Sgt. Charles May, Royal Canadian Engineer

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Phil
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Re: Sgt. Charles May, Royal Canadian Engineer

Post by Phil » Fri Jun 01, 2018 3:50 pm

Great work Temujin -- where are you finding these messages?
Phil

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Re: Sgt. Charles May, Royal Canadian Engineer

Post by Temujin » Fri Jun 01, 2018 3:58 pm

Phil wrote:
Fri Jun 01, 2018 3:50 pm
Great work Temujin -- where are you finding these messages?
Heritage Canadiana......they have digitized hundreds of the WW2 War diaries and messages etc etc.....including tactical maps (overlays) etc. I have an index for their files, you just have to know where to look. It does take a while because they don’t have a search engine for the files (except to find a reel number)

I have posted (I think I did) the index .......its quite long.....if I haven’t let me know, I’ll send it to you by e—mail....its a big file

This reel is T-17812......just go to Heritage Canadiana web page, type T-17812 in the search and it will find the reel for you

Enjoy

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Re: Sgt. Charles May, Royal Canadian Engineer

Post by Temujin » Fri Jun 01, 2018 4:01 pm

I found First Cdn Army Troops Company - Engineers message log......it confirms everything I”ve posted, so I won’t post it again.

Still have to look for the name, but taking a break now.......drives your eyes a little batty looking at all these files and trying to read the handwriting and the POOR quality digitization

Cheers

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Re: Sgt. Charles May, Royal Canadian Engineer

Post by Phil » Fri Jun 01, 2018 4:18 pm

Temujin wrote:
Fri Jun 01, 2018 3:58 pm
Phil wrote:
Fri Jun 01, 2018 3:50 pm
Great work Temujin -- where are you finding these messages?
Heritage Canadiana......they have digitized hundreds of the WW2 War diaries and messages etc etc.....including tactical maps (overlays) etc. I have an index for their files, you just have to know where to look. It does take a while because they don’t have a search engine for the files (except to find a reel number)

I have posted (I think I did) the index .......its quite long.....if I haven’t let me know, I’ll send it to you by e—mail....its a big file

This reel is T-17812......just go to Heritage Canadiana web page, type T-17812 in the search and it will find the reel for you

Enjoy
Ah yes, I've seen that list of reels. Not user friendly at all.
Phil

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Re: Sgt. Charles May, Royal Canadian Engineer

Post by Temujin » Fri Jun 01, 2018 4:41 pm

Follow up. This information was in the Reel. This is information on the booby trap that killed Sapper Waddling on the 20 Aug 1944. Map shows the location where the booby trap was laid


8F3C767D-DCD9-48CE-9A01-5FAED111B045.jpeg
8F3C767D-DCD9-48CE-9A01-5FAED111B045.jpeg (39.54 KiB) Viewed 17761 times
1CCB5B33-4E5C-48EA-8E69-8B90A9C8D128.jpeg
1CCB5B33-4E5C-48EA-8E69-8B90A9C8D128.jpeg (92.36 KiB) Viewed 17761 times
RED ARROW on map shows the location of booby trap
7A1BD896-5CDA-493D-9459-F8E67F8E3CC7.jpeg
7A1BD896-5CDA-493D-9459-F8E67F8E3CC7.jpeg (491.87 KiB) Viewed 17758 times

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Re: Sgt. Charles May, Royal Canadian Engineer

Post by Lorraine Campbell » Sun Jun 03, 2018 5:43 pm

Absolutely fantastic Temujin... I cannot thank you enough. I have added Spr. Waddling to my list of graves we will visit. I saw his name in correspondence from a reunion after the war.
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Re: Sgt. Charles May, Royal Canadian Engineer

Post by Temujin » Sun Jun 03, 2018 7:42 pm

Your welcome Lorraine. And it is unusual to find the “EXACT SPOT” that someone was Killed, and get more info on “how he died”. Thank you for taking the time to visit his grave.

