World War I Fallen: I-M

Roy Iliffe was born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, on July 6, 1886, the son and youngest child of George (born 1847 in Newdegate Square, Nuneaton) and Caroline Laura (neé George, born 1846 in Wales) Iliffe. George and Caroline were married in October 1875, in Middlesex, England. Together, their union blessed them with six children: Laura Marion (born August 4, 1876); Oliver George (born February 4, 1878, would serve with the Royal Army Medical Corps); Gwendolen Mary (born February 16, 1881); Kathleen Margaret (born October 23, 1882); Gladys Myfanwy (born September 4, 1884); and Roy Spencer (born 1886). Roy Spencer Iliffe was baptized on October 3, 1886, in Nuneaton.

In 1891, George and Caroline Iliffe, along with their six children—Laura, Oliver, Gwendolen, Kathleen, Gladys, and Roy (age four)—were residing in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, where George supported his family working as a pharmaceutical chemist. Also residing with the Iliffe family at that time were Harriet Davies, a 24-year-old domestic housekeeper; Maria Jones, a general servant, age 20; and boarder Valentine Barford, a 26-year-old chemist’s assistant. Ten years later, in 1901, the entire Iliffe family—George and Caroline, and children Gwendolen, Kathleen, Gladys, and Roy (age 14)—along with their 17-year-old domestic housemaid, Annie Penfold, were residing in Nuneaton, Warwickshire.

In 1906, 20-year-old Roy lost his mother Caroline, who passed away at the age of 61 in England. In 1911, widowed father George, along with his daughters Gwendolen and Gladys, and his son Roy, 24, and their general servant, 21-year-old Ellen Knight, were residing in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. George Iliffe was still employed as a pharmaceutical chemist, and Roy worked as a bank clerk.

Sometime after 1911, Roy Iliffe immigrated to Canada and came to reside in Sarnia. From August 12 to September 21, 1914, Roy served with the St. Clair Borderers in Sarnia. On August 4, 1914, the United Kingdom declared war on Germany. Canada and Newfoundland, as colonies of Britain, were bound by the Mother Country’s decision and thus automatically at war.

On September 22, 1914, Roy, age 28, enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force in Valcartier Camp, Quebec. He stood five feet five-and-three-quarter inches tall, had grey blue eyes and dark brown hair, and was single at the time. He recorded his trade or calling as clerk, and his next-of-kin as his father, George Iliffe, of Newdegate Sq. Nuneaton Wk., England.

Roy embarked overseas on October 3, 1914, part of the First Canadian Contingent. A little more than 31,000 men, 100 nurses, and over 7,000 horses, departed the port of Quebec aboard an armada of 30 ocean-liners, hastily painted in wartime grey and bound for the United Kingdom.

Arriving in England in mid-October, Roy became a member of the Canadian Infantry, 1st Battalion, Western Ontario Regiment, with the rank of private. The First Contingent underwent rigorous training over the cold, wet winter of 1914-1915 at Salisbury Plain, England.

Two months after arriving in England, in December 1914, Roy received the sad news that his father, George, had passed away at the age of 67 in Nuneaton, England.

In early February 1915, the then named First Canadian Division, including the 1st Battalion, embarked for the trenches in France. Arriving at the front, Canadian soldiers found themselves in a cratered, eviscerated wasteland of mud, wasted vegetation, and unburied bodies. For two weeks at the end of February 1915, the 1st Canadian Division had its first taste of action when each of its brigades did a seven-day familiarization tour with British units. On March 3, the Canadians took over 6,400 yards of the front near Armentieres, supported a British attack, and suffered their first casualties.

On March 17, 1915, Roy was diagnosed with bronchitis and admitted to No. 1 Canadian Field Ambulance in Sailly. He was returned to duty nine days later.

In early April 1915, Roy arrived along with the rest of the 1st Division of Canadians at the Ypres salient battlefield in Belgium, an area traditionally referred to as Flanders. They were positioned at the centre of the salient jutting into the German line. The battlefield was an enormous open graveyard, a quagmire of mud and shallow trenches, littered with human excrement, pools of water and unburied corpses. They were surrounded on three sides by enemy soldiers and artillery. 

