Archie Dagg was born in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, the son of William and Isabella Dagg. He grew up in North Battleford and reeived his schooling at the Connaught School. He had three brothers and four sisters. He enlisted in the 14th Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers in Saskatoon on 8 June 1940.
Archie joined his unit at Camp Dundurn, Saskatchewan and in October relocated to Camp Petawawa, Ontario. They boarded a ship in February 1941 and after 14 days on board in Halifax Harbour, set sail for the United Kingdom arriving in Aldershot on 2 March.
As a Corps Troops unit, the 14th Field Company was essentially employed on works projects – camps, roads, airfields, defence works. In August 1942, Archie was posted to the 2nd Canadian Division Engineers, initially to the 11th Field Company and later to the 2nd Field Company in February 1943. After leaving the 14th Field Company, Archie would have spent the better part of the next year and a half perfecting bridging, mine lifting and route clearance skills.
Archie’s company disembarked in France on 6 July 1944 and immediately started clearing the routes through Caen, bridging the Orne River and participating in the key battles to close the Falaise Gap. They worked on the approaches to the Seine and participated in operations to cross the river. An advanced reconnaissance party from the unit were among the first Canadian soldiers to re-enter Dieppe when it fell on 1 September 1944. By 10 September, the company was in Ostend, Belgium putting the routes in and out of the port back into operation. By the end of September, they had worked their way as far as Antwerp and were preparing for operations to clear the Beveland Approaches.
On 2 October 1944, the 2nd Field Company had been clearing routes in support of 2nd Division units. After a couple of hard days of such work, Archie was in a rest area examining a captured German automatic pistol when it went off and severely wounded him in the stomach. He was taken to the 9th General Hospital where he later died of wounds. An inquiry ruled the incident an accident, as opposed to a self-inflicted wound, and blamed Archie’s unfamiliarity with the weapon. He is buried in Schoonselhof Cemetery in Antwerp. He was 25 years old.
Archie had two brothers who served overseas. His brother Lloyd served in the Regina Rifles Regiment and was returned to Canada after being seriously wounded in France.
Return to Part 5: Tributes to the Fallen Sappers of the Scheldt