If you need anything else.......more bridges or more locations the unit went, just let me know. I found the complete War Diaries on Heritage Canadiana........so I can look it all up “day by day” if you need it. Also I found the War Diaries for the First Cdn Army Troops-Engineers.....and this diary gives me all the Map References for where all the RCE units that reported to them were (5th Field Company report to First Cdn Army Troops.

Cheers
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Re: Sgt. Charles May, Royal Canadian Engineer

Post by Temujin » Sun May 19, 2019 12:27 pm

Lorraine, I started a project on compiling all the bridges that each of the RCE Field Companies or Squadrons built in WW2. I have Completed:

6th Cdn Field Company, RCE
16th Cdn Field Company, RCE
And I have 18th Cdn Field Company, RCE “IN CONSTRUCTION”

While I was doing this today, I just realized that I forgot your message about your upcoming trip to Europe and visiting the bridges that Sgt Charles May, may have been at..........so, I’ll stop work on the 18th and get to work on the 5th Cdn Field Company, RCE right now

I know that I’ve given you quite a lot on his route, journeys and bridges etc to date, but I thought that having it all on one document may help and I was planning to do it anyway.....just bump his unit to the start of my list

Hopefully I’ll have this done in a week (takes me about a week on each one) and then send it to you.

Sorry, I should have thought about this earlier......but at least I remembered.....eventuallly

Cheers
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Re: Sgt. Charles May, Royal Canadian Engineer

Post by Cyrus » Sun May 26, 2019 5:24 pm

Hi Temujin,

I think Lorraine was supposed to go on the trip in September 2018?

Here's a photo of Martin bridge in Herentals in later years (1950's-1960's).
Herentals Martin bridge.jpg
Herentals Martin bridge.jpg (179.07 KiB) Viewed 17287 times
In 1961 a concrete bridge was constructed to replace 'Martin'. And at this very moment this first concrete bridge is being replaced by a new (higher) one to enable bigger ships to use the Albert Canal.

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Re: Sgt. Charles May, Royal Canadian Engineer

Post by Lorraine Campbell » Tue Nov 05, 2019 11:21 pm

I'm am a bit late, but I just wanted to thank you for all your help. Last September, my husband and I flew from Vancouver to London and followed my grandfather's journey from Portsmouth, through Juno Beach, Dieppe, Antwerp, Nijmegen, Kleve and all points in between. With the help of this site as well as a few others, we found the sites (or close to the original sites) of several bridges the 5th were involved in. Churchill and Winston Bridges in Caen, the Stalker Bridge in Troan, France, named after a lieutenant who was killed on Juno Beach and was an admired man of the 5th, the Hilliard Bridge in Tilburg, Holland, the Venlo Bridge over the Meuse River, Holland, the Martin Bridge over the Albert Canal near Herentals, Holland, a Bailey bridge over the Rhine near Arnhem, the Waal Bridge in Nijmegen, the Wessel Bridge in Germany, the Walsh Bridge near Mook, Holland and the MacLean Bridge over the Rhine in Emmerich, Germany. We visited many war cemeteries along the way, as well as anything we could find related to Canadians. Juno Beach, Vimy Ridge and The Abbey Ardenne were especially moving. To stand where my grandfather stood is a feeling I can never explain. We live in Chilliwack, BC and before we left, I gathered small stones from the former CFB location and home of the Engineers and painted Maple Leafs on them and left them at important places on our travels, bride sites and headstones. I carried his Sapper Crest, his photo, a locket with the Engineer insignia on it that he gave me as a child and his French English dictionary that was issued to the men before they left England. It was the most incredible journey and the fitting end to my many years of research. I was always in awe of Gramps. He collected and saved everything and could build something out of anything. Now I know why.. because that is what Engineers do. Thank you for your service and all the help. This is a great site, and as November 11th approaches, we will remember them.
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