| Stewart reports only that the
battalion was organized in Edmonton, Alberta and that it was
broken up to provide reinforcements. Love tells us that
the unit was absorbed by the 178th Battalion. Forum
members have identified that the 233rd was absorbed by the 178th
as there were minimal numbers, part as a result of the train
wreck and the number of casualties.
CEFSG Forum member Tighe
McManus has put together a summary for the unit, which
we have extracted from the forum and quoted here:
The following is a brief history of the 233rd Battalion. I have found virtually no information on this battalion. Even the usual capsule history on the LAC website is absent. There is no mention of the Manitoba Company of the 233rd Battalion in Bruce Tascona’s “The Militia of Manitoba 1883 – 1979”; nor is there a mention of the Saskatchewan Company of the 233rd Battalion in MV Winton’s “Saskatchewan Prairie Soldiers 1885 – 1980”. Although
J. G. MacGregor in his “Edmonton – A History”, lists many of the Edmonton based CEF units, he makes no mention of the 233rd, appearing to indicate that the 218th was the last Edmonton Battalion to go overseas. There are just the usual brief mentions in the Charlton and Stewart references. Most of this essay comes from newspaper accounts and hence its accuracy is only as good as that of the reporter writing the story – Manitoba Free Press, Edmonton Morning Bulletin, Morning Albertan, Lethbridge Daily Herald and Calgary Herald. It should also be noted that these are articles that I found; there may be many more that I did not find. Thus this history is incomplete.
Edouard Leprohon, the future Commanding Officer of the 233rd Battalion, prior to the outbreak of the war, was associated with the 65th Regiment in Quebec for 18 years. The 65th Regiment was known as the Regiment Carabiniers Mont Royal and according to a newspaper article was the oldest French-Canadian regiment in Canada. When the war broke out, Leprohon joined the 14th Battalion CEF as a junior officer – a Lieutenant. According to the Regimental History, he proceeded to England with the 14th Battalion, but remained in reserve in England when the battalion was in France on 9 Feb 1915. Leprohon joined the 14th Battalion in France on 28 Apr 1915, following the Second Battle of Ypres. On what appears to be 10 Aug 1915, the 14th Battalion was testing out their gas helmets by passing through a trench filled with chlorine gas, when Lt Leprohon’s helmet proved defective and he suffered from gas inhalation and was returned to Canada to recover. The published 9:00 pm Casualty List of 18 Aug 1915 listed Leprohon as accidentally wounded and gassed.
It is interesting to note that the newspaper account of these events presents an entirely different impression. “Lieut-Col Leprohon was gassed at Ploegstrecht, better known as Plug Street, after coming unscathed through the battles of Ypres, St Julien, Festubert and Givenchy.”
During the summer of 1915, Leprohon was at the camp at Niagara-on-the-Lake, when he bumped into Sam Hughes, who referred to him as a Captain, when he was clearly a Lieutenant. When Leprohon advised Hughes of his mistake, Hughes told Leprohon to get another star on his tunic. He was later promoted to Lt Col.
Leprohon was sent west to Edmonton, arriving in that city on 25 Mar 1916. Lt Col Edouard Leprohon was to become the Commanding Officer of the 233rd Battalion. He was to recruit a Battalion of French Canadians. Only French Canadians would be permitted to join. Two companies were to be raised in Alberta, with a headquarters at Edmonton; one company from Saskatchewan; and one company from Manitoba. “The officers, non-commissioned officers and men will be all of the one nationality. Politics will not be allowed to have any weight in the appointment of the officers. Lieut-Col Leprohon has been given carte blanche in this respect, and merit alone will be allowed to count.”
The 233rd was authorized by General Order 69 on 15 Jul 1916, however they began recruiting on 27 Mar 1916. As Edmonton did not have a military camp for training soldiers, on 21 Mar 1916 it was indicated that the Edmonton based units including the 233rd Battalion would train at Sarcee Camp located near Calgary Alberta.
The list of officer promotions and provisional officers to be attached to the battalion was announced on 8 Apr 1916.
Second in Command – Major Thibaudeau
Honorary Paymaster – Hon Captain PE Poirier
Quartermaster – Hon Captain PIL Savard
Captains – Edouard Maihot and L Asselin (Winnipeg, formerly of 222nd)
Qualified Lieutenants – A Boileau and L Larose (Winnipeg)
Provisional Lieutenants - Louis Arsenault, PV Guay, AC Lariviere, August Lessard, Joseph Tessier, and Joseph E Mireault. (The Provisional Lieutenants had to qualify at the School of Infantry in Calgary.)
Examining Physician – Dr Blais
On the 14 Apr 1916, it was announced that James Gray Turgeon, a member of the Alberta Legislature, was listed as a provisional Lieutenant in the 233rd Battalion.
At some point in time, about 150 men who had been raised in St Boniface, Manitoba had gone west to train. Presumably, those who were raised in Saskatchewan would also have gone west to train, but I found no information on them.
On 2 Aug 1916, in a report on Sam Hughes’s inspection tour, it was noted that there were 13 Battalions at Sarcee Camp. None of the battalions was specifically identified by name or number.
On 27 Jan 1917, it was announced that the 233rd Battalion was to send 1 Officer and 4 NCOs or men to attend a 6 day course at the grenade school, to be held commencing 29 Jan 1917 and located under the grandstand at Victoria Park. As both Calgary and Edmonton had a Victoria Park, it is not clear to which Victoria Park the article in the Edmonton Morning Bulletin refers.
