CHAPTER 7
Lewis Henry Buck
1896 01 28 — 1988
Lewis, seventh son born to Frank and Emily, was just an infant when the family moved from Wyman, Que. to the Ontario side of the Ottawa River. He was born at a time when men were hired for their ability to do manual work. You had to be of sufficient height and strength to be a lumberjack or a crew man working on logs and booms going down the Ottawa river. Lewis was short, five feet or less, and of slight build. He, like his older brothers, was sent to lumber camps at an early age. I heard Andrew recall a trip to a lumber camp with Lewis when it was bitter cold. They tried to eat in a hotel lobby but were thrown out because they were not paying for drinks or food.
The description of life in the lumber camps offered by Lewis is essentially a repeat of Jack’s account of his role as cook’s helper in the camp. Lewis too, spoke of the long hours, of getting up in the middle of the night to prepare for breakfast and of going to bed late after cleaning up after supper. His life was similar to that of the older boys except he did not work on the boats as much as the others. His lot involved helping his father with farm work and taking an active part in running the farm.
Lewis and his brother Billie were great chums who worked and played together a great deal. Together, they enlisted for service in the army in the same outfit when Billie was seventeen and Lewis was nineteen. I enclosed a copy of a letter Lewis wrote to his family describing his departure in fall of 1915. An account of the war as experienced by Lewis and Billie can be found in Pierre Burton’s book by; NcLelland and Stewart, 1986. During a series of conversations with Pierre Burton, Lewis told of being sent to the front lines of Viny Ridge as a raw recruit. He expressed wonder at the sight of seeing wounded men going back, meeting their lines going up for the first time. Lewis and Billie were part of Signals Corps. Their lob was to take the wire up front in no man s land, near the German trenches. The wire enabled observers to communicate by telephone with the artillery battalions stationed in the rear. They relayed to the artillery officers where the shells had landed as well as requesting changes in range to hit specific targets. When Lewis was wounded he was sent back to England where he recovered before he returned to France. He described to me how Billie come to see him behind the lines in 1918. Because they had been assigned to different outfits they saw little of one another, and were happy, they were, to see each other. At dusk, Billie return to his section. He walked up a small ridge, turned and gave his familiar wave, and disappeared. Two days after the visit with Lewis1 Billie was killed. A friend later told Lewis a shell exploded close to Billie, killing him instantly, without a mark on his body.
Lewis had vivid memories of the War throughout his lifetime. He recalled some good times but he also remembered horrible sights he had witnessed such as when comrades died standing near you. God never intended young men to be slaughtered like they were during the 1st world War. Men were sacrificed due to the stupidity of some officer giving orders.
Following the war Lewis returned home to the farm. For years afterwards, even in the quiet countryside tilling the soil, he would find himself prone on the ground if startled by a loud noise. This was a natural reaction to the years of conflict in France. Lewis stuck with his father on the farm for some time, and told me he paid off some of his father’s debts from farming. He also paid the bill at the Ottawa General Hospital following his father’s operation prior to his death. He later took a job in the Cilleta lead mines, which were near home.
Working conditions in the mine were intolerable since the "face" was low. The miners spent much of their time on hands and knees working with poor equipment to move ore to the shaft. After working for some years as a miner, he was promoted to "cable man" at the top of the main shaft. Mere, he operated the equipment that lowered and raised the cars carrying men and equipment down to lower levels and raised the ore and men to ground level. Signal bells in the wheelhouse were activated by men working at different levels of the mine.
After leaving the mines, Lewis took a job as a mail carrier in Ottawa. His route was along the north side of the Rideau Canal area, where wealthy homes made up the major part of the neighborhood. During this period he often took his father and mother on trips to see their family living in London and Toledo. I remember one trip was in an open touring car that he owned.
Lewis married Melva Norton and they purchased a home in Ottawa West en Pacific Street. During their honeymoon they came to our home in London. It seemed odd that Melva was a tall slim girl. while Lewis was a very short man, of average build. I can remember him telling us about swimming across the Ottawa River just a few miles north of the parliament Buildings, above the rapids. With Melva waiting on the north shore, he started across, but part way there, took cramps, and found himself in difficulty. Knowing no one was aware of his plight he struggled on, worked them out, and finally landed on the northern shore where Melva sat waiting. He later stated he thought he was not going to make it.
His life was fairly uneventful, as he lived in Ottawa. He did take trips to other places in the U. S. A. and Canada, and spent a lot of time as an amateur photographer and a worker in the church camera club. He owned an Exacta with several lenses, so some of his nature pictures were excellent.
