Sapper Lorne Robert McCaw was born in Timiskaming, Ontario to John and Anna McCaw, the oldest of six children in his family. He grew up in the north and worked primarily as a miner and plumber’s helper in South Porcupine, Ontario. He also did some prospecting and trapping. He served four years in the Algonquin Regiment and had attained the rank of corporal when he was discharged in 1935.
Lorne re-enlisted in the Canadian Army on 10 May 1940 in Toronto and was assigned to the 2nd Road Construction Company, Royal Canadian Engineers who were being assembled at the Canadian National Exhibition Grounds and had recruited extensively across Northern Ontario. He was immediately sent to England and arrived in Aldershot on 21 June 1940.
The 2nd Road Construction Company, with a strength of over 350 all ranks, started on a series of construction tasks, primarily road building both in the many camps being built in southern England, but also on major civilian routes, an underground HQ and a bomber airfield in Dunsfold. Their time was not all engineer work. In August 1940, their machine gunners shot down a German bomber over Aldershot. Lorne continued his personal training over the next few years, qualified as a first-class shot, a Plumber Group ‘C’ and later as an Engineer Fitter. He also took courses in demolitions and mine warfare and participated in large scale exercises in preparation for action on the Continent as the invasion came closer.
Lorne was posted to the 31st Field Company in May 1943 and in August, to the Canadian Engineer Reinforcement Unit, ostensibly in preparation for service in Italy. Instead, he was posted to the 9th Field Squadron, 4th Canadian Armoured Division that October. In December, he was awarded 90 days detention after a 21-day absence. On release, he received a pay increase. He was posted to the 8th Field Squadron in June 1944, and not one to be tied down, went AWL once more until he surrendered in August.
Lorne re-joined his unit in France as they approached the Seine. They built bridges and rafts and were among the first Canadian engineers to cross the river. They then cleared routes to the Somme and at Pont Remy, on 3 September, built the Ward Bridge, a 90-foot Double-Single, named for one of their officers. Soon after, they were in Belgium leading the 4th Division advance to the Rhine. Among their first tasks was bridging the Leopold and Ghent Canals with a 300-foot Bailey bridge under fire most of the time. They continued forward, bridging, repairing routes and lifting mines. Lorne was wounded on 1 October but returned to duty within a few days.
The Squadron was deeply involved in the Battle of the Scheldt as the 4th Armour Division pressed forward in terrain which was not at all suited for tanks forcing them to stay on the roads. They build a floating bridge over the Derivation Canal on 5 October and on 12 October were engaged in the Breskens Pocket supporting the Canadian Scottish Regiment by building a Bailey bridge as the infantry fought hard along a disputed roadway. By 20 October, the 4th Division had crossed the Antwerp-Turnhout Canal on an 8th Field Squadron bridge.
On 21 October, the leading field troop faced eight roadblocks on the route, averaging 200 feet in length with at least 20 felled trees in each. Every third tree was booby-trapped with artillery shells and Teller mines wired from branch to branch. The sappers were constantly under fire from machine guns, small arms and a 20-millimetre cannon as they worked. They lifted Schu mines, R mines, and a 50-kilogram bomb. When a booby-trapped railway gate on the route was pulled open, the explosion killed Lance Corporal MacDonald, Sapper McCaw and Sapper Trihart, and wounded two others.
Sapper Lorne Robert McCaw was buried in a nearby churchyard in Belgium and later moved to the Canadian War Cemetery at Bergen-Op-Zoom in The Netherlands. He was 29 years old.
Note: Lorne's youngest brother Kenneth was 18 when Lorne was killed and was serving in the army at Brantford, Ontario.
Return to Part 5: Tributes to the Fallen Sappers of the Scheldt
