𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐤𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐅𝐚𝐫𝐦. 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐤𝐭 𝐝𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐢𝐣 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝟏𝟗𝟏𝟕.
𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥 comes from Glasgow, Scotland. As a child, he emigrated with his family to Western Canada. In 1916, one month before his 18th birthday, David enlisted for military service. He then works in a bank branch in Vancouver.
On October 30, 1917, his unit, the 72nd Battalion Seaforth Highlanders, stormed Crest Farm. The German stronghold is slightly higher than Passchendaele and is protected by a swamp. Machine guns guard the access roads.
After a fierce battle, the weary defenders of Crest Farm give up. The German artillery quickly takes revenge. Barrage comes down to the Seaforths with great precision.
The 72nd suffers more than 270 casualties: 50 dead and 220 wounded. To date, 43 Seaforths remain missing. We were able to give ten of them a place in the landscape. 19-year-old David is one of them. The young Scottish emigrant was buried near Crest Farm.
Near the monument, two more Canadians were buried. James Abercromby, 21, also from Glasgow, was lying there with 23-year-old stenographer Cecil Lancaster Spence.