Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

CANADIAN RAILWAY TROOP RAILWAY COLLAR BADGE

Date Range From

1917

Date Range To

1920

Materials

BROWNING BRASS, BRASS

No. Pieces

2

Height

3.0

Width

2.8

Description

BROWNING BRASS BODY DISPLAYS OUTER MAPLE LEAF WREATH SURMOUNTED BY A KING'S CROWN. SCROLL AT BASE EMBOSSED "RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION". CENTRAL CIRCULAR BAND AND SCROLL EMBOSSED "CANADA, FIRST OVERSEAS BATTN.". BEAVER ON LOG DISPLAYED AT CENTER. REVERSE STAMPED "FIRMIN LONDON" BRASS SPLIT PIN REMOVABLE AT REAR.

Subjects

PERSONAL SYMBOL

Historical Association

MILITARY

History

DONOR WAS BORN IN LETHBRIDGE. DONOR'S FATHER CAME TO LETHBRIDGE WITH FAMILY IN 1889 AND WAS A MEMBER OF THE HOSPITAL BOARD IN 1930 AND CITY COUNCIL FROM 1931-C.1937. DONOR'S UNCLE BLAIR RIPLEY WAS THE OWNER OF THE HAT BADGE. THE BADGE CAME FROM RAILWAY BATALLION AND WAS THE ONLY ONE OF ITS TYPE. BLAIR RIPLEY WAS THE COLONEL OF THE BATALLION. THIS BADGE WAS WORN BY LT. COL. BLAIR RIPLEY, CBE, DSO. BLAIR RIPLEY CAME TO LETHBRIDGE, AB AS A BOY IN 1889. IN THE EARLY 1900S, HE WORKED AS A RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION ENGINEER, PERFORMING FIELD WORK IN ALBERTA AND BC. INCLUDED AMONGST HIS PRE-WAR ACHIEVEMENTS WAS HIS LEADERSHIP OF PRECISION SURVEY WORK TO CONSTRUCT THE LETHBRIDGE VIADUCT (HIGH LEVEL BRIDGE). RIPLEY WAS APPOINTED COMMANDER OF HIS NEWLY FORMED CONSTRUCTION BATTALION IN 1916. AT THE TIME OF HIS APPOINTMENT, HE HAD NO PREVIOUS MILITARY EXPERIENCE. RIPLEY WAS ACTIVELY CONNECTED TO LETHBRIDGE DURING THE WAR. THE CITY WAS HOME TO HIS PARENTS AND HIS YOUNGER BROTHER MAJOR ALVIN RIPLEY (KIA 1917), WHO COMMANDED THE 20TH OVERSEAS BATTERY FIELD BATTERY CFA, CEF IN 1915. *UPDATE* IN 2012 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT DAVID SMITH CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF MILITARY OBJECTS. HE WAS ABLE TO DISCOVER NEW INFORMATION ABOUT THE ORIGINAL OWNER. HE LEARNED THE FOLLOWING: AS IDENTIFIED BY THE CITY OF TORONTO ARCHIVES, “BLAIR RIPLEY WAS BORN AT OXFORD, NOVA SCOTIA ON AUGUST 29, 1880. IN 1901 HE BECAME ASSISTANT ENGINEER AT THE CANADIAN NORTHWEST IRRIGATION CO. IN ALBERTA AND OVER THE NEXT ELEVEN YEARS HE WORKED AS A CONSTRUCTION ENGINEER FOR GRAND TRUNK PACIFIC RAILWAY AND CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY IN BRITISH COLUMBIA, ALBERTA AND SASKATCHEWAN OVERSEEING GRADE REVISIONS AND THE BUILDING OF VIADUCTS INCLUDING THE LETHBRIDGE VIADUCT. MORE INFORMATION ON HIS ENGINEERING ON THE HIGH LEVEL BRIDGE CAN BE FOUND IN “CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY HIGH LEVEL BRIDGE AT LETHBRIDGE BY DR. ALEX JOHNSTON”. WHEN THESE PROJECTS WERE COMPLETED HE WAS SENT BY C.P.R. TO NOVA SCOTIA TO OVERSEE THE DOMINION ATLANTIC RAILWAY'S REPLACEMENT OF BRIDGES ON THE WATERS OF THE BAY OF FUNDY. IN 1912 RIPLEY WAS APPOINTED ENGINEER IN CHARGE OF GRADE SEPARATION, C.P.R., NORTH