Dan McIsaac and Jim Taylor

Dan C. McIsaac and James Arthur "Red Jim" Taylor were Nova Scotian coal miners, and friends, who served during World War One.

Dan McIsaac was born on May 5, 1892, in Port Hood, Inverness County. Mining ran in the family, as it so often does, and McIsaac joined his father, Daniel Sr., and older brother, John, working in the mines sometime before 1911.

McIsaac later moved to Pictou County, where he continued to work as a coal miner.

Jim Taylor was born on August 13, 1882, in St. Mary’s, Guysborough County. His father, a bootmaker, died in 1901, and his mother died in 1908. Following his mother’s death, Taylor moved to Stellarton, where he lived with a younger sister, Bess, and worked in the coal mines.

Following the outbreak of the First World War, the abundance of fit, young men in Nova Scotia’s mining communities attracted the attention of military recruiters. This was particularly true during the early months of 1916, when representatives of the Nova Scotia Highland Brigade’s four battalions canvassed the entire province in search of soldiers.

McIsaac and Taylor were mining buddies and on March 19, 1916, they enlisted together with the 193rd Battalion (Nova Scotia Highlanders) at Stellarton. The photo below shows the two friends, with McIsaac on the left and Taylor on the right.

By December 1916, McIsaac and Taylor were in England where they were transferred to the 42nd Battalion (Royal Highlanders of Canada). They crossed the English Channel to France the next day and there, their paths parted.

Taylor was later transferred to the 85th Battalion and fought in the Battle of Vimy Ridge, which is considered an important milestone in Canada’s history.

Pre-dawn on April 9, 1917, the Canadian assault on Vimy Ridge began. While some units made steady progress toward their objectives, soldiers attacking Hill 145, the Ridge’s highest feature, encountered fierce resistance from the Germans.

Battle continued throughout the day but with the push on Hill 145 stalled, Taylor’s company was one of two ordered into the fray that evening.

While artillery units were initially scheduled to provide a covering barrage, commanders cancelled it at the last minute, concerned that the artillery could kill Canadian soldiers trapped on the hill. As a result, the two companies left the trenches and started up Hill 145 at 6:45 p.m. without artillery support.

In a fierce firefight that lasted approximately 15 minutes, soldiers from the 85th drove the Germans from the western side of the hill and down its eastern slope.

Over 40 soldiers from the 85th were killed in the attack, and many others were wounded.

Taylor was among the casualties evacuated, but he died from his injuries the next day. He was laid to rest in Villers Station Cemetery, Villers au Bois, France.

Dan McIsaac joined the 42nd Battalion in the field on January 2, 1917, and served on the front lines until February 23, at which time a medical examination determined that he suffered from defective hearing. He continued to serve in the Canadian Corps Salvage Company, which gathered reusable material in the forward area and stored it for future use, and in the 8th Canadian Area Employment Company, one of the support units that provided manpower for things like traffic control, road building and logistics.

His impaired hearing, however, could not be ignored and he was returned to England in December 1918. He was discharged from military service at Halifax in March 1919.

McIsaac went to work at the Inverness coal mine, which today is the site of world-class golf course, Cabot Links, an example of how former and mines and quarries can go on to serve communities after extraction is complete.

Sadly, McIsaac was killed at the mine on February 7, 1924, by a “fall of stone,” as the Department of Mines annual report described the accident. Three other miners – Archibald A. McIsaac, Neil McIsaac and Daniel McDougall – were also killed.

McIsaac was 31 years old at the time of his death. He left a widow whom he had married after the war.

Historical accidents like this are partly why the modern mining industry is so safety focussed - Nova Scotia's mining and quarrying industry has reduced its injury rate 90% since the Westray public inquiry report of 1997.

Our thanks to https://guysboroughgreatwarveterans.blogspot.com/ and www.capebretonmilitaryhistory.com/ for research about McIsaac and Taylor.

Our thanks to all veterans for their service.

The two friends, with McIsaac on the left and Taylor on the right.