_THE 11th BRIGADE, C.F.A., AND COMPOSITE ARTILLERY COMPANY._
The 11th Brigade was the junior Artillery Brigade of the 6th Military
District. It comprised in addition to the Headquarters Staff, the 27th
(Digby) Battery, the 28th (Pictou) Battery and the 29th (Yarmouth)
Battery. Although the Brigade was not ordered out on active service, it
contributed possibly more than its original strength in personnel to the
prosecution of the Great War. Almost the first day of the War the
Commanding Officer (Lieut.-Col. T. M. Seeley, of Yarmouth, N.S.) wired
the offer of services to headquarters and the Battery officers busied
themselves with looking to the details of organization.
Capt. F. W. Pickles, O.C. 29th Battery (Yarmouth), joined the 17th
Battery of Sydney, one of the first Units on the march, with a
detachment of eighteen non-commissioned officers and men from his
Battery. Subsequently every artillery Unit and many of the Infantry
Battalions had on their strength representatives of the 11th Brigade.
This was made possible largely by the untiring efforts of a few senior
officers, who for some good reason or other, were unable to proceed
Overseas. Prominent among these were Majors H. S. Hamilton, of Pictou;
D. C. McKay, of Digby, and A. K. Van Horne, of Yarmouth.
The services of the officers of the 11th Brigade, summarily put, were:
Lieut.-Col. T. M. Seeley, O.C., was successful in organizing the 23rd
Battery, C.E.F.; a Company for guard duty at Barrington Passage, Radio
Station, and a Company in the 112th Battalion, C.E.F., under Colonel
Tremaine, with which the latter crossed the Atlantic. Capt. A. A.
Durkee, Adjutant of the Brigade, organized at Valcartier the first
Ammunition Unit in the C.E.F., and proceeded Overseas with the First
Contingent. He was early at the Front, and was promoted to Major and
Lieut.-Colonel, and commanded, in turn, a Brigade Ammunition Column, a
Battery, and a Brigade of Artillery. He was mentioned in dispatches and
was awarded the D.S.O. Lieut.-Col. Durkee is also a South African War
veteran. Capt. V. F. Connor, C.A.M.C., was on duty through the greater
part of the War, and rendered valuable service at the time of the great
explosion in Halifax, December, 1917.
The 27th Battery contributed to the C.E.F. Capt. Glidden Campbell, of
Weymouth, who went over with the 85th Battalion, and who was awarded the
M.C.; Lieuts. C. D. Shreve, M.C., killed in action in the artillery; K.
V. Schurman and H. A. Marshall.
The 28th Battery had to its credit in the C.E.F., Major J. K. McKay, of
Pictou, who went over in command of the 23rd Battery, C.E.F. He
commanded a Battery and a Brigade of Artillery at the Front, being
latterly promoted to the rank of Lieut.-Colonel. He was severely wounded
and received the D.S.O. From the 28th, Lieuts. C. E. Churchill, H. P.
MacKeen, J. E. Read, J. D. Hickman, H. P. MacKenzie, and possibly
others, entered the C.E.F. Capt. V. C. Johnson, Corps Reserve, was
Overseas.
The 29th Battery furnished (in addition to Adjutant Durkee, already
mentioned) Capt. F. W. Pickles, who commanded a section of a Divisional
Ammunition Column at the Front; Lieut. Ralph P. Harding, who rose to the
command of a Battery, with the rank of Major, and returned with the M.C.
and the D.S.O.; Lieuts. W. Arthur Porter, G. St. C. A. Perrin, E. J.
Vickery, G. O. Rogers, E. J. Stekelin, who became Major; H. E. Crowell,
who became Major; S. C. Hood, Jr., who became Captain, and M. B. Davis.
The 29th Battery claims the honor of having had in its membership at one
time Brig.-General W. O. H. Dodds, C.M.G., D.S.O., now of Montreal.
Composite Artillery Company
In April, 1915, detachments from the 27th Battery (Digby) and the 29th
Battery (Yarmouth) and No. 1 Siege Company (Mahone), were assembled at
Yarmouth, under Lieut.-Col. T. M. Seeley, for preliminary training, and
in May following proceeded to Barrington Passage for guard duty at the
Radio Station. Among their duties was the construction of a road three
miles long through a very difficult country. Practically the whole
strength of this Company transferred to Overseas Units. Officers, in
addition to the O.C: Capt. W. T. Ernst, and Lieut. C. Melvin.