BX November 10, 1917

Where Officers of 215th Went – Three Reverted, Two Went as Flyers, All but Two in France

Sergeant James Orr Cooke, late of the 215th Battalion, writes to The Expositor about the whereabouts of the officers of the late 215th Battalion, as follows:

Having received your evening paper dated August 16, 1917, I was surprised to find under the heading “Battalion Notes,” several items concerning the 215th Battalion. It appears some important person attached to the so called “big battalion” has certainly got a wrong impression of the battalion in question. We know it was a bitter pill to swallow, seeing the battalion broken up, but as far as getting used to it, “never.”  Once a member of a battalion, always a member, from my experience while being on active service during this present war.

The staff of the 215th when it left Brantford was equal, and may be better than a number of battalions now in England. As to the paragraph where it says, “what became of the 215th officers,” maybe the writer can tell them. In the first place three of our lieutenants reverted to the ranks in order to go overseas with the battalion; two others have transferred to the flying corps, the balance is in France, with the exception of the two are with the said “big battalion,” so apparently they are not keeping the home fires burning. Another paragraph says; “On the evening of the 215th arriving in our camp, certain things happened.”  But they failed to say what happened to the N.C.O.’s the next morning. Oh yes, we have a soft spot in our hearts for the “big battalion.”  The balance of the 215th boys who were lucky enough not to be transferred to the 125th are all in France. In fact a number of our boys were in France before they were in England, two months that alone speaks for the class of men the good old battalion consisted of.

We are not sore amongst ourselves, but simply want to let the people at home know the members of the old 215th were all men, and will do their duty when called upon.