Early in the film Vimy Underground (The History Channel – Nov. 6th, 8pm ET) Lt. Col Shane Schreiver descends into a Cavern near Neuville St Vaast France. The cavern, originally constructed by french farmers to hide in in time of war, was used by Canadian Soldiers during the Great War in the days leading up to the battle of Vimy Ridge. The walls are dotted with carvings made by the soldiers as they waited underground, some carved their names, some made elaborate carvings of regimental insignia, some drew characters, some carved more rudimentary regimental crests. As the camera paused on one of the names carved in the wall my heart jumped. The name, W.S. McNicol, belonged to my grandfather’s best friend, Stewart McNichol. The date showed it was carved on the 28th of March 1917, just eleven days before he was killed at Vimy, only metres after "going over the top" next to my grandfather.
The film, unfortunately doesn’t live up to its promise of those first few moments, and an opportunity to tell more of the stories of these men was squandered. A large part of the film is dedicated to a handwriting analyst, who supposedly can tell from the mens’ carvings what they were like in life, even sitting in on a hypnosis session with her to overcome her claustrophobia so she can go down into the cavern.
The film, to my mind anyway, would have been much better concentrating on the stories of the men who left their marks on a chalk tunnel 90 years ago. The parts of the film that dealt with soldiers, such as Grant Phelps and Alec Ambler (a master stone mason who carved incredible reliefs of regimental crests in the chalk), were great, there needed to be more of that in the film. The part of the film where Ambler’s 81 year old son descended to see his father’s handiwork was especially poignant. There needed to be more of that.
For myself, a personal highlight came early in the film. A carving of the 16th Canadian Scottish crest, carved by my grandfather, his name proudly carved in outline underneath "A.T. KINES" is shown and highlighted by a trench art expert, an overlay of who he was flashed onto the screen. It is a piece of my family’s history that I never knew existed until the film yesterday. A piece of family history that no one in the family knew existed.
By way of disclaimer I should point out that my grandfather’s story was going to be a larger part of this film originally. My father and I were filmed in Roblin talking about Grandpa while going through some of his mementos and photographs. While I don’t believe that not having more of his story included is colouring my criticism of the film, I suppose I must acknowledge that it may. I just think that the story could have painted a much better picture of the men who lived, fought, and sometimes died over there, who left their mark on a chalk wall, long buried beneath the soil of France. Whether those stories included my grandfather or not is irrelevant, but the film should have told more of their stories.
As the film ended there was list of some of the names of the soldiers
on the wall. I noticed four names of men of the 16th, mentioned by my
grandfather in his memoirs or stories, Dan Holmes, Leo Kenny, Stewart
McNicol and Jim Pinnegar. Of the five men, Dan, Leo and Jim were all
wounded at Vimy, Stewart was killed, and only Grandpa came back alone.
I am extremely grateful that the makers of the film revealed a little bit of my Grandfather to the world. I wish they would have concentrated on the soldiers stories, they are what needed to be told.
Comments
13 responses
How wonderful that there was such a personal connection.
Like you, I found it frustrating that they spent time with the graphologist, especially with the hypnotism to get her underground. It was all pointless. I would have been far more interested in seeing the personal stories of the men and they families, as well as the reaction of living relations to the carvings.
It was so wonderful to see the son of one of the carvers, who had a terrible relationship with his father, see the carvings in person and come to an understanding about his father…. so many year later.
My grandfather was a stretcher-bearer with the British Army (as a Church of Scotland minister, he was a conscientious objector but wanted to “do his part”.
He was coming out of Vimy as the Canadians were going in.
From somewhere in the long line of Canadians, he heard a voice calling “Any one know a McIntosh from Newcastle? Any one know a McIntosh from Newcastle?”
He called out “I am!”
It was his cousin from Winnipeg who he had never met in person. They talked as long as they could without stopping, trading news of family, eventually dropping out of earshot.
They both survived the war and kept in touch for years. Unfortunately, we don’t know who the cousin was. My mother would love to know.
Wonderful story Anneke, I’ll send you an email and see if I can help.
I first saw this documentary on the History Channel about a month ago. At one point they showed a list of maybe four names, one looked like L. Ronan, my grandfather, but it was only their for a second or two. Then the Camera panned over and the regimental carving of the Black Watch was filmed. This was the Regiment that my Grandfather fought with and was wounded during the attack on the ridge. They are rebrodcasting on July 1. 2008, but do you know how to get into contact with the maker of this film.