It appears as though 300 men of the 233rd Battalion departed Edmonton for points east late on 7 Feb 1917 on a Grand Trunk Pacific train. (Stewart lists the strength as 279.) In the early hours of the morning of 8 Feb, one paper says 0200 hrs, another says 0230 hrs, the train went off the tracks at Fortier, 37 miles west of Winnipeg. The cause was apparently a broken rail and the incident was reported in the newspapers on 9 Feb 1917.
Lt Col Leprohon noted that on Wednesday (presumably 7 Feb 1917), he had received a threatening letter in French, “abusing the unit for enlisting in a cause in which they had no concern” and stating that “the unit would never get east.” According to the Manitoba Free Press, Leprohon thought that the wreck was “an accident not caused by any human agency.” The sub-title for the paragraph in the newspaper is interesting, illustrating some of the hysteria in the country – “Might Be German’s Work.”
The reports of the injuries suffered in the wreck are contradictory. The Manitoba Free Press indicated that about 35 were bruised and scratched but none seriously and that the Medical Officer, Capt Russeau was not hurt. The injured arrived in Winnipeg about 0500 hrs and were taken to St Boniface hospital.
The Winnipeg Telegram indicated that 2 of the injured were near death (one being Dr Russeau who was not expected to recover) and 40 others who were more or less injured including the Commanding Officer Lt Col Leprohon who had severe bruises to his head.
The Edmonton Morning Bulletin, quoting the traffic manager of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway stated, “Nothing more serious than a slight shake-up. All have proceeded east. Advise press to contradict any report of injury.”
According to the Manitoba Free Press, the men of the 233rd Battalion were quartered with the 190th Battalion while in Winnipeg. An outline history of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles indicates that the “190th Battalion was headquartered at the Winnipeg Electric Company Building on the corner of Assiniboine Avenue and Fort Street and on the 2nd Floor of the Hudson’s Bay Company Building at 324 Main Street.”
It appears that the 233rd’s stay in Winnipeg was quite short, as the Manitoba Free Press indicated that they continued their trip east later in the day. The Battalion likely left from Winnipeg’s Union Station, which was close by to where the 190th Battalion was located. Union Station was owned by the Canadian Northern Railway, but the National Transcontinental Railway and the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway were tenants in that station.
Although I was unable to find any information on this next point, presumably at least Leprohon knew about it ahead of time. Due to its small size the 233rd was absorbed by the 178th Battalion. According to Wikipedia and the Canadian War Museum, the 178th began recruiting during the winter of 1915/16 in Military Districts 4 and 5, and in eastern Ontario. The men came mainly from Montreal and the Drummond-Arthabaska region of Québec. The 178th is perpetuated by Le 12e Régiment Blindé du Canada. The 233rd is not perpetuated.
One would presume that 233rd and 178th must have united somewhere in Quebec – possibly near Victoriaville, which was the headquarters for the 178th Battalion. One would also presume that around this time Lt Col Leprohon relinquished command and turned over his men to Lt Col L de la B Girouard, the Commanding Officer of the 178th.
The 178th now with a strength of 20 Officers and 415 Other Ranks sailed to England and was absorbed into the 10th Reserve Battalion, which fed the 22nd Battalion in France with reinforcements.
The 178th Battalion embarked at Halifax on 3 Mar 1917. Their ship, the SS Canada sailed on 4 Mar 1917 and arrived at Liverpool on 15 Mar 1917. At the time, the 10th Reserve Battalion was located at Shoreham and the 178th arrived there on 16 Mar 1917.
It can be noted that certainly by October 1917 Shoreham was no longer a major base for the CEF. It is probable that by this date, the 10th Reserve Battalion was transferred to Bramshott with the other Quebec Regiment Reserve Battalions (the 20th Reserve Battalion and the 23rd Reserve Battalion, which absorbed the 22nd Reserve Battalion in May 1917).
If the numbers are correct, one wonders how the men of the 233rd Battalion felt having provided roughly 64% of the manpower to the 178th, but having lost their identity. Perhaps politics entered the decision here.
With that, the 233rd faded into oblivion, until it was officially disbanded in 1920.
Lt Col Leprohon continued his service. At some time in 1917, he was appointed to the Conducting Staff of the Canadian Transport Service. The newspaper account indicates that he was the commander of the Canadian troops travelling on transports between Liverpool and Halifax.
It was during this job that he had his 3rd brush with death, following his gassing in 1915 and the train wreck in 1917. The troopship “City of Vienna” departed Montreal on 28 Jun 1918 bringing troops to England. That troopship had to make a stop at Halifax for some undisclosed reason, and on the way to Halifax, missed the entrance to the harbour. The ship went too far to the west down the coast of Nova Scotia, and ended up on 2 Jul 1918, wrecked on some rocky shoals. The troops had to be evacuated from the ship and were quartered in military barracks at Halifax until another ship became available. All the 1,400 troops and the crew were safely rescued by fishing boats, a pilot schooner, the lifeboat crews and 700 of the soldiers by an American ship in the vicinity. None other than Lt Col Leprohon was in charge of the troops on the ship.
Lt Col Leprohon only lived for 7 years after the Armistice. He died at the military hospital at Ste Anne de Bellevue at age 66, after a long struggle against “ailments arising out of his war service.” Leprohon’s death was announced in the Lethbridge Daily Herald on 9 Mar 1925.
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