When Melva died at an early age due to an aneurisra in the brain, Lewis was on his own again. He took many trips, but found being alone not to his liking. He started keeping company with a former school teacher "Flossie". Lewis retired from the post office, sold his property and moved into her home on Acton Street, Ottawa. They lived a quiet life and traveled extensively. Later, when Flossie became crippled and bedridden, Lewis looked after her, assisted by housekeepers and nurses, until it was necessary to place her in a nursing home. After a lengthy illness, Flossie passed away.
Lewis started to have problems with his health. His sight decreased with glaucoma but, with medical treatment, he was still able to drive. He took a trip to see Lilly, in California, and visited with Ellen in Florida.
While taking dancing lessons he met lady called Genevieve. They sold the Acton Street property and moved into a large retirement home, as Genevieve had arthritis and required an electric chair to move around. When we visited them Lewis said he had been retired more years than he worked for the Canada Post Office. He died 1988 following his ninetieth birthday. He had no children, so this chapter is not as long as the ones for those who raised families.
In closing, I must say Uncle Lewis was a very fine man. His memory, which was accurate, always amazed me. When we drove around Ottawa together he would remember the names and addresses of girlfriends with whom my father had kept company. This was especially impressive because Andrew had a poor memory for names or addresses.
The following letters were written by Lewis Buck in the fall of 1915. They describe his trip with his brother Bill as newly enlisted privates as they traveled to serve in the "Great War" across the Atlantic. The letters home begin on Wednesday, September 20, 1915 and end on Thursday, October 5, 1915. Lewis would return home to the Ottawa Valley in 1919, but Bill was not to return.
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Two pictures of Lewis Buck as a young man.
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| Lewis Buck with his first wife, Melva Norton. | Lewis Buck on his way to Toledo to visit sisters Lillie & Irene with his parents, Frank & Emily Buck & sister, Ellen. Stopover in London. Andrew Buck leaning on car. About 1928. |
| Lewis Buck with his second wife, Flossie, who was a teacher. |  |
Ftc’s L. H. & W. P. Buck
On the S. S. Southland
Anchored in Halifax Bay
1915
Dear Mother, Bros & Sis
We are at last started on our trip and are putting in the time fine so far. I will try and give you an idea of what kind of a trip we are putting in since we left Valcartier. On Wed. Sept 20 we got orders to strike camp so we commenced to pull down our tents. We were both inoculated and examined that day so we got out of work. We had few tents to sleep in that night as so many were pulled down so we all had to cram together 10 or 12 in a tent.
Thursday Morning
We continued to pull down tents and pack up. At 6 o’clock we were put on guard as it was the last night, there were 72 guards put on. We were on the prisoners’ guard. There was a great stir all night long as they were burning up all the old boxes and trying to keep the "home fires burning". Some fellow took a pail of coal oil and saturated one of the big closets and set fire to it about 10:30 o’clock FM which caused great fun and the Bugle band turned out and played the dead march around it in honor of what was dropped into it that day.
Friday
We were ordered to pack up our kits to be ready to fall in at 10:30 am. It was raining cats and dogs to boot, but we didn’t mind that one bit as we were anxious to make a move. We left Val at 11:00 am with about 90 lbs. on our backs. The soldiers from other Battalions cheered us on our way and wished us good luck. Pa Caine over on Thurs. night and bid us good-bye. We had about 2 miles to march and I’ll tell you we were all glad to reach the train and have a rest. I just got seated in the train when I got Mr. Clark’s letter so it was just in time to catch us.
We were about an hour going to Quebec and then we had t, change again and take the boat for Point Levis. As we were still on guard we went with the prisoners on one boat and also the 3 bands. And the rest of the Batt. came over on another boat a distance of about 3/4 of a mile across the St. Lawrence River. We could see the Quebec Bridge from the boat, When we got to Levis, we had to wait for about 1 hour and then we took the train that was to take us to Halifax. It was 4:30 :n the afternoon when we got on the train. There were a great crowd to see us off.
We certainly enjoyed that trip on the train. We had 2 blankets each with us so when night came we just went to work and pulled out the seats and spread out our blankets and made a fine bed, as it was a colonist train we were on, there were also the top bunks as well so we had lots of sleeping room, and believe me we slept as we got so little sleep the night before, the shaking of the train didn’t seem to worry us one bit, for our meals there was a dining car at each end of the train and it was set out in good style but they would only allow us 10 minutes to eat.
