Edward Cuno McGill Richer, known to most of his friends and colleagues as McGill, was born Nov 26, 1891 in Hastings, East Sussex, England. He, alone, emigrated to Ottawa and by age 22, is listed as a 2nd Division Civil Servant, and resided at 537 Gilmour Street.

Great Britain, and by extension, all of the British Empire, declared war on Germany on August 4, 1914 when the latter refused to withdraw their invading troops from Belgium. Just six weeks later, McGill Richer enlisted in the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force (Serial #40249) on September 21, 1914 in Val Cartier, Quebec. In his attestation papers, he listed his next of kin as William Richer, his father, in England. 

Likely due to his 3 years of earlier service with various military units including the Duke of Cornwall’s Own Rifles and the pressure of getting trained troops over to Europe, he was immediately awarded the rank of Lieutenant and assigned to the Canadian Field Artillery. He served in various brigades, ending up with the 14th Brigade, 61st Battery of the Canadian Field Artillery, and served with this and other batteries throughout virtually all of World War 1. 

Interestingly, he completes his original posting and is returned to Canada in November 1917, only to re-enlist in Kingston and return to France in February 1918.

The ‘Second Battle of Arras’ took place from August 26 to September 3, 1918 and was a key event in the closing months of the Great War. The allies devised a major strategy called “The Hundred Days Offensive” which began in August, 1918 with the intention of this plan geared towards bringing the war and its’ devastation to a close.  This strategy led to a number of major conflicts along the Western Front in NW France with one of these being the “Battle of Drocourt-Queant Line”, on September 2-3 which involved elements of the Canadian Fourth Division, fighting to take the village of Dury. 

This ‘line’ was effectively a German defensive formation of troops and armaments, stretching between the towns of Drocourt and Queant, consisting of multiple lines of trenches, bunkers, fortifications, machine gun posts and lots of barbed wire. It was the northernmost part of the Hindenburg Line, the most critical defensive position for Germany. 

Supported by tanks and aircraft, the Battle began at 05:00 hrs. on September 2, 1918, with the Canadian Field Artillery’s 61st Battery ordered into action. It laid down a barrage of shell fire with their heavy guns against German positions along these enemy lines. And while Allied heavy guns and mortars delivered this ferocious fire against these targeted and key objectives, they themselves were deemed to be highly valued targets of German artillery. 

The Canadians and our British comrades attacked the southern part of the line with our 4th Canadian Division focused on the centre section. After heavy fighting, victory was achieved but at a most heavy and devastating price. In just this battle, in the first four days of September, Canada suffered more than 5,600 casualties. Reflecting on how difficult this battle was, a total of seven Victoria Crosses were awarded to Canadians for ‘gallantry in the face of the enemy’, the highest honour given to Commonwealth troops in this specific battle. 

On this late summer morning of September 2, a German artillery shell exploded above one of Canadian Field Artillery’s 61st Battery heavy weapons and knocked their gun out of action. This position was led by Lt. Richer, who was severely wounded, along with ten other fellow Canadians, by this barrage of enemy artillery fire which rained down on their location. Lt. McGill Richer was struck both in the face and abdomen by shrapnel and evacuated to the nearby No. 1 Casualty Clearing Station. 

Lt. Richer did not survive for very long. 

After serving for almost four long years, and just seventy days before the end of World War 1, the next morning, September 3, 1918, he passed away from these horrible wounds. He was buried that same afternoon at nearby Ligny-St. Flochel British War Cemetery, along with 631 other Canadian and Commonwealth as well as 48 German servicemen, located in the Pas de Calais region of France. He was 3 months away from his 27th birthday. 

Remembered at St. Matthew’s Anglican Church, Lt. Edward Cuno McGill Richer of Ottawa rests in France today.



Photo: The War Graves Photographic Project By Kevan Pipe.