Brian was "dangerously wounded" in action April 10, 1917 in France while serving with the 72nd Battalion, Canadian Infantry (British Columbia Regemt). He died April 14, 2017. He was buried in Lapugnoy Military Cemetery, Lapugnoy, Department du Pas-de-Calais, Nord-de-Calais, France.
Brian would have died in the Battle of Vimy Ridge which took place April 9-12, 1917. Canadian soldiers were distinguished participants in this battle. There were over 10,000 Canadian casualties (3,600 killed). /Brian Cassidy 2019
Note
Paul Cassidy researched Brian's death and provided the following on May 5, 2023:
1. It is undisputed that the 72nd Battalion fought at both Vimy and at Lens/Arras (the "Battle of Arras”). The entries in the 72nd Battalion’s War Diary for April 4-16 clearly indicate that the Battalion fought at Vimy Ridge from the 9th to the 12th, so in my view it is very safe to assume Private Cassidy fought at Vimy. And we know he was wounded. The questions thus become: in which battle was he wounded, and where did he die?
2. We know from his service record that he was “dangerously wounded” on April 10th i.e. while the Vimy Ridge battle was still going on as it is generally considered to have been fought between April 9th and 12th.
3. And I think it is safe to conclude he was wounded at Vimy because we know from the Battalion war diary that the Battalion did not move in whole or in part to the Lens /Arras area i.e. the Battle of Arras until the 13th of April i.e. after the Battle of Vimy. In other words, as the War Diary indicates, I think the Battalion fought sequentially in these two battles and not concurrently. So far, I have not seen any evidence that would contradict what the War Diary states. I recognize it cannot be concluded that the diaries were 100 % accurate. However, I think it is safe to say that the Vimy battle was of such importance to the Battalion (the first time they fought under unified command with the other Canadian divisions) that the diary writers would have been very careful to be accurate about those events and the Battalion's movements. In any event, it would have been impossible for him to have fought in the Len/ Arras battle from the 13th on as he had already been "dangerously wounded" at Vimy on the 10th.
4. Private Cassidy’s service record indicates he died on April 14th. Unless, as you note, he was sent to and died at some other clearing station, I think we can assume he was evacuated to the 23rd Clearing Station either at the time of his wounds on the 10th or he was sent to the Clearing Station when the whole Battalion moved to Lens/Arras on the 13th only to have him succumb on the 14th and then, like many other Vimy casualties (see note 5 below), he was buried at Lapugnoy Military Cemetery.
5. Thus I believe we can conclude the following: - he fought at Vimy - he was dangerously wounded at Vimy - he was evacuated to the 23rd Clearing Station sometime on or after the 10th and he died there on the 14th.
5. I located the attached government database called the Vimy Casualties List at https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/800002/f10/Vimy-casualties.xlsx It shows many of the casualties from the battle were buried in Lapugnoy Military Cemetery, which, as noted above, is where Private Cassidy is buried. It transparently describes its list as being impossible to verify but it is likely the best list of the 3598 casualties we have to date. Private Cassidy is not on the list. But I think that is because the list is only of those who died from April 9th to 12th. As Private Cassidy did not die until the 14th he could not be expected to be included in this list.
Note
There is a very interesting article in The Province which details a letter from Brian Allan (during the war) to his mother Ella just days before his own death in which Brian describes the hell of war and death of a friend. A copy of the article is in the photo archives on SmugMug.
Note
There are several articles (Vancouver Daily World) about a Brian Cassidy (and friend) both of King Edward High School in Vancouver who rode bicycles from Vancouver to Seattle (with photos). It’s tempting to assume that this is our Brian since the age is about right (he would have been 17 and may well have been in grade 12). If we could prove that our Brian went to King Edward High School, then I think that would be sufficient proof but without more evidence we can’t say for sure that this is our Brian. /Brian Cassidy 8/29/2023