Jean Longstaff has submitted the following:-

Susanna Herdman (nee Burden) bore eight children two of whom died in childhood, leaving her and her husband Nicholas Rewcastle Herdman with four boys, James, Henry Charles, Bertram born on 14th October 1878, and Robert, all born in Seaham, and two girls, Amy and Annie, born in Sunderland. Father was a grocer and drysalter, supplying salt and chemicals for preserving food, but none of his sons followed in his footsteps. At the time of the 1901 census the family had moved from Southwick to Monkwearmouth where Bertram was working as a clerk and four years later in March 1905 he married Alexandra Boyd in Middlesbrough and moved from Wearside to Teesside where he found a job as a commercial traveller selling books and stationery and lived with the family in Longford Street, Middlesbrough.

With two young children, Edith and Robert, at home with Alexandra, in February 1914 Bertram chose to go to Canada, sailing from Liverpool to Halifax on the Empress of Ireland and settling in Toronto. Were the family intending to follow him? Did the outbreak of war stop them? Instead they never left Middlesbrough and in January 1916 Bertram, who had again been working as a clerk, enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Toronto, becoming Private 799525 of the 134th Battalion. The Battalion had only started recruiting in January and by mid February were up to strength with 1200 men who were billeted at CNE horticulture building barracks before moving to Camp Niagara and from there to Camp Borden. The battalion arrived in Liverpool on 19th August 1916 under the command of Lieut-Col. A. A. Miller having crossed the Atlantic on SS Scotian escorted by HMS Carnarvon and they travelled on to Bramshott on the south coast.

A reinforcement of 350 men, including Private 799525, was drafted to join the 15th Battalion in France in October and after some initial training they joined them on 11th November 1916, and alternated between time in the front line trenches and divisional reserve at Gouy-Servins. Early January 1917 was spent in Corps Reserve at Haillicourt before moving into trenches for a week and then back into reserve. This carried on until the end of March when the battalion marched to Estree Couchee and carried out intense training in bayonet fighting, gas helmet drill and grenade handling as well as platoon and company drill. Prior to moving into the trenches on Vimy Ridge in April they carried out battle practices, and once in the trenches tried, successfully, to destroy as much enemy wire as possible before the main attack on 9th April, which went ahead exactly as planned, but not without casualties, one of whom was Bertram Herdman.

Bertram Gregson Herdman is remembered in Sunderland on S140.048 part 9 page 200

He is also remembered in Canada on their Virtual War Memorial and in their Book of Remembrance.

Canadian Book of Remembrance
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
The CWGC entry for Private Herdman