JR
JR,
I had a look at the program again this morning, trying to find your Grandfather’s name. I couldn’t see it, although there were a couple that were similar. There is also a list of names at the end credits that has most of the names that were shown, and again it isn’t there. It doesn’t mean that there isn’t one down there, or that it wasn’t on the program, I may have just missed it.
I’ll send you an email with the contact information for Yap Films.
I watched this story for the first time yesterday Nov 11th 2009 and I agree with the author more time should have been spent on the soliders and less on a neurotic handwritting expert. Is there a list of the names of all the soldiers who left there mark in the tunnels? I would love to see all the signatures and carvings in one spot, and have this open to the public.
Hi Mike,
It is unlikely that the souterraine will be open to the public. The entrance is on private land and I understand the family there has concerns about people visiting, and has restricted access.
There is a partial list of names during the credits to Vimy Underground. I understand there to be many more names then that, but I could be wrong. You may wish to contact Yap Films to see if they have a list.
There are other underground areas with carving, notably at Loos (which I understand are closed to the public and fairly dangerous) and extensive areas at Arras, some of which are open to the public.
I also understand that some of the carvings were copied and were/are on display in an Alberta museum, including those of Alec Ambler. His son, featured in the film, passed away recently.
hello ,
i was just watching show and though that i saw McNichol written on the wall. i began looking on internet for information and this came across this.. can anyone help me find more information on McNichol?
What would you like to know Scott? That’s his picture at the top to the page. I know some of his family (his great-nephew for example). He was single at the time of his death and did not leave any direct descendants).
Stewart enlisted, like many young men in the Roblin area, with the 107th Battalion, Campbell’s Timberwolves. He eventually joined a draft of men for the 16th Canadian Scottish, and was a private with them when he was killed near the start of the battle for Vimy Ridge. He was struck by machine gun fire shortly after going over the top, and died metres from the front line trench. He’s buried at Nine Elms cemetery, north of Arras and near where he fell.
Hi, once again the show on Vimy Underground was on History Channel today and I know that my Grandfather was a part of this battle. Is there a page on the net that might contain more information about this Souterrain. List the names or have pictures of the carvings? Thanks for any assistance you may be able to provide.
Hi Tina, As far as I know there is no website dedicated to this souterraine. I believe there is one from France (in French) that has pages on souterraines in the Great War in general. There is a list of names in the credits, but I have no idea if it is complete. Vimy was a huge battle involving, in one way or another, pretty much all the Canadian Corps, probably 100,000 men at that time.
The souterraine at the time of the battle would have been used mostly by men of the 1st Canadian Division, probably mostly by men of the third brigade.
The entrance of the Souterraine is on private land and I understand that the family has restricted access to it now.
If you are doing research in general on your Grand Father I strongly suggest the Canadian Expeditionary Force Study Group forum. http://www.cefresearch.com/phpBB2/index.php
Its members have a wealth of information and can be of great help. Start off, if you haven’t already, by getting your grandfather’s attestation papers on line and then ordering his service file. Email me if you’d like help with that.
Reading my reply I should clarify that there is a list of names in the credits of the film “Vimy Underground” – not the French website. You might wish to contact Yap Films in Toronto also. They made Vimy Underground and might have a more exhaustive list. They have a website on line that has their contact information on it.
Hi Clare,
I am currently researching the souterraine in which you saw your grandfathers carvings and was very excited to discover your blog. I thought you might like to know that, with the permission of the owners, there is currently a group of archaeologists who are attempting to record all of the names and carvings held within the caves. It is hoped that we will be able to have at least a list of names that are searchable for the public, if not also images of the carvings. I wanted to ask whether you realised that beneath your grandfathers name is that of D.B. Holmes, his friend that you mentioned above. I thought you would like to know that there is a permanent trace of their friendship down there. I would be very happy to email a picture that i have of the carving but i could not get the above link to your email address to work. I was also wondering whether you would be willing to help me in my thesis research. I am trying to highlight the significance of the remains within these caves and the need not only protect them but somehow allow public access to the information, if not the carvings themselves. I was wondering whether you would allow me to use the example of your Grandfather and his friends as a case study to highlight the stories that are held within these carvings that are often missed in official documents. would you be willing to write a short passage on what the discovery of his carving has meant to you and your feelings regarding access to the site or at least the information and images of the carvings.
I would also be extremly appreciative of any information you were willing to share about your Grandfather. Did he speak much of his war time experiences, is it a part of his life that you knew much about?
if you have any further questions about the site i would be very happy to answer them … if i can!
All the best
This is wonderful news Julia. I’ve sent you an email response. The link to my email above is not a link but just an image with the email address to prevent spambots from capturing the address.