TORONTO, DURING WHICH TIME HE PRODUCED A PHOTOGRAPH ALBUM DOCUMENTING THE CONSTRUCTION RELATING TO THE GRADE SEPARATION. IN 1916 HE WAS APPOINTED LIEUTENANT-COLONEL OF THE CANADIAN RAILWAY TROOPS RAISED FOR RAILWAY AND BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION WORK AT THE FRONT. HE EARNED THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE ORDER WHILE OVERSEAS AND, AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR, HE WAS MADE A COMMANDER OF THE ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. BLAIR RIPLEY DIED IN 1958.” HEREAFTER IS A TRANSCRIPTION OF BLAIR RIPLEY’S REFLECTIONS ON THE BRIDGE OVER THE CANAL AT BOESINGHE WHICH CAN BE FOUND IN THE GALT ARCHIVES 19760092029. “WE HAD JUST COMPLETED THE BUILDING OF A NEW LINE FROM BERGUES TO ROSENDAL, THEN REFERRED TO AS THE “DUNKERQUE AVOIDING LINES” ALSO HAD RECENTLY BEEN HONOURED BY A PERSONAL VISIT AND CONGRATULATIONS FROM THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF SIR DOUGLAS HAIG AND AS OF JULY 22, 1917 WERE UNDER ORDERS TO MOVE TO “INTERNATIONAL CORNERS”, ABOUT THREE MILES NORTH OF (POPERINGHE?) WHERE MORE HAZARDOUS AND OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS WERE PLANNED. OUR TASK WAS TO REBUILD THE ELVERDYNGHE - LANGEMARKL AND YPRES LANGEMARKL RAILWAY WHICH HAD BEEN DESTROYED BY THE ENEMY DURING RETREAT. THE GERMANS AT THE TIME WERE OCCUPYING THE EASTERLY BANK OF THE YSER CANAL. HELL BROKE LOOSE WHEN AT 3:25 A.M. ON JULY 28TH BOMBARDMENT OF GERMAN (…) BEGAN AND BY 8:00 A.M. STREAMS OF OUR WOUNDED WERE TAKEN WESTWARD TO CASUALTY CLEARING STATIONS FOR TREATMENT. IT WAS HOWEVER A DAY OR TWO LATER BEFORE MUCH PROGRESS COULD BE MADE ON THE RAILWAY. THE BRIDGE OVER THE CANAL AT BOESINGHE HAD BEEN RENDERED USELESS AND PRACTICALLY NOTHING REMAINED OF THE RAILWAY FOR SEVERAL MILES EACH WAY. AFTER HAVING REBUILT THE LINE TO THE WEST END OF THE BRIDGE, THE LAST THOUSAND FEET OF WHICH HAD BEEN DESTROYED BY SHELLING AND REPLACED AT LEAST THREE TIMES BEFORE WE WERE ABLE TO GET OUR TRACK PILE DRIVER AND EQUIPMENT TO THE SITE WE PROCEEDED TO EFFECT REPAIRS BY THE DRIVING OF PILING AND USE OF HEAVY TIMBERS. IN ORDER TO ESCAPE DETECTION AND DESTRUCTION BY THE ENEMY, THIS LATTER WORK WAS CARRIED OUT AT NIGHT, AND THEN BY DEGREES UNDER HEAVY SHELLING THE LINE WAS REBUILT TO “CANNON FARM” SIDING AND OVER (PILEKEM?) RIDGE FROM WHERE LANGEMARKL WAS PLAINLY VISIBLE. THE ENEMY HAD BEEN DRIVEN BACK AT HEAVY COST BUT LITTLE FURTHER ADVANCE WAS MADE BY OUR TROOPS, NO DOUBT FOR MILITARY REASONS AND NO DOUBT A CHANGE OF PROGRAM AT OTHER POINTS. TYPICAL WAR DESTRUCTION WAS ILLUSTRATED BY THIS PAINTING MADE ON THE GROUND BY ARTIST W.R. STARK OF TORONTO. THEN SERVICE WITH OUR UNIT. AT ONE TIME A HIGHWAY EXISTED ALONG EITHER SIDE OF THE CANAL. NOTE THE GERMAN CONCRETE “PILL BOXES” ALONG THE EAST SIDE OF THE CANAL, BURSTING SHRAPNEL AT THE UPPER RIGHT HAND CORNER THEY DESTROYED TREES AND THE MUTILATED