The 25th Battalion The 25th Battalion (Nova Scotia Rifles) was the first Nova Scotia unit to see heavy fighting during the First World War. Formed in 1914, the 25th was headquartered at the Halifax Armouries and recruited throughout the province. Nicknamed the “Mackenzie Battalion,” it had a strong Highland Scots character. But after just one year of combat, it was almost annihilated. Of the original 1000 officers and men who arrived in Europe in 1915, less than 100 were still standing. The other 900 were killed, wounded, taken prisoner, or missing. With reinforcements, these “Trench Raiders” fought in every major battle of the Canadian Corps, including Ypres, the Somme, Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele, and Canada’s Hundred Days. The 25th is perpetuated by the Nova Scotia Highlanders. William MacHardy 1894 - 1918 Billy MacHardy grew up on a farm in Pictou County, Nova Scotia. He was a teenager when the first airplane flight in the British Empire occurred in his home province in 1909. A school teacher at the outbreak of the Great War in 1914, MacHardy’s fascination with flight led him to enlist with the Royal Flying Corps Canada in 1917. He earned his wings on 18 April, 1918 and was promoted to Second Lieutenant a few days later. That same year, he served with various fighter squadrons of Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) in southeastern France. MacHardy flew his final mission in the hours leading up to Armistice. On 10 November 1918, MacHardy and seven other Bristol airplanes departed Iris Aerodrome (near present-day Clary, France) on a bombing run over Belgium. During intense fighting with enemy aircraft, MacHardy’s plane was shot down killing the 24-year-old pilot and his observer/gunner Lieutenant William Alexander Rodger. MacHardy was likely the last Canadian RAF pilot casualty of the war. On 12 May 2018, a group of volunteers led by MacHardy’s great-nephew, Captain Thomas MacHardy, excavated the crash site in Martinsart, Froidchapelle, Belgium, and recovered the aircraft’s remains. Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 139 Image: Army Museum continued ... Image: MacHardy Family
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