Since today’s the 104th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, I thought I’d share the experiences of one #VimyRidge casualty that I came across during other research: 104632 Private Frank Louis Arnold, husband of Daisy Ellen Arnold.
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Born January 8, 1889, in Indian Head, SK, he attested on 16 July 1915, in Moose Jaw. This portrait and a later one are from his @veteransENG_ca Canadian Virtual War Memorial entry: https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2764772?Frank%20Louis%20Arnold
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Serving with the 3rd Pioneer Battalion, Arnold was wounded for the first time in March 1916 when fingers on his left hand were accidentally crushed. By the end of May 1916, he was pronounced fit again.
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Arnold was wounded for the second time at Vimy Ridge, on 9 April 1917. The 3rd Pioneer Battalion’s war diary noted 7 other ranks killed and 20 wounded that day. Arnold was one of those 20.
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His wounds were serious, and he passed through hospitals in France and the UK in the months that followed. On 22 May, the details were noted in his file in one of its many medical entries: “GSW L. Shoulder. Severe gas gangrene chest. Condition on admission very grave...
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…Operated on 28 April after consultation with expert to find fluid. Resection emphysema. Wound Hameathorax [sic]. Condition very grave for days. Had septic diarrhoea. Very Satisfactory Case.”
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In June 1917 Arnold underwent another operation. Parts of two ribs were excised, and more fluid was drained. His condition improved, but medical problems and treatments continued.
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31 December 1917, Buxton: “Shrapnel bullets entered, while at Vimy Ridge, his left chest one above and one below the middle of the left clavicle, they passed downward and backward, toward the median line and were removed about the 5th and seventh thoracic vertebral spines…
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…Air & discharge come out of the wound along the vertebral border of scapula on deep breathing or coughing.”
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This chest X-ray and the medical notes (only some medical details show up in this thread) are from his service file, held and digitized by @LibraryArchives:
https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/personnel-records/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=13715
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On 8 January 1918: “General condition poor. Has lost about 40-50 lbs. Deltoid (L) wasted. Recommend I to C [invaliding to Canada] as soon as possible surgically.” This second photo shows Arnold some time after Vimy. Note the two wound stripes, the weight loss, and the cane.
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19 February 1918, in Liverpool: “Wound along vertebral border left scapula, centre of which is still discharging. Wound under clavicle in front healed. Limited movement left arm.”
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In early March, Arnold was finally invalided to Canada, then was sent to the military hospital in Moose Jaw, arriving there on 19 April 1918 -- just over one year after being wounded at Vimy Ridge. He died there on December 11, 1918, of empyema.
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The war grave register elaborated: “Toxic absorption from chest abscess, resultant from gun shot wound.” Frank Arnold had spent just over 20 months in hospital following the Battle of Vimy Ridge, and died a month after the armistice that ended the Great War.
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This series of tweets is the result of an accidental research discovery. While working on separate collections research about documents relating to a late 1930s medical claim, I consulted the Veterans Death Cards held by @LibraryArchives: https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/mass-digitized-archives/veterans-death-cards-ww1/Pages/veterans-death-cards.aspx
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Since they’re organized alphabetically but aren’t keyword searchable, I had to work through the cards to find the individual I was interested in, and came across Arnold’s card in the process.
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While these cards are generally postwar, and go up to the early 1960s, they do contain some entries from the war or that started in wartime, such as Arnold’s. His non-standard card with its multiple notations caught my attention, as did the details in his personnel file.
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Fortunately, there are also photographs of Frank Louis Arnold to go with his story. They add his face to his name and his experiences, to share on this #VimyRidgeDay.
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