Saturday morning we wakened up the train was stopped at some siding out in the country. We could hear the calves bawling outside and we thought that we were home again. We got up and had a good hot breakfast about 9:00 am we reached the first town in B. (Campbelltown) and stayed there for about an hour all the floozies from the town came down to have a look at us. We had great fun getting their addresses and giving them ours, the 3 bands got out and played up and down the station platform.
The next station (New Castle) there were a big crowd Bill got a girl’s address and as soon as he got into his seat he wrote her a card and posted it at the next station he must of got it pretty bad, it was there that I wrote a card home. I don’t know whether you got it or not as I gave it to a girl to post at one of the stations. We were to have had a route march through Moncton but it was too dark when we arrived there so it was called off, but, as it was dark the girls didn’t seem to be afraid of their parents seeing them so they came along the cars and we pulled them up to the windows and there we got a few good hugs and kisses I tell you there is nothing slow about the New Brunswick girls or the N. S. girls either.
We got to (Amherst, N. S.) about 10:30 p.m. and received another great welcome the car that we were in was near the front so they ran away past the station till we were among the freight cars the girls came in between us and the freight cars where it was good and dark. So they climbed up the sides of the cars, but the fun of it was we picked up young lads and thought they were girls.
At 11:00 P.M. Bill went on guard and as we were getting close to Halifax we got orders to close all the blinds and keep quiet.
I went on guard at 3:00 A.M. Sunday morning to relieve Bill and I stayed on till five and had about an hour sleep and then we arrived in Halifax being on the train 40 hours but it seemed to pass quick enough as we were having such good fun, but alas!
We had poor scenery when we got there as we weren't allowed to leave the train and all we could do was to talk to the girls that came and looked over the big cement wall by the train. We made the best of it anyway.
About 9 o’clock Sunday morning we were called out for a route march through Halifax and I’ll tell you we were glad of it as we wanted a little exercise. We marched through the town right out to the sea shore then we broke off for a rest. We all had to make a B-line for the shore and see what salt water was like some of the fellows forgot about the salty taste and started to take a drink and then see them pull a face! There were all kinds of crabs and the fellows were throwing them at each other. We went back a little different direction but talk about slums, but there are some here and we had to hold our noses for the smell.
Bill and I went on guard Sunday night and all Monday. On Monday evening about 6:30 we were told to get our packs on as we were to go to the boat and leave at 7 o’clock sharp but it was eight before we went out of the train to march to the boat. We marched away from the train in silence as we were not allowed to talk or make a noise. At the dock sheds there was a great crowd of people we got a few more shakes of the hand before we stepped off Canadian soil. There were 4 other [Battalions] at the dock ready to embark it was 11:00 PM when we got on the boat.
We happened lucky to get into a room where there were only 4 berths as the deck below us held about 40 or 50 berths so we have a good sleeping place although it is steerage.
We rolled into bed after coming on board about 12 o’clock and this morning awakened with the roar of the propellers churning up water. We jumped out of bed and went out to see where we were. The boat stopped and dropped anchor near 3 more troopships loaded with soldiers. We have been spending our time looking over the boat seeing everything new to us, we don’t know what time we are going to start across but I don’t think it will be long anyway.
Today the HMS Roxborough a battle cruiser came over to pay us all a visit. We gave them all a hearty good cheer which they returned their band was playing the "Maple Leaf Forever". There were also two patrols and a trawler or mine sweeper came over so we are seeing some things that we used to see in pictures and it is all new to us. Our signal Section have been drawn together and we have to go up on to the Bridge tonight and keep up communication with the other boats. Bill is going up now and I am going up at 10:00 to 12:00 PM so we are going tQ get down to business now. I have just been out for a stroll on deck. Bill is on duty upon the Bridge the band is playing over on the "Lapland". It certainly sounds nice at night the boat is all lit up and it looks fine. The "Corsican" is on the other side of us but there are few lights on her.
This troopship that we are on has had its own experience it was build in Eng. and owned by the Belgians ~t used to sail in the Mediterranean sea it was torpedoed by the Germans but managed to beat it under her own steam. So the British have the use of her for the conveyance of troops.
Besides the 139th Batt. there are the 146th Batt and a Battery don’t know where they are from. Then there are a bunch of sailors they are going to join the Grand fleet. They belong to a number of Battleships, two of them are off the HMS Hampshire that sank with Lord Kitchener. and a nice bunch of men they are, the crew of this boat are nearly all "Blokes" especially the stewards. There is a 4.5 inch gun mounted at the stern of the boat for its own defense. I hope we don’t get into a scrape before we get across as we will get enough of it when we get over there (but we are not there yet).