STEEL RAILWAY EARS ON THE WEST SIDE.” THE FOLLOWING EXCERPT IS TAKEN FROM THE JOURNAL OF THE ENGINEERING INSTITUTE OF CANADA, VOLUME II, NO.9, SEPTEMBER 1919, BOMB PROOFING THE WIMEREUX VIADUCT, BY LIEUT. COL. BLAIR RIPLEY, C.B.E., D.S.O., M.E.I.C., COMMANDING THE 1ST BATTALION, CANADIAN RAILWAY TROOPS, IN FRANCE WHICH CAN BE FOUND IN THE GALT ARCHIVES 19760092019. “DURING THE SPRING OF 1918 ENEMY BOMBING HAD REACHED A STATE WHERE IT WAS NECESSARY TO TAKE VIGOROUS STEPS TO PRESERVE NOT ONLY THE BRIDGES AND RAILWAY STRUCTURES AT THE FRONT, BUT ALSO STRATEGIC PINTS ON THE MAIN RAILWAY LINES AS FAR BACK AS THE VERY COAST ITSELF. THE WIMEREUX VIADUCT WAS A HEAVY DOUBLE TRACK MASONRY ARCH VIADUCT, COMPRISING 3 ARCHES OF 50’ EACH AND ABOUT 70’ HIGH, AT WIMEREUX, A FEW MILES NORTH-EASTERLY FROM BOULOGNE ON THE BOULOGNE-CALAIS RAILWAY. THIS WAS A VERY IMPORTANT DOUBLE TRACK MAIN LINE ON WHICH THE GREATER PART OF THE BELGIAN FRONT DEPENDED FOR THE GETTING UP OF ALL THOSE SUPPLIES, MUNITIONS, ETC., REQUIRED IN THE CARRYING ON OF THE WAR. THE CIVIL POPULATION ALSO OF CALAIS, DUNKERQUE, ST. OMER, HAZEBROUCK, BERGUES AND SMALLER PLACES WERE DEPENDENT, ALMOST SOLELY, ON THIS LINE FOR THEIR SUPPLIES. THERE WAS GREAT USE BEING MADE OF THIS LINE AS TROOP CARRIER AND, GENERALLY SPEAKING, THE LOSS OF THIS LINE TO THE ALLIES AT THAT TIME WOULD HAVE BEEN RATHER A SERIOUS BUSINESS, CONSIDERING THE EXTREME TENSION ALONG THE WHOLE FRONT. THE WRITER, AT THIS TIME WAS AT THE HEADQUARTERS OF HIS BATTALION, THE FIRST BATTALION, CANADIAN RAILWAY TROOPS, AT BOUBERS-SUR-CANCHE, A SMALL TOWN THROUGH WHICH THE BATTALION WERE CONSTRUCTING A NEW STANDARD GAUGE CUT OFF LINE BETWEEN HESDIN AND FREVENT THIS LINE, ALTHOUGH IT MIGHT BE REFERRED TO AS A STRATEGIC LINE, WE WILL SAY LITTLE ABOUT. IT WAS COMPLETED BUT NEVER USED TO ANY ADVANTAGE FOR THE REASON THAT THE HUN, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LINE, FAILED IN HIS DESIGNS, THE CARRY8ING OUT OF WHICH WOULD HAVE MADE THE HESDIN-FREVENT LINE A VERY IMPORTANT ONE AND ONE WORTHY OF CONSIDERABLE MENTION. THE ENEMY HAD SUCCEEDED IN BOMBING A VERY IMPORTANT RAILWAY BRIDGE NOT MANY MILES DISTANT FROM WIMEREUX AND NUMEROUS ATTEMPTS HAD BEEN MADE TO DESTROY THE WIMEREUX VIADUCT ITSELF. THE FIRST BATTALION, CANADIAN RAILWAY TROOPS, HAD NEVER ANTICIPATED THAT IT WOULD BE REQUIRED TO DO WORK OF THIS NATURE AS FAR BACK AS THE COAST AND CERTAINLY NEVER DREAMED THAT IT WOULD BE CALLED UPON IN CONNECTION WITH THE PRESERVATION OF THE WIMEREUX VIADUCT, A WORK AFTERWARDS CARRIED OUT BY IT AND WHICH IT IS NOW INTENDED BRIEFLY TO DESCRIBE. …IN CONNECTION WITH THE PREPARING OF THE PLAN AND GENERAL SCHEME ON WHICH THE WORK WAS CARRIED OUT, THERE WAS NOWHERE ANY PRECEDENT TO FOLLOW, AND AT THE SAME TIME THE SUPPLY OF TIMBER AVAILABLE DETERMINED TO A GREAT EXTENT THE DIMENSIONS USED. AT HOME WE WOULD ORDER THE VARIOUS SIZES REQUIRED, BUT IN FRANCE WE USED WHAT WE COULD GET; HENCE, ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS SCARCELY ENTER INTO THE CASE AT ALL. THE ROADWAYS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE STREAM WERE IMPORTANT AND HAD TO BE MAINTAINED AT THEIR FULL WIDTH. THE PRESENCE OF THE CONCRETE INVERT, AT FIRST, WAS LOOKED UPON AS AN OBSTACLE AS IT WAS INTENDED TO CUT OFF THE PILES IN THE CENTRE SPAN SLIGHTLY ABOVE THE WATER LINE. THE WORK IN CONNECTION WITH THE FLANKING SPANS WAS STARTED FIRST, THE BENTS BEING PLACED ON SUBSTANTIAL BLOCKING OR MUD SILLS. ON DRIVING THE FIRST PILE IN THE CENTRE SPAN IT WAS FOUND THAT THE MUD OVERLAYING THE MASONRY INVERT WAS SO DENSE THAT THE PILE WOULD STAND VERTICALLY UNSUPPORTED AND THAT THE LAYER OF MUD NEXT THE INVERT WAS MORE LIKE A BLUE CLAY THAN WAS ANTICIPATED. THE ALLAYED GREATLY OUR FEARS THAT THE LOADED PILES WOULD HAVE A TENDENCY TO SHIFT OR SLIDE ON THE INVERT, WHICH IS SEEN FROM THE PLAN TO FOLLOW A SLIGHT CURVE. IT WAS THEN DECIDED TO CUT OFF THE PILES AT A CONSIDERABLE HEIGHT ABOVE THE WATER, AS IS SHOWN ON THE PLAN, AND TO CAP THEM AT THAT POINT. ON ACCOUNT OF THE SHALLOWNESS OF THE MUD AND CLAY OVERLAYING THE INVERT AND THE CURVED SURFACE OF THE PILES BY STIFFLY STRUTTING HEM, BOTH IN THE DIRECTION OF THE BRIDGE AND T4RANSVERSELY, WITH DOUBLE 6” X 12” TIMBERS WELL SECURED TO THE PILES THE BRACING ABOVE THIS LINE WAS INTENDED TO FURTHER SECURE THE POSITION OF THE PILES BELOW THE LINE OF THE STRUTS, IN CASE THERE SHOULD BE ANY TENDENCY OF THE PILES TO SHIFT ON THE INVERT. THE SECOND DECK OF BENTS WAS ARRANGED WITH CUT-OFF, OR CAP ELEVATION, AT SUCH A HEIGHT AS TO RECEIVE OR SUPPORT 12” X 12” LONGITUDINAL SILLS OR STRUTS AT THE SPRINGING LINE OF THE ARCHES, IN ORDER TO TAKE CARE OF THE THRUST IN THE EVENT OF DAMAGE TO ANY OF THE ARCHES FROM ENEMY BOMBING. THE EXISTENCE OF GOOD LIBERAL STONE COPINGS AT THE SPRINGING LINE OF ARCHES FACILITATED THE WORK CONSIDERABLY AND ASSISTED IN THE SUPPORT OF THE 12” X 12” ARCH RIBS. FROM THE SPRINGING LINE UPWARDS THE ERECTION WAS RATHER DIFFICULT ON ACCOUNT OF THE LARGE AMOUNT OF FRAMING AND FITTING, AS THE ARCHES WERE NOT BY ANY MEANS TRUE, AND DERRICKS COULD NOT BE USED ON ACCOUNT OF THE OVERHEAD OBSTRUCTION BY THE MASONRY STRUCTURE ITSELF. STRONG HOOKS MADE FROM DECAUVILLE RAILWAY RAILS WERE MADE AND SECURED TO THE PARAPET WALLS ABOVE, AND THE TIMBER WAS HOISTED INTO PLACE BY TWO HOISTING ENGINES OPERATED FROM BELOW. ON ACCOUNT OF A VERY MARKED IRREGULARITY IN EACH OF THE ARCHES GREAT DIFFICULTY WAS EXPERIENCED IN THE FRAMING AND FITTING OF THE ARCH RIBS. THIS DIFFICULTY WAS ACCENTUATED BY THE SMALL SPACE LEFT FOR ERECTION. THERE WAS LITTLE DIFFICULTY IN PLACING THE LAGGING, WHICH WAS INTENDED TO HAVE ONLY A SNUG OR SLIGHTLY LOOSE FITTING IN ANY CASE. WHILE IT MIGHT APPEAR FROM THE COMPLETE CORRESPONDENCE THAT ABOUT TWO MONTHS WERE OCCUPIED IN CARRYING OUT THE WORK, IT MIGHT BE STATED THAT ONE MONTH WOULD BE MORE NEARLY CORRECT. DURING JULY 