Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Royce Coleman Dyer, (February 1, 1889 – December 30, 1918) was a Canadian soldier who fought during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and led a Russian unit during the

North Russia intervention The North Russia intervention, also known as the Northern Russian expedition, the Archangel campaign, and the Murman deployment, was part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War after the October Revolution. The intervention brought a ...

which was part of the

Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War The Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War consisted of a series of multi-national military expeditions that began in 1918. The initial impetus behind the interventions was to secure munitions and supply depots from falling into the German ...

after the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

. He died of

broncho-pneumonia Bronchopneumonia is a subtype of pneumonia. It is the acute inflammation of the bronchi, accompanied by inflamed patches in the nearby lobules of the lungs. citing: Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2014 It is ofte ...

on December 30, 1918, while serving in Russia.

Early life and World War I

The son of the five-term mayor of

Sutton, Quebec Sutton is a town in southeastern Quebec. It is part of the Brome-Missisquoi Regional County Municipality in the administrative region of the Estrie. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 4,548. Known for its scenic landscapes and outdoo ...

, Leon C. Dyer, Royce Coleman Dyer was born in Sutton on February 1, 1889. Before the war he worked as a butcher. Dyer enlisted on September 23, 1914, in

Valcartier 2nd Canadian Division Support Base Valcartier (2 CDSB Valcartier), formerly known as and commonly referred to as Canadian Forces Base Valcartier (CFB Valcartier), is a Canadian Forces base located in the municipality of Saint-Gabriel-de-Valca ...

, Québec and was assigned to the 8th Bn, Canadian Infantry (Manitoba Regiment), the 'Black Devils'. He participated in a number of WWI battles during his service, including the

Second Battle of Ypres The Second Battle of Ypres was fought from 22 April – 25 May 1915, during the First World War, for control of the tactically-important high ground to the east and the south of the Flanders, Flemish town of Ypres, in western Belgium. The ...

. During the

Battle of Mont Sorrel The Battle of Mont Sorrel (Battle of Mount Sorrel) was a local operation in World War I by three divisions of the German 4th Army and three divisions of the British Second Army in the Ypres Salient, near Ypres in Belgium, from 2 to 13 June ...

his actions earned him the

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the British Armed Forces, armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, below commissioned o ...

. During this action he was gassed. After losing consciousness he was found in a ditch two days later, then spent the next month in hospital. After being promoted to

Sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

, he was hospitalized after breaking a rib during the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

, and again knocked out of action after suffering a gunshot wound to the torso.

North Russia intervention

While recovering in England from his bullet wound, he was approached about joining the Special Service Force that was being sent to assist anti-Bolshevik forces near Archangel, Russia as part of the Allied

. He attracted the attention of the unit's commander General Edmund Ironside after his actions while taking the village of Onega, for which he received the

Distinguished Conduct Medal The Distinguished Conduct Medal was a decoration established in 1854 by Queen Victoria for gallantry in the field by Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Army. It is the oldest British award for gallantry and was a second level military ...

Dyer's Battalion

General Ironside needed more men for his Russian occupation force and so looked to recruit local Russians. When enrollment figures came up short he took the suggestion of one of his staff and looked to recruit criminals from the local prisons. Called the Slavo-British Allied Legion (SBAL) he assigned their training to Dyer, who was promoted to

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

. With British, Australian and Canadian officers Dyer created a unit of just under three hundred ex-prisoners. The men viewed their Lieutenant with much respect and took to calling themselves “Dyer’s Battalion.” Encouraged by the progress of the unit Allied Russian command promoted Dyer to captain. During training, disaster struck when he died from

. The unit never recovered but to show their respect the men carried around a huge portrait of Dyer when marching, as is the Eastern Orthodox tradition of an Icon. With their namesake dead, morale in the Battalion plummeted. Dyer had resisted enlisting suspected Bolsheviks but after his death, high command ignored this and many imprisoned Russian Bolsheviks were added to the unit. When the unit was moved to the front lines tensions grew and on July 7, 1919, the men murdered their officers. The mutineers then ordered the soldiers to cross enemy lines and join the Bolsheviks.

Death

Dyer became ill while serving in Russia and on December 27, 1918, he was admitted to the 82nd Casualty Clearing Station in Bakharitza suffering from fever. The medics there diagnosed his ailment as

, then a deadly disease, which he died from three days later, on December 30, 1918. Enlisting in 1914 and dying long after World War I had ended, he was one of the first Canadians to volunteer and the last to die. He is buried at Archangel Allied Cemetery.

Bibliography

Notes References * * * – Total pages: 400 * * * – Total pages: 301 * – Total pages: 322 * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dyer, Royce Coleman 1889 births 1918 deaths Canadian Expeditionary Force soldiers Canadian military personnel of the Russian Civil War Canadian recipients of the Distinguished Conduct Medal People from Sutton, Quebec Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic Burials at Archangel Allied Cemetery Canadian recipients of the Military Medal Deaths from bronchopneumonia Deaths from pneumonia in Russia Canadian military personnel of World War I Canadian military personnel from Quebec Canadian military personnel killed in action Canadian Army soldiers Canadian Expeditionary Force officers