Wednesday, Sept. 27
We got up this morning and when we went outside we had just left Halifax. It is supper time now and we saw the east sights of Canada about noon so it is all sky and water now. The boat is trying to do the "Oceania Roll" as there is a heavy gale on. All the boats are in line. There are five troopships and a cruiser in lead. We have been having life boat drill today. We have great fun watching the big sea fish called "dolphins" following the ships. They jump through the water and can go about 20 miles an hour. I was on duty from 2 till 4 this afternoon. It is a great privilege for us as we are up on the bridge and have a set of binoculars for our use.
Thursday, Sept. 28
This morning I went on duty at 8 o’clock till ten. It is a fine day the boat is rolling in good shape. Quite a few fellows are sick already but we are not feeling the effects of it yet. We have seen no boats today, only a small sail boat. The band gave us a few selections this afternoon then we had life boat drill which we will have every day. Bill and I have been practicing on our buzzer. We have to go on duty tonight. We are getting up into the colder climate. It is near sun set and my watch is just 3:30. I want to see what difference there is when we get over and our home time. Bill and I received messages off the cruiser this morning. while on the bridge we were watching queer kinds of jelly fish today. They are shaped like a star. The troopships that [we] are with besides the one we are on are the Lapland, Laconta, Tuscania, Corsican, and the battle cruiser Rosborough. There are no lights on the boats at night as everything must be kept dark.
It is now 8:30 PM. Bill and I have just been up on the stern deck. It is a dark night although it is not cloudy. We have just been talking about home and us going so far away and nobody knowing where we are. We have been trying to picture everything around home and what everybody is doing, and looking out into the dark rolling billows and watching the mermaids sitting on the crests of the waves combing their golden hair with seaweed and Father Neptune with his spear lifting his head above the water and saying "it is time for all young lads to go to bed". so we thought we would beat it. Bill is here reading a letter of Lizzie Robinsons he is having great fun reading it. In the next room to ours 2 fellows are chasing a louse it is up on the ceiling. We see all kinds of fun here. Bill’s feet are stinking and he is trying to catch a "boo" on his neck. Well I think I will close for tonight as the boat is making me feel dizzy and the propeller seems to be saying "rolling over the bounding waves". Good night.
Friday, Sept. 29
This morning was dull and a kind of drizzling rain coming down. Bill was on duty from 6 to S and I went on from S till 10. I tell you it was a cold 2 hours as the wind was blowing fierce. We are beginning to find it cold now. It was nearly cold enough for snow today. The sea is getting heavier every hour as the wind is increasing. Nearly everywhere we look today someone is leaning over the side and . . . . "up she goes" and he is minus a meal. I began to feel pretty tough this morning myself but I haven’t kicked the bucket yet but maybe tomorrow will fix me. Bill got rid of a meal in short order today he is taking a snooze just now. There has been lots of sport this evening among the sailors and soldiers. They are up to all sorts of games. Tonight it is raining and the waves are splashing up the side of the boat. I have just been out on deck and have a stroll to keep the dizziness off me. I think if the wind keeps up we will be in for a rough time. We have six days ahead of us yet (We sighted one boat in the afternoon today).
Saturday, October 30
The wind has been wild all day and with it the sea is getting rougher. It is now 9:00 o’ clock at night and I can hardly write as she is tossing so much the waves are breaking over the decks. Nearly everybody is sick. I an, feeling nearly up against it now. I am lying in bed and can’t sit up as it would make me sick. Bill goes on the bridge at 10:00 till 12:00 tonight and I go on from 12:00 till 2:00. It is a pitch black night and the wind is making all kinds of noises whistling through the masts and ropes over the deck. There is nothing extra than yesterday.
Sunday, Oct. 1
Bill and I put 3 hours each on the Bridge during last night and a worse storm I shall never forget we could hardly make our way up the deck. The wind was blowing about a 80 mile gale, the sea was a seething white foam, the waves cleared the decks. We were to have church parage on board this morning but it is too rough and too many sick. I stayed out on deck nearly all day and went on duty at 4:30 till 7:30. We are beginning to wish this stormy weather would quit as it makes it a miserable trip. We will be five days on the water in the morning and I guess we will see five more as we are going about 200 and 50 miles a day. For our Sunday breakfast we had bacon and eggs, porridge, bread, butter, marmalade and coffee. Dinner, soup, chicken stew, pudding, bread butter jam. Supper, stew, apple, tea bread butter jam. Bill has just bought 2 sandwiches each before going to bed. Bill is trying to imitate P.J. coming over to see Bob. We are going to have a good sleep tonight as we don’t go on duty till tomorrow.