It was here that the Canadians engaged in their first battle of the war, the Second Battle of Ypres—their baptism by fire. It was where the Germans unleashed the first lethal chlorine gas attack in the history of warfare. In the first 48 hours at Ypres (April 22-24), there were more than 6,000 Canadian casualties— one Canadian in every three became casualties with more than 2,100 died and 1,410 were captured. 

On April 22, 1915, Private Roy Iliffe lost his life while fighting on the first day of the Second Battle of Ypres, in Belgium. He was initially reported “killed in action between April 22 and April 30, 1915.”

Roy’s Circumstances of Death Register records the following: Date of Casualty: 22/30-4-15. “Killed in Action”. Location of Unit at time of Casualty: VICINITY OF ST. JULIEN. No record of burial. His Commonwealth War Graves Register includes No record of burial. Unofficially reported to have been buried on banks of Yser Canal 2 miles from Ypres.

Roy Iliffe was killed approximately eight months after the start of the war, and on the first day of Canada’s first major battle. According to Sarnia Observer reports at the time, Roy was the first man from Sarnia to lose his life in the Great War.

Roy Iliffe, 28, has no known grave. He is memorialized on the Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial, Belgium, Panel 10-26-28.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

Amos Iveson was born in Drobak, Norway, on February 27, 1887, the son of John and Mary (nee Swanson) Iveson of Norway. At some point, Amos immigrated to Canada and came to Sarnia and resided at 264 Cobden St. At age 29, Amos enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force on March 14, 1916, in Sarnia. He stood five feet seven inches tall, had brown eyes and brown hair, was single, and was residing at 178 Cameron Street at the time. He recorded his trade or calling as sailor, and his next-of-kin as his mother Mary Iveson in Drobak, Norway. Amos Iveson initially became a member of the 149th Battalion.

One year after enlisting, on March 12, 1917, Amos, 30, married 26-year-old Mary Ada (nee Donohue, of Courtright, Ontario) in Sarnia. Mary Ada, who went by her middle name Ada, was born September 6, 1890, in Moore Township, Lambton County, the daughter of Michael James, a farmer, and Sarah Alice (nee Hardick) Donohue. Ada was baptized on September 21, 1890, at St. Joseph’s Church in Corunna.

Ada Donohue came from a sprawling family. Her parents, Michael (born March 1857) and Sarah (born November 1862), married on June 29, 1881, in Sarnia, and they had nine children together: George Lawrence (born April 1882); Martha Jane (born February 1884); John Sylvester (born August 1887); Margaret Alice (born November 1888, died before 1891); Mary Ada; James Harvey (born May 1894); Edward Roy (born July 1897); William Thomas (born April 1899); and Helen Loretta (born April 1907).

Ada’s brother, Edward, was conscripted into service under the Military Service Act of 1917. Enlisting in early January 1918, Edward departed Halifax bound for the United Kingdom on February 5, 1918. Eight months later, on October 29, 1918, he arrived in France as a private in the 47th Battalion. Less than two weeks later, the Armistice was signed to end the Great War. Edward Donohue returned to Canada in July 1919. His brother-in-law from Norway would not be as fortunate.

Two weeks after marrying Ada, Amos departed for war. He embarked overseas from Halifax on March 25, 1917, aboard S.S. Lapland, and arrived in Liverpool, England, on April 7, 1917. From the Segregation Camp he was taken on strength into the 25th Reserve Battalion stationed at Bramshott. Ten months later, in mid-February 1918, he was still at Bramshott, then as a member of the 4th Reserve Battalion. The following month, on March 28, 1918, and just over one year after getting married, Private Amos Iveson became a member of the Canadian Infantry, 18th Battalion, Western Ontario Regiment. He arrived in France the next day with the 18th Battalion. Two weeks later, in mid-April 1918, he arrived at the front lines. 

