mother, Sarah Simpson, the daughter of Sharpe’s uncle-in-law, James Simpson.

The family relationship explains why a Toronto boy went to Uxbridge to join the 116^th, a Central Ontario unit that Sharpe recruited. Lennox signed on with the battalion on 25 November 1915, only 17, and was certified by Sharpe himself. The advantages of joining his cousin’s battalion quickly made themselves known to Lennox, a former student of Toronto’s Malvern Collegiate Institute. He rose from private to full corporal in a matter of months and by mid-summer 1916, he was promoted to Acting Company Sergeant Major when the battalion was in training at Bramshott Camp and then Temporary Lieutenant by October. By the time the 116^th embarked for France on 11 February 1917, he was leading “B” Company, just 18 years old, a few months before his birthday in April.[4]

Despite his age and rapid advancement, Simpson was typical of junior officers in being given command of a platoon for a raid, and between his disembarking at Boulogne and moving into the line in July 1917, he had undergone 10-days of intensive training for the role. It was a feature of Canadian trench raids that men would practice for weeks on replica enemy trench systems marked by tape until they knew the way to their objective. Common practice also meant Lennox was likely among the group of officers and NCOs who went to the front line on 13 July to update themselves on enemy positions.[5]

On the night of 22 July, Lennox and his men were ready at the jumping off lines, on the battalion’s left flank, tasked with taking the left end of the raid’s second objective, the enemy trench along a railway embankment. As described in Sharpe’s narrative, the 116^th encountered a surprise from the start as the Germans opposite set off alarm bells announcing the release of gas that forced the raiders to don helmets and gas masks – a potentially fatal disadvantage that might have trapped them in no mans land with artillery support timed to begin before they had moved up, along with the inevitable counter barrage. The unit commanders realized the fumes were merely tear gas and so instructed the able to remove the cumbersome gear long enough to move into position. (See Sharpe’s official action report on page 16.)

Lennox took his platoon ahead against strong resistance and achieved the objective during which dugouts were bombed, prisoners taken and many enemy killed. As part of the planned withdrawal, Lennox established outposts on the embankment to warn of the expected counterattack, which soon came. His actions were described in Sharpe’s narrative:

Lieut. C. Simpson Lennox, of “B” Company was in command of 5 Platoon on the left. He had a very difficult flank to handle but did his work most thoroughly…. Lieut. Lennox was seen over the Embankment by Scout Kent, and had completed his work and had started to return on the withdrawal signal. Sgt. Drew, his platoon Sergeant, was a schoolteacher near Cannington, and a most Capable N.C.O.[6]

Although the element of surprise sometimes meant raiders could inflict damage and fall back before the enemy could respond in force, by this time the Germans had developed better defence tactics and they quickly swarmed over the embankment as the Canadians withdrew fighting. Lennox and his Sergeant were unable to withdraw quickly enough and were overwhelmed by the defenders. In his action report, Sharpe listed his cousin and Sgt Drew as among the “missing”. Although the report talks of great numbers of enemy killed, the casualties list at the end of it shows how costly raiding could be and why, although favoured by the commanders, it was disliked by the troops as a most dangerous job. There were 29 killed and 44 wounded in the raid at Avion[7], a steep price to pay for a few prisoners and the bombing of enemy dugouts. Despite the cost, however, raiding was considered valuable prepartory work that made future large battles successful.

According to a report, probably from the Red Cross, Lieut. Charles Simpson Lennox had been wounded in the head during the counterattack and was captured. He died the following day, 24 July 1917, in the coal mining town Henin-Liétard (now Henin-Beaumont) and was buried in a nearby military cemetery. His body was later concentrated in Cabaret Rouge British Military Cemetery in Souchez, just a few kilometers east of the Vimy Memorial.

After their son’s death, the Lennox family, parishioners at St. John the Baptist Norway church commissioned a stained-glass window to commemorate him and all of the men from the Beach community who fell during the war. It remains a central feature of the church’s interior to this day.

Originally published in The Maple Leaf, Winter 2020, the magazine of the Central Ontario Branch Western Front Association.

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[1] Cited in Andrew B. Godefroy, “A Lesson in Success: The Colonne Trench Raid, 17 January 1917,” Canadian Military History 8, no. 2 (Spring 1999): 25.

[2] Walter Reid, Architect of Victory: Douglas Haig. (Edinburgh: Birlinn Ltd., 2006), 355-56, cited in Butcher and Bolt: Canadian Trench Raiding During the Great War, 1915-1918, by Colin David Garnett, 2011, Carleton University Masters thesis, p44

[3] Narrative of the Raid at Avion, War Diary, 116^th Bn, July 1917

[4] Service Record, Charles Simpson Lennox (745010), Library and Archives Canada

[5] War Diary, 13 July 1917

[6] Narrative, War Diary, dated 23 July 1917

[7] Action Report, War Diary, July 1917