Monday, Oct. 2
Today we have had a very good day on sea the wind has dropped a little and the sea is a little less rough but tonight the wind has increased again but we are getting used to it now and don’t seem to mind it so much. We have been relieved from duty all day but go on again in the morning. It rained quite a shower this morning. We have been the leading boat all day and tonight all the other boats are away in our stern. The cruiser as well. Today just after dinner we go paid S5 each. We are beginning to get hold of a few English coins. I am going to try and change all our money as soon as possible. One of the stewards a little Englishman has been in our room telling us all about Eng. and the girls there. Bill says "I wish I was in Eng. now" but it may be hard to find the right kind.
Every day we have fire drill I tell you there is a scramble when we hear the fire call. Everybody has to snap on his life belt and beat it on deck. It is in case anything happened to the boat everybody would know where to tall in without any trouble some of the men wear their lifebelts all day. Bill and I played quite a joke on ourselves tonight the first call for supper had gone and as we sit down at the second table we thought we would lay in our beds and wait. We both got in one little bed and I guess it was rather comfortable. We fell asleep and when we woke up all the dishes were washed up so we have to starve till morning. We will be six days on our voyage at six in the morning I think we will see land in about three days.
Tuesday, Oct. 3
We have had a pleasant day, the wind calmed down and the boat ran along smooth. We expect to see land about tomorrow night. We are still in the lead and are making very good speed the Band gave us quite a few selections in the afternoon. We are going to have a concert tomorrow night. We had rabbits tonight for supper and it made us think of last winter when we used to cut wood and snare rabbits for supper. We have just had some sandwiches before going to bed. Bill goes on duty from 10 till 12, and I go on till 2 am. so we won t get a very good sleep tonight, but we will make out in the morning.
Wednesday, Oct. 4
It has been dull and raining nearly all day we were on watch last night and again this afternoon the sea is quite calm and we are going at pretty high speed as we are now in the war zone. We are near the South coast of Ireland and will see the Land of Pat and Mike in the morning.
There was a concert tonight but, we did not go as it was too full by the time we were ready to ho. So we have been having our own fun with the little English steward as I spoke about before, There is a lot of games going on here. I am going to try and get a picture of this boat and send it home. It was called the SS ‘Vaderland’ when the Belgians used to have it before the war. We are going about 300 miles a day this last two days.
Thursday, Oct. 5
We got up this morning and made a "B" line for the deck to see if land was in sight and there rising out from the horizon were the rugged cliffs and mountains of Northern Ireland. We were so glad to see land again after 7 days of sky and water about 10 o’clock we were passing close to the coast and I don’ think I have ever saw such nice sights, and farms all green and the cliffs dipping down into the sea, and Pat and Mike digging potatoes and cracking jokes near the old log house.
We passed islands that I wished I could get pictures of. About 11 o’clock we sighted Bonnie Scotland but we did not see much of it. Five destroyers met us about that time and each one escorted a boat so all our fleet of six troopships are all scattered around. At present we are by the Isle of Man but it is too dark to see and it is raining out.
We expect to land in Liverpool tonight Bill goes on the Bridge at 10 and I go on at 12. I wish it was daylight so that we could see us going up the river Mersey. It was a great sight to see so many boats together we could count about 100 boats between Scotland and Ireland. We took on the pilot at 11:30 at night and at five in the morning we went on watch again so we weren’t landed yet about 7 a. m. We sailed up the river Mersey into Liverpool past new Brighton and Birkenhead and landed at the dock about 8 a.m.
We got on the train at Liverpool at 12:00 o’clock and went right to West Sandling. We got there about 9 p.m. it was raining. We marched up to camp about 1/2 mile and soon got settled into a hut for a good nights rest. We had nothing to eat since breakfast so we had a little bite to eat before going to bed. I think I have told you everything about our journey as far as I could so keep this for reference and maybe when we come home again we will be able to read about our trip. Maybe our next move will be more interesting, but maybe not so pleasant, but may we hope we will have the same trip home again soon and then we will have something to get up in the night and write about.
Good-bye,