Sergeant Joseph E Flanigan

Sergeant (Army).

Military Medal
Date of award: 1918-02-23
Source: London Gazette, Canadian Gazette: March 30, 1918

Military Medal First Bar
Date of award: 1919-02-11
Source: London Gazette, Canadian Gazette: March 3, 1919

Distinguished Conduct Medal
Date of award: 1919-12-02
Source: London Gazette, Canadian Gazette: January 3, 1920

The name on the attestation paper is written as Flannigan, but the signature spells it Flanigan.

The signature spelling is correct.

MAJOR JOSEPH ERNEST FLANIGAN DCM, MM(BAR)

NOVEMBER 7, 1894 - APRIL 11, 1976

Joseph Ernest Flanigan was born in Maitland, Ontario to Robert Flanigan and Maria Mary Anne Flanigan.

He graduated from the Brockville Collegiate Institute and from the Brockville Business College.

On January 14, 1915 five months after the outbreak of the First World War, Flanigan, 20 signed up and joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Ottawa.

He spent the next few months training in Canada before being sent overseas on the SS Hesperian June 10, 1915.

One year to the day he volunteered to fight in the Great War he arrived in France and was assigned to the 3rd Canadian Signals Company, Royal Canadian Engineers.

He spent much of the first few weeks in France training in the signals company.

From July 1, 1916 to the end of the year Canadian troops along with the French and other Allies fought during the Battle of the Somme.

It was one of the fieriest and deadliest battles of the four year conflict. For a gain of only six miles 836,000 soldiers were killed including 24,029 Canadians.

But it wasn’t until the wee hours of April 9, 1917 that Flanigan, among thousands of other Canadian troops finally earned the respect and the Allies and the German army.

At 5 a.m. during the driving sleet and snow and under a heavy barrage or artillery fire the Canadians began their assault on Vimy Ridge.

It wasn’t long, about an hour, before they had taken the first line of enemy trenches and by mid-afternoon the Canadians had captured the crest of Vimy Ridge except for two positions that eventually fell three days later.

It was for Flanigan’s brave and gallant action during the early part of the Vimy assault that he was awarded his first Military Medal.

The medal is awarded to Warrant Officers, non-commissioned officers for individual or associated acts of bravery on the recommendation of a Commander-in-Chief in the field. On the face of the medal is a bareheaded effigy of Englands King George V, in Field Marshal's uniform, facing left.

The reverse shows FOR/BRAVERY/IN THE/FIELD in four lines, encircled by a laurel wreath and surmounted by the Royal Cypher and Imperial Crown.

His military citation reads:

“For conspicuous gallantry and action under shell fire - this Non Commissioned Officer (NCO) was in charge of the Brigade Communication lines during the VIMY engagement. On the night of 9 April, 1917, he commanded a group of linesmen laying and maintaining communication lines throughout this period, working incessantly, night and day.

He was buried in the tunnel at Battalion Headquarters for four hours and managed to escape during heavy bombardment. He carried on in control of his men until permanent communications was permanently established to Brigade Headquarters on Hill 145.”

Six months later, during the Battle of Passchendaele Flanigan would receive his second recognition for bravery the bar to the Military Medal.

It was during his actions in the wee hours of October 26, 1917 at Waterloo, Belgium that Flanigan’s actions were recognized by his field commanding officer.

The following is taken from a entry in the War Diary of the 3rd Canadian Division Signal Company and written by Major Allan Leavitt.

October 27, 1917

Orders received that offensive will be resumed on the 30th and all are busy improving existing communications and laying new lines . Enemy shelling heavy.

October 28, 1917

Inspection of all means of communication prior to the attack. No. 4 Section relieved by No. 2 Section. All communication working well. No. 2 Section under Lt. Frampton have telephone communication to advanced Battalion Hqrs at Bellevue which lines though frequently cut by shell fire are quickly repaired. The work of the linesmen with the different brigade Section and with the Div Hqrs has been beyond praise. All ranks have done excellent work.

