Noted Guides Sam Glode And John Francis Go To 1914-1918 War

The first step was to walk down to the Liverpool office of Doctor Charles B. Trites. There they received medical examinations, and were sent to Halifax, where they signed on the dotted line. In a short time Glode and Francis made their way to join the newly created regiment, the 64th Battalion at Sussex, New Brunswick, for training.

That fall, after Christmas of 1915, the battalion sailed for England to land at Liverpool, England. They were transported by train to Liphook station, disembarked, and marched to Bramshott camp. After weeks of training they transferred to West Sandling camp, near the town of Hythe, in Kent. At this point in their early army career they were drilled, drilled and drilled every day, with rifle practice on the side at Hythe.

It was time for drafts of troops to be sent to the Western Front. John Francis had already left the training camp for France with the 25th Nova Scotia Regiment. In the meantime, Private Sam Glode occupied the same tent with a coal miner named Steve Battersby, from Cape Breton, and they had become solid friends. One day Steve rushed to their tent and said: "Come on, Sam. Quick! Get on this parade with me." So Sam joined the parade with a few others, who had been miners. It appears that the army in France had sent out an urgent call for experienced men to form a mining company for the Canadian Engineers. Sam told Steve he was not a miner and Steve told him: "To shut up. You want to see France, don't you? First thing you know the war will be over, and the 64th is never going to get there." So Sam shut up and the draft was off to Shorncliff.

They travelled to Southampton by train and crossed the English Channel to LeHavre. They then traveled by train to Poperinghe to a place called Wipers (Ypres), where the battle had been serious against the Germans, who were dug in on high ground. At Poperinghe, Sam and a few others were chosen from the draft and sent to No. 1 Canadian Tunnelling Company, Royal Canadian Engineers. They occupied a place called La Clyte, where they they were in sight of enemy lines along Messines Ridge. Sam Glode said:” I’ll never forget that first night. I stayed up most of the night watching the flares go up over no-man's land, like fireworks, and hearing the cannons and bursts of rifle and machine-gun fire. It was like a big show, and kind of pretty at night." This baptism of fire for Sam took place in the summer of 1916.

The next night the troops were moved up to the front line trenches, which were on a rise over a long stretch of low ground towards Messines Ridge. The idea was for the miners to reconnoiter the ground before attempting to dig a tunnel towards the ridge. It was a fairly quiet first night, but at daybreak a German observation plane flew over their position.

The infantry soldiers ignored the aircraft, but Sam pointed his rifle skyward and shot at the airplane until it disappeared from sight. His inexperience proved costly, as the next day the German artillery on the Ridge pounded the Canadian trenches. According to Sam: "Some fellows got hit, they hollered and there was a lot of blood. Everybody said it was my fault for shooting at the plane. But I said I didn't hit it. Anyhow, I didn't shoot at the planes after that."