While Amos was overseas, Ada gave birth to their baby girl, Amy Patricia (Pat) in Corunna. Amos sent letters home to Ada back in Courtright, and Ada would bake cookies to send to Amos by post on the battlefield. She would press their baby daughter’s hand on each one. Sadly, Pat Iveson would never know her father.

Approximately four months after arriving in France, Amos Iveson was embroiled in The Hundred Days Campaign, one that featured intense fighting as the end of the war neared. Fought between August 8 – November 11, 1918, in France and Belgium, it was the “beginning of the end” of the Great War. Canadians were called on again and again over the three-month period to lead the offensives against the toughest German defences. The series of victories repeatedly drove the Germans back, culminating in Germany’s unconditional surrender on November 11, but it came at a high price: approximately 46,000 Canadians were killed, wounded, or missing.

The first offensive in the Campaign was the Battle of Amiens in France (August 8-14, 1918), a truly all-arms battle, one in which all four Canadian divisions were involved. Over the course of one week, in a battle that British Field Marshal Douglas Haig called “the finest operation of the war”, the Canadians would advance nearly 14 kms.

The second offensive in the Campaign was the Battle of Arras and Breaking the DQ Line in France (August 26-September 3, 1918), where Canadians were part of a spearhead force tasked with crashing one of the most heavily fortified positions, the Hindenburg Line—a series of strong defensive trenches and fortified villages. General Sir Julian Byng called the Canadian victory at the 2nd Battle of Arras and breaking of the DQ Line “the turning point of the campaign”, but it came at a cost of 11,400 Canadian casualties. 

Five months after arriving in France, on August 27, 1918, Private Amos Iveson was killed during an attack by an enemy shell, while fighting in the 2nd Battle of Arras. He was initially reported as “Wounded and Missing after Action”, and later recorded as “Now for official purposes Presumed to have Died on or since 27-8-18.” Amos Iveson’s Circumstances of Death Register records the following: Date of Casualty: On or since 27-8-18. “Previously reported Wounded and Missing, now for official purposes presumed to have died.” When last seen he had been wounded in the arm by shrapnel from an enemy shell, while taking part with his Company in an attack near Vis-en-Artois in front of Arras.

In 1921, Amos’ widow, Ada, and their four-year-old daughter, Pat, were residing in Moore Township, with Ada’s parents Michael (a farmer) and Alice Donohue, along with four of her siblings: John Sylvester (age 34, a farmer); Edward Roy (age 23, a sailor); William Thomas (age 22, a farmer); and Helen Loretta Donohue (age 14, a student).

Fifteen years later, Amy “Pat” Iveson married. After obtaining their marriage license on August 24, 1936, in North Bay, 19-year-old Pat married 26-year-old truck driver Lawrence Albert Muxlow on September 5, 1936, in Kearney, Parry Sound, Ontario. The bride and groom were both from Courtright. Lawrence and Pat had 11 children together: Alice, Margaret, Charles, Robert, James, twins Ronald and Donald, Mary, Bill, twins Jerry and Lynn (sadly, both Jerry and Lynn died at birth). Their third child, and first boy, was named Charles Amos, to honour Pat’s father.  

Ada never remarried. She raised her daughter, Pat, on the family’s dairy farm in Courtright and worked alongside her brother John Donohue. They raised cattle and chickens and sold milk, cream, and eggs. Ada kept the letters that Amos had mailed home to her while he was overseas. Her grandchildren remember the letters sitting on their grandmother’s dresser. The granddaughters used to peek at them as kids and have a wee giggle, as they always started with, “To my Dearest Ada”.

Amy Pat (nee Iveson) Muxlow passed away at the age of 42 on December 27, 1959, in Sarnia. She is buried in St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery in Corunna. Her mother, Ada Iveson, passed away at the age of 80 in February 1970. After her death, no one knows what happened to the letters that Amos had mailed to her. Ada is buried alongside her brother, John Donohue, in St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery in Corunna. 

