838477 Pte. William Bouglas was born on July 30th, 1894, in Selkirk, Scotland. Moving to Canada he settled in Hanover, Grey County, Ontario and was working as a furniture packer when hostilities broke out.
William attested to the 147th Battalion in Owen Sound on January 6th, 1916 and was assigned to "C" Company.
Billeted locally over the winter, the 147th Battalion mobilized in Owen Sound in the spring of 1916 and left for training at Camp Niagara. As the conditions in the Camp were wanting the unit moved to the new training facility of Camp Borden in late June.
In September 1916 the unit received their orders to proceed overseas, but due to an outbreak of diphtheria they were detained in Amherst, Nova Scotia, for over a month. The unit finally sailed for Great Britain on November 14th, 1916, on the S.S. Olympic.
On January 1st, 1917, the 147th Battalion ceased to exist when it became the nucleus for the 8th Reserve Battalion, whose task it was to supply reinforcements to the 58th Battalion and the 4th C.M.R.
On February 17th, 1917, William was taken on strength of the 4th C.M.R. and served with them during the Battle of Arras, that saw the Canadian Corps storm Vimy Ridge. It was during the closing days of the Battle of Vimy Ridge that he was wounded for the first time, on April 11th, 1917, most likely in the action "to dislodge the enemy" in open ground on the reverse slope of Vimy Ridge that day; an action that saw one officer and seven men killed, and 20 men wounded.
William returned to the front lines and took part in the Battle of Ameins, a battle that saw the Canadian Corps advance 8 miles through the German lines in the first day of the battle. The event caused General Ludendorff to describe August 8th, as "a Black Day" for the German army.
As the advance continued William was wounded a second time, on August 10th, 1918. This most likely occured whilst the regiment was holding the line on the 10th. From the Regimental War Diary:
"The 9th saw the Battalion ordered to come into "definite touch" with the enemy and take Folies village, some 25km South-East of Amiens. With three tanks allotted to them, companies of the 4th CMR fought forward and by 5.30pm had successfully taken the town. Losses in the attack amounted to much lamented padre, Capt. W. H. Davis, Lt. A. D. McDonald, both killed, 3 further officers wounded, 12 other ranks killed and 62 wounded. The Battalion was credited with taking 3 German officers and 123 other ranks prisoner, as well as gaining machine guns, saddle horses and one pigeon-loft complete with 300 pigeons! On the 10th, the 32nd Imperial Division passed through the line and made an advance of 1,700 yards, driving the enemy out of range. The Battalion stayed in its position at Folies for the next week."
Private William Bouglas survived the war and was struck off strength of the 4th C.M.R. on July 26th, 1919.
Biography details credit: George Auer
Additional regiment location detail courtesy of 4cmr.com, from the Regiment War Diary Summary for 1917 and for 1918