In addition to telephone communication; wireless power buzzer, visual and pigeons are being used. Wireless however is practically useless on account of number of stations in the area and the great amount of jamming. No. 2 Section under Lt. M Gill not using power buzzer but relying on lines and visual.

The work of No 113014 L/Cpl Flanigan of No. 4 Section during the attack on the 26th said is worthy of special mention and he has been recommended for the Military Medal. Enemy shelling heavy.

Flanigan’s citation for which he received the bar to the Military Medal reads:

“For conspicuous gallantry and resourcefulness under shell fire. This Non Commissioned Officer (NCO) was in charge of the Brigade forward lines during the BELLEVUE engagement. On the night of the 25th/26th October, he superintended the laying of two metallic circuits and a ladder line from cable head to Battalion Headquarters at Waterloo, and during the whole of the succeeding day and night he worked continuously in his endeavours to maintain these wires under exceptionally heavy concentrated bombardment.

He repaired over 50 breaks, and although blown into a shell hole and rendered temporarily unconscious and on recovery although in a dazed condition, he carried on until communications were permanently established.

On October 30, 1917 in the mud and driving rain, Canadian shock troops, as they had become to be known, carried out their assault on the Passchendaele Ridge and captured it by November 10. The cost to the Canadian Expeditionary Force had been horrific. More than 16,000 men were either killed or wounded all for just a gain of four and a half miles.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill later described the Battle of Passchendaele as “a forlorn expenditure of valour and life without equal in futility.”

During the summer of 1918 the Allies made plans for one final assault to the end of the war.

To spearhead the attack the Canadian Corp was placed in the vanguard. At 4:20 a.m. on August 8 the Canadians charged forward on a front 8,500 yards wide.

By nightfall they had advanced eight miles. Although there was still fierce fighting ahead this was the beginning of the end with the Allies as victors.

It was for his unselfish efforts and extraordinary brave actions during the operations prior to the Cambrai engagement in October that Flanigan, just 23 years old, would receive the second highest decoration for bravery the Distinguished Conduct Medal.

His citation reads:

During the operations in the battle before Cambrai from the 26th September to the 2nd October 1918, he was in charge of a group of linesmen laying and maintaining the telephone lines from the brigade report centre to the headquarters of the battalions.

Throughout this period he worked incessantly night and day laying new lines and repairing breaks and by his great personal gallantry and able control of his men maintained this most important part of the brigade’s inter-communications.

In March 1919, four months after the Great War ended Flanigan returned to Canada aboard the SS Olympic, the sister ship to the Titanic. The luxury liner was converted into a fast to a troop transport in September 1915 by the British Admiralty. From 1916 to 1917, Olympic was chartered by the Canadian Government to transport troops from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Britain.

When he returned home he enlisted in the Brockville Rifles retiring in 1933 at the rank of Major.

On December 31, 1928, Flanigan married Agnes Reynolds at the Church Around-The-Corner in New York City.

After the war Flanigan returned to his family home in Maitland. When his parents passed away he inherited the home where he would begin to raise his family, daughters Joan and Jill and son Derek.

For years and as a result of the his experience during the First World War, Flanigan often woke up in the middle of the night several times a week feeling claustrophobic and would walk to Brockville and back about 5km down the road to get some fresh air. He blamed it on being buried in a tunnel for several hours during the battle for Vimy Ridge.

He also suffered from being a victim of a Mustard Gas attack by the Germans during the war that later ailed him.

Flanigan and his family moved to a larger home “Stoneacres” located between Brockville and Maitland in about 1935.

For 40 years he and his wife operated a very popular antique store. Flanigan was a charter member of the Canadian Antique Dealers Association.

On April 11, 1976 he passed away at St. Vincent de Paul Hospital in Brockville. He was predeceased by his son Derek who died in a boating accident in 1963.