1918, OR THE SECOND MONTH, THE MAJORITY OF OUR C. COMPANY MEN AT WIMEREUX WERE BUILDING BOMB-PROOF DUG OUTS, OR TUNNELS, FOR CANADIAN NURSING SISTERS AT BOULOGNE, AND THE BALANCE OF THE MEN WERE DOING SUCH WORK AS PLACING LAGGING, WHICH WAS NOT CONSIDERED OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE. THERE WAS ALSO A DELAY OF ABOUT A WEEK IN GETTING THE NECESSARY TIMBER AND PLANT ON TO THE GROUND. LITTLE TIME WAS OCCUPIED, HOWEVER, IN RUSHING THESE MEN TO AMIENS, TO JOIN THE OTHER THREE COMPANIES OF THE BATTALION IN THEIR WORK THERE, WHEN THE HUN GAVE WAY EARLY IN AUGUST. THE PLACING OF STEEL RAILS, TWO DEEP, ON THE DECK OF THE BRIDGE WAS INTENDED TO EXPLODE ANY BONY BEFORE THE BOMB PENETRATED, THE MIGHT BE DROPPED ON TO THE BRIDGE, AND TO DISTRIBUTED THE SHOCK OVER A GREATER AREA. THESE RAILS WERE SECURED TO THE TIES, ADDITIONAL TIES HAVING BEEN PLACED UNDER AND BETWEEN THE TRACKS AS SHOWN ON THE PLAN. THE FIRST LAYER OF RAILS WERE SPIED DOWN IN THE ORDINARY WAY, USING ANGLE BAR SPLICES AS THE TRACK WAS ON A SLIGHT CURVE, AND THE SECOND LAYER WAS DROPPED IN BETWEEN, BALL DOWN. THE RAILS, USED IN THIS BOMB-BURSTING FLOOR WOULD MAKE ABOUT 1 ¼ MILES OF TRACK. THE BOMB-PROOFING OF THE WIMEREUX VIADUCT WAS, OR COURSE, NOT A GUARANTEED PIECE OF WORK, BUT JUDGING FROM THE EFFECT OF THE BOMBS THAT HAD BEEN DROPPED IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD ESPECIALLY IN THE VICINITY OF ETAPLES, THE WRITER HAD CONFIDENCE IN THE SCHEME. WITH THE STEADILY INCREASING SIZE OF BOMBS AND THE TERRIBLE EFFECT OF THE EXPLOSIVES USED, THE READERS, AND THOSE WHO HAVE SEEN THE EFFECTS OF BOMBING IN THE WAR ZONE, MUST JUDGE FOR THEMSELVES AS TO THE MERITS OF THE WORK CARRIED OUT. THE SCHEME WAS, HOWEVER, WHOLE HEARTEDLY ENDORSED BY BOTH THE BRITISH ARMY AUTHORITIES AND THE FRENCH ARMY AUTHORITIES IN PARIS. IT WAS PROBABLY THE ONLY ATTEMPT, ON A LARGE SCALE TO BOMB-PROOF ANY STRUCTURE IN THE ALLIED WAR ZONE, THERE BEING NEARLY A QUARTER OF A MILLION FEET OF TIMBER ALONE IN THIS ONE BRIDGE. THE WORK, UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF MAJOR A.R. KETTERSON, D.S.O., A.M.E.I.C., (ASSISTANT ENGINEER, BY C. COMPANY OF THE 1ST BATTALION, CANADIAN RAILWAY TROOPS, UNDER THE COMMAND OF MAJOR R.R. HOLLAND, FORMERLY DISTRICT ENGINEER OF THE BATTALION, WAS ENGAGED ON OTHER SPECIAL WORK AT THE TIME NEAR ETAPLES AND CONSEQUENTLY, WAS NOT AVAILABLE FOR THIS WORK. THE HONOURABLE, THE MINISTER OF MILITIA GENERAL MEWBURN, AND OTHER PROMINENT CANADIANS VISITING THE FRONT ON SPECIAL MISSIONS, VIEWED THIS WORK AND EXPRESSED THEMSELVES AS GREATLY PLEASED WITH WHAT SEEMED TO THEM THE BOLDNESS OF THE SCHEME AND THE QUICK AND WORKMANLIKE WAY IN WHICH IT WAS CARRIED OUT." FOR MORE INFORMATION, INCLUDING SERVICE RECORDS FROM LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA, PLEASE SEE P19760093000.

Catalogue Number

P19930041005

Acquisition Date

1993-07

Collection

Museum

Less detail