Letters From the Front

An officer of the 5th Battalion (Saskatchewan Regt.) regarding Pte. William Beattie

Pte. William Beattie's Gallant Actions at Vimy Ridge

The Regina Leader Published: July 19, 1917

Pte. William Beattie, 426437, served with the 5th Battalion (Saskatchewan Regiment) during the first World War. He died on April 9th, 1917 and is buried at Nine Elms Military Cemetery (France). The following letter appeared as part of a newspaper article in the Regina Leader on July 19th, 1917.

Transcription of introduction to the letter as it appeared in the original newspaper article:

HOW REGINA MAN GAVE HIS LIFE

Details of Daring Act of Private W. Beattie of Regina

Mrs. W. Beattie of this city has received news of the manner of death of her husband, Private W. Beattie, who enlisted here two years ago with the 46th Battalion reinforcement draft and went overseas two years ago in May. The information came in a letter sent by the lieutenant of the company in which Private Beattie was located, and discloses for the first time the heroic action of the man who like many others gave his life.

Mrs. Beattie lives in the city with her four small sons, the eldest of whom was nine years of age last spring.

The Letter

Following is the letter, which was sent to J. W. Beattie, father of the dead hero, who lives at Wingham, Ontario:

Dated: July 19, 1917

In reply to your of May 20, I deeply regret to state that your son, Pte. W. Beattie, was killed in action whilst taking part in attack on Vimy Ridge on April 9, 1917. He was killed by a machine-gun bullet just before reaching the last objective. A German machine-gun gave quite a lot of trouble and your son, together with a sergeant, attempted to rush the gun and put its crew to the bayonet.

It was a grand thing to do and unfortunately your son paid for his daring with his life. It was a great act of gallantry, for he went voluntarily and was not ordered to go, and knew the risk he was taking. His death was instantaneous.

He was buried with the rest of his comrades who fell in that attack. The cemetery has been fenced in, and a large monumental cross has been erected to the memory of those who rest there. The location of the cemetery is A.1655 I sheet, 51 B.M.W., Edition 6 N. We beg to tender our sincere sympathies to you in your great loss, and trust you will be able to find some consolution through a feeling of pride in the noble way in which he met his end.

Transcribed by: M. I. Pirie