Frederick Thomas Arthur Sievers was born September 1, 1877 in Essex, England to his German father Ernest and English mother Harriet. By 1891, the family had emigrated to Canada, living at 179 Fifth Avenue, near Muchmor school. Known more by his middle name Arthur, he was one of eight children born between 1880-1900 (2 older brothers and 5 younger siblings). His father was a lithographic, trained in making books while Arthur eventually became an electrician. In 1914, Arthur volunteered and served in the 13th Infantry Battalion, Quebec Regiment based at Valcartier. This was a prelude to him enlisting the following year. Working in Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay), Ontario, he joined up with the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force on July 2, 1915 with the 52nd (New Ontario) Battalion (# 439477). The 52nd trained in Port Arthur through to early November when they were mobilized for deployment to England. En route by train to Saint John, the Battalion disembarked in Ottawa on November 6, where they were inspected on Parliament Hill by the Governor General, the Duke of Connaught. The Battalion continued on with its journey to Saint John, New Brunswick, finally leaving Canada on November 22 on the SS California, bound for Plymouth.

The 52nd finally arrived in England on December 3, 1915 for six weeks of training at Camp Witley, and was then deployed to Flanders region in Northwestern France on February 21, 1916 where it joined the 9th Brigade of the Third Canadian Division. The 52nd Battalion entered forward areas on March 1, 1916 near Lochre, where they underwent additional training with the Princess Patricia’s Light Infantry for a week. Finally, on March 10, in the Kemmel area in Flanders, southern Belgium.

Over the next 2.5 years, the 52nd is involved in all the major battles involving Canadian forces, including the Battle of the Somme, Vimy Ridge, Ypres, Passchendaele, Hindenberg Line and, eventually, the Battle of the Scarpe.

This latter battle was a key event during the “The Hundred Days Offensive” which began on August 8, 1918. Designed to bring World War One to a close after four long and weary years of fighting, the Canadian Corps were heavily involved in this battle plan. The Battle of the Scarpe was a 5 day battle in Northern France from August 26-30, involving both the 2nd and 3rd Canadian Divisions, including the 52nd Battalion. Although an allied victory which resulted in the capture of 3,300 German prisoners of war, the Canadians, under the command of Lt. General Arthur Currie, incurred almost 6,000 casualties, another horrific price paid as was the case in so many of these battles from 1915 onwards.

On a bright and warm morning after a night of heavy rains, at 11:00 hrs on August 28, the 52nd was one of four battalions of the 9th Brigade ordered to attack on a one thousand meter front and pierce heavily fortified German defenses near Boiry Notre Dame, east of Arras, supported by the Canadian 3rd Division artillery. It was during this action whereby the Canadians seized an important portion of the German Fresnes-Rouvroy defence system and advanced more than 8 kilometers between Boiry and the Cojeul River. Heavy fighting took place and it is surmised that during this morning battle that Private Arthur Sievers, 4 days prior to his 41st birthday, went missing in action. His body was never found.

The ‘Military Medal, with Bar’ is one of the highest decorations awarded to Canadian servicemen, on the recommendation of a commander in chief in the field, to those who display “individual or associated acts of bravery or devotion under fire.” In the 52nd Battalion in World War 1, only 21 of these ‘Military Medal with Bar’ were awarded, one of these to Private Arthur Sievers. In total, only 848 ‘Military Medals with Bar’ were awarded in total to Canadians in all of World War 1.

The memory of Private Arthur Sievers, along with 11,284 other Canadians whose bodies were never found during the Great War, is commemorated on the walls of Canada’s Vimy War Memorial in Pas de Calais, France. In recognition of his bravery and devotion under fire, it is why his name is inscribed with the initials ‘MM’ to acknowledge his accomplishments on the field of battle.

Exactly 100 years after his death, the oldest member of “The 48” is remembered at St. Matthew’s Anglican Church in the Glebe.