Fay, Richard

SOLDIER DETAILS:

Fay, Richard
Private 47th Battalion 654329
September 2, 1918
Vis-en-Artois Cemetery, Harcourt, Pas de Calais, France
Hornby ON near Milton ON
Maple Leaf Legacy Project

Victoria Park Cenotaph
R. Laughton

Commonwealth War Graves

Maple Leaf Legacy Project

Private Richard Fay is remembered on the Victoria Park Cenotaph in Milton. He is buried in Vis-en-Artois Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France.

Plot 2 Row B Grave 18

(shared stone)

Other Links:

	CEFSG Matrix Unit Information - 47th Battalion
	Library and Archives Canada - 47th Battalion
	Nicholson Chapter XIV and Map 12

SOLDIER SUMMARY:

Private Richard Fay was killed the day before his older brother of Charles Fay, during the Battle of Arras in "Canada's Hundred Days". He was the son of Henry and Eva Fay of (Hornby) Milton. Both Fay brothers were awarded Good Conduct Medals in France.

He originally attested to the 161st (Huron) Battalion on January 24, 1916 and was transferred on March 8, 1918 to the 47th Battalion

At the time of his death, Private Fay was with the 47th Battalion (4th Division, 10th Infantry Brigade) and was advancing on the Drocourt-Quéant Line just west of Dury (see center of Map 12). The 47th led the 10th Brigade assault on Dury, the scene of vicious fighting (Nicholson pgs 437, 438) requiring extensive wire cutting. Private Fay was killed by enemy shell fire during the advance.

The battle area, where both Fay brothers perished can be viewed in Google Earth for more details.

Click image to see the D-Q Line

The soldier pages contain information that is available from a number of resources. The following hyperlinks are active where the information is available:

	Soldier Name: Veteran Affairs Canada, Canadian Virtual War Memorial
	Soldier Number: Library and Archives Canada, Attestation Papers
	Cemetery: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Debt of Honour Register
	Remembrance: Maple Leaf Legacy Project, Remembrance of Canada's War Dead

The summary of the service is taken from the soldier's service records, if they were available from Library and Archives Canada. A complete copy of the service record is available in electronic and paper format in the Alex Cooke Memorial Archives at the Milton Historical Society. Using that summary, combined with the key references, a summary of the events leading up to the death of the soldier has been prepared. The research information available is as noted on the Canadian Expeditionary Force Study Group web site Matrix Project as well as in the Library and Archives Canada On-Line War Diaries.

A summary of all the soldiers is contained on the Web Blog "Great War Soldiers of Milton, Ontario CANADA". Please also be sure to purchase your own copy of "Milton Remembers World War I - The Men and Women We Never Knew" by John Challinor II and Jim Dills, edited by Ken Lamb.