Thirty-one-year-old Amos Iveson has no known grave. He is memorialized on the Vimy Memorial, Pas de Calais, France.

NOTE: The spelling of Amo’s surname “Iveson” used in this Project is based on Amos Iveson’s own signature on his Marriage Certificate and in his WWI Personnel File (although the odd time, he did sign as Iverson). Even in his Personnel File, most documents have his surname spelled “Iveson”, and a few as “Iverson”. On the CWGC and CVWM websites, and on the Vimy Memorial, his name is recorded as Amos Iveson. On the Sarnia cenotaph, his name is inscribed as A. Ireson.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

Frederick Johnson was born in London, Ontario, on September 24, 1888, the son of James and Amelia Julia ‘Delia’ (nee Cahill) Johnson. James, born in September 1868 in Ontario, married Amelia, born June 14, 1862, in Portsmouth, England, on June 29, 1887. Their union blessed them with four children: Frank Lawrence (born May 17,1887 in Middlesex County); Frederick; Charlotte May (born December 15, 1890 in London, Ontario); and Edward Norman (born January 27, 1894 in Petrolia). Frederick was baptized at St. Peter’s Cathedral in London, Ontario, on November 4, 1888.

Twenty-seven-year-old Frederick Johnson enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force on October 9, 1915, in Sarnia. He stood five feet nine inches tall, had blue eyes and brown hair, was single, and was residing on Rose Street in Sarnia at the time. He recorded his trade or calling as labourer, and his next-of-kin as his father James Johnson of Piccadilly Street, London, Ontario. His next-of-kin was later changed to his mother, Mrs. James Johnson of 278 Rose Street, Sarnia. Frederick initially became a member of “A” Company of the 70th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force. He embarked overseas bound for the United Kingdom on April 26, 1916, aboard S.S. Lapland.

Private Frederick Johnson arrived in England on May 5, 1916. Six weeks later, on June 28, 1916, he was transferred to the Canadian Infantry, 24th Battalion, Quebec Regiment at Shorncliffe. The next day, he arrived in France. Two weeks later, on July 14, 1916, Frederick arrived at the front lines with the 24th Battalion.

            Five months later, in December 1916, Frederick mailed a letter from France to his brother Frank, at 516 Christina Street, Sarnia:

Well, I suppose you heard all about the Canadians down on the Somme. We had some hard fighting and we beat the Huns at every turn and I came out with the best of luck. We were a hard looking lot of fellows. We were mud from head to foot, but we don’t mind that as long as we are beating the Huns and taking his trenches. They won’t stand and fight with us for they don’t like the bayonet. I suppose old Sarnia is just the same old place.

Your loving brother, Pte. Fred Johnson

In the spring of 1917, Private Frederick Johnson and his battalion made their way to an area in northern France dominated by a long hill known as Vimy Ridge. The Canadians arrived at the Vimy front in staggered marches, beginning in late October 1916. The muddy, cratered western slope was an immense graveyard, littered with the remains of thousands of unburied corpses and fragments of bodies. Above them, the Germans had transformed the ridge into a virtually impregnable defensive position with deep concrete dugouts, rows of barbed wire, underground tunnels, and multiple lines of soldiers with rifles, mortars and machine guns, all protected by artillery. The Canadians were tasked with capturing the ridge, something that French and British troops had failed to do.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge (April 9-12, 1917) was the first time (and the last time in the war) that all four divisions of the Canadian Corps, with soldiers from every region in the country, would surge forward simultaneously. The four-day victory at Vimy Ridge was a seminal battle, a turning point in the war for the Canadian Corps and a significant victory for Canada, later referred to as “the birth of a nation”.  Of the 97,000 Canadians who fought at Vimy Ridge, approximately 7,004 were wounded and 3,598 were killed in four days of battle. The first day of the battle, April 9, 1917, was the single bloodiest day of the entire war for the Canadian Corps, and the bloodiest in all of Canadian military history.  

