Canada, Dominion. A Fine Father And Son Group, To Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Page Butler And Gunner Alan Page Butler

In addition to being awarded the Canada General Service Medal, he was a Lieutenant Colonel with the 1st Regiment when he received his Colonial Auxiliary Forces Officers' Decoration in 1902. Thomas Page Butler is mentioned in the Canada Gazette of Saturday, July 7, 1883, page 151, as an Advocate for the start up of a new company, the Longueuil Cotton Manufacturing Company Limited. Lieutenant-Colonel Butler was elected as the first President of the Montreal Amalgamated Rifle Association, which was organized on May 3, 1890, chiefly through the exertions of Lieutenant-Colonel, then Captain, John Hood, who commanded the 5th Battalion Royal Scots of Canada from 1891 to 1893. 

 

Private/Gunner Alan Page Butler

His son, Alan Page Butler was born in 1879 in Montreal, Quebec. He served with the 1st Battalion, Prince of Wales' Regiment in Montreal, under the command of his father, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Page Butler, who had taken over the reigns of the reginent in 1889. Alan Page Butler enlisted for South African service as a Private (160) with the Royal Canadian Dragoons, on February 1, 1900 in Montreal. Twenty-five days later, he disembarked at Cape Town on February 26th and would serve with the Royal Canadian Dragoons, 1st Battalion, Canadian Mounted Rifles in Cape Colony. By the end of the year, he returned to Canada "invalided", suffering from "Dysentery" (enteric fever) and was discharged on December 8, 1900 at Montreal. Private Butler is confirmed on the roll for the Queen's South Africa Medal with Cape Colony and Orange Free State clasps, his medal delivered to him in Montreal on July 18, 1901. 

Fifteen years would pass before Butler would enlist for service again, this time in the First World War. He signed his Attestation Paper as a Gunner (1260205) with the Reserve Brigade, Canadian Field Artillery, on April 24, 1916 at Shorncliffe, England, at the age of 37, naming his next-of-kin as Colonel Butler of the Molson Bank of Montreal, stating that he had seven years' previous service with the militia in Montreal, that he was not married, that his religion was Church of England and that his trade was that of Advertising Manager (also acknowledged in his records as Contractor). Two and a half weeks after enlisting, Butler was appointed Acting Bombardier on May 10, 1916. However, he was forced to revert to the ranks on June 17, 1916, due to drunkenness and destroying a Naval Pattern Cup which was the property of a comrade.

He was with the Canadian Field Artillery when he was called for service in the French theatre, arriving in France on July 12, 1916. Upon arrival, he was attached to the 1st Divisional Ammunition Column and arrived as a reinforcement on the 14th. After six months, he was transferred as a Gunner to the Canadian Anti-Aircraft "E" Battery, on January 14, 1917. Butler first entered hospitalization on March 19, 1917, initially treated at No. 14 Canadian Field Ambulance, where he was diagnosed with "Myalgia" (muscle pain, a symptom of many diseases and disorders), then transferred and admitted to No. 3 Canadian Field Ambulance on the 21st, where her would remain for the next six days, before returning to duty on the 27th.

Gunner Butler would be in action with "E" Battery during the Battle of Vimy Ridge on April 11, 1917 when the "Myalgia" would flare up again. By April 12th, his "back (was) stiff & sore", he walked "with a stoop" and had "pain in various joints", forcing him to be admitted to No. 18 Canadian Field Ambulance, followed by his transit via No. 1 Ambulance Train to No. 12 Canadian Field Ambulance that day. After a brief stop at the Casualty Clearing Station, he was transferred and admitted to No. 14 General Hospital at Wimereux on the 13th, where the decision was made to invalid him "sick" from Boulogne to England on April 14th. Upon arrival in England, he was posted to the Canadian Artillery Regimental Depot at Shorncliffe and admitted to the 3rd Western General Hospital at Cardiff on April 15th. After five days at Cardfiff, he was transferred and admitted to the Canadian Convalescent Hospital, Bear Wood, Wokingham, Berkshire, on April 20, 1917, for a one week stay, before being transferred and admitted to the Canadian Red Cross Special Hospital at Buxton, Derbyshire on April 27th.

His tenure at Buxton would be an extended one. In his Proceedings of a Medical Board, dated August 16, 1917 at Buxton, the physician's report went into detail regarding his "Myalgia": It was noted that Gunner Butler, his age now stated as 41, had "Enlisted April 24th, 1916. While in France on March 21st, 1917 suffered from Influenza and severe pains in (the) shoulders, back, hips and knees. Sent to No. 3 Canadian Field Ambulance 6 days, returned to duty 5 days, then sent to No. 12 Field Ambulance, to Base at Boulogne 2 days, then to Cardiff, Bear Wood Wokingham, then to Buxton on April 27th. On admission (he) complained of pain in back, shoulder, back of (the) neck, and knees." The subsequent treatment included warm mineral baths and undercurrent douche, followed by massage. After twelve weeks at Buxton, he was discharged from hospitalization on August 18, 1917.

Four weeks after his hospital discharge, Gunner Butler embarked Liverpool, England for Canada aboard the S.S. Metagama on September 15, 1917. In his Proceedings of a Medical Board at the Discharge Depot in Quebec City, dated October 10, 1917, and now officially diagnosed with "Neurasthenia" (mechanical weakness of the actual nerves), the attending physician summed up Butler's current state: "This soldier is very nervous and depressed. He has tremors of the whole body and has difficulty in walking. This condition developed about February 1917 and is due to service. Heart and lungs are normal, requires suggestive treatment". He was subsequently posted to the Military Hospitals Commission Command (MHCC), "A" Unit, at Military District No. 4 in Montreal as an outpatient, now being treated for "Rheumatism" (any disease marked by inflammation and pain in the joints, muscles, or fibrous tissue, especially rheumatoid arthritis), as well as the aforementioned "Neurasthenia".

The physician at MHCC Montreal noted that Gunner Butler had served sixteen months with the Imperials and seven months with the Canadians and that he had acquired "Rheumatism" while in the trenches, getting "a chill from exposure" in November 1916. From this time, March 15, 1917, he was in poor health but carried on. Then had an attack of fever, and was sent to hospital. Pain in hips, back, shoulders, occasional headache, which sometimes starts in (the) eyes and passes to (the) back of the head". Although he was described as a "well developed healthy looking man", the underlying issues compromised his health, the treatment including stays at a hospital and a convalescent home, massage, phototheraphy and graduated exercises. He was re-assessed by a Medical Board at MHCC in Montreal, where it was noted that he "does not require treatment and should pass under his own control" and that he was "to be examined in six months for re-adjustment of disability". The Medical Board declared him to be Class "E" (Unfit for Service in Categories A, B and C = General Service, Service Abroad and Home Service).

Gunner Alan Page Butler, Royal Canadian Artillery was discharged as being "Medically Unfit for Further Service" at No. 4 District Depot, in Montreal, on March 27, 1918, at the age of 41, credited with having served in Canada, England, France and Belgium. For his First World War service, he was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. Alan Page Butler died on September 17, 1956, at the age of 77 and is buried in Cimetière Mont-Royal, Outremont, Montreal Region, Quebec.