On April 9, 1917, ten months after arriving in France, Private Frederick Johnson was killed in action during fighting on the first day of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Another Sarnian, David Kerr of the Royal Canadian Regiment, also lost his life in the same battle on the same day (David Kerr is included in this Project).

Frederick Johnson’s Circumstances of Death Register (which has his surname misspelled as Johnston) records the following: Date of Casualty: 9-4-17. “Killed in Action”. Location of Unit at time of Casualty: AT VIMY RIDGE. It was in the May 11, 1917, edition of the Sarnia Weekly Observer that Sarnians learned the news that Private Fred Johnson of the 70th Battalion, transferred to the 24th Mounted Rifles, was killed in action April 9, 1917 at the Battle of Vimy Ridge, France.

In late May 1917, Frederick’s mother Amelia, received a letter in Sarnia from the 24th Battalion Chaplain, Captain C. Stuart. The following is a portion of that letter:

Dear Madam,

I am sorry to have been so long in writing to express my sympathy with you in the loss of your son, Pte. F. Johnson, No. 124029, of this battalion, who was killed in action on April 9th…. Your son as you know, was killed in the advance at Vimy Ridge and was buried there in a forward cemetery on the Ridge itself, side by side with his comrades. One can only express to you our deep sympathy and appreciation of the life and the noble example of your son. He was always so cheerful in his work and in his whole life as a soldier that he won a feeling of respect and esteem with both officers and men. His loss is one which we all feel, and yet how better can a man die than in defence of a cause which defends his home, his country and his God.

I always feel so strongly that these lads are continually in the presence of God, that when the end comes, he goes to meet them with hands outstretched, saying, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of the Lord.” For it is a good faithful service they have rendered, the same sort of service which Jesus Christ himself offered in His life, and death on the Cross. But one knows the sadness his loss must bring into your heart, and one can only pray that these may be also a pride and solace in the thought that he has lived and died as a Christian soldier… May God send you His Holy Spirit to comfort you in these sad days.                              

Yours faithfully, C. Stuart, Chaplain, 24th Can. Bn.

Twenty-nine-year-old Frederick Johnson has no known grave. He is memorialized on the Vimy Memorial, Pas de Calais, France. 

NOTE: The spelling of Frederick’s surname as “Johnson” (vs. Johnston) used in this Project is based on the spelling found most often in his genealogical records and the documents in his WWI Personnel File. In his file, most of the time, Frederick signed his own surname without the “t”, but a few times he included it. On the CWGC and CVWM websites, his name is recorded as Frederick Johnson. On the Sarnia cenotaph, his name is inscribed as F. Johnston.

Frederick Johnson’s younger brother, Edward Norman Johnson, also served in the Great War. He enlisted five months after his older brother Frederick had enlisted. Edward enlisted in Sarnia on March 30, 1916, at the age of 22. He was residing at 273 Shamrock Street, and recorded his occupation as labourer. He became a member of the Lambton 149th Battalion, CEF. Almost one year later, on March 2, 1917, Edward married Elizabeth Caroline Carter in Point Edward. Less than four weeks later, on March 28, 1917, Private Edward Johnson embarked overseas from Halifax bound for England. Less than two weeks later, his older brother Frederick died in action in France.

Exactly one year after he had departed Canada, on March 28, 1918, Private Edward Johnson arrived in France as part of the 47th Battalion, Canadian Infantry. Just over four months later, Edward became part of Canada’s Hundred Days Campaign (August 8 – November 11, 1918, in France and Belgium). This campaign was the “beginning of the end” of the Great War. Canadians were called on again and again over the three-month period to lead the offensives against the toughest German defences. The series of victories repeatedly drove the Germans back, culminating in Germany’s unconditional surrender on November 11, but it came at a high price: approximately 46,000 Canadians were killed, wounded, or missing.

The first offensive in the Campaign was the Battle of Amiens in France (August 8-14, 1918), a truly all-arms battle, one in which all four Canadian divisions were involved. Over the course of one week, in a battle that British Field Marshal Douglas Haig called “the finest operation of the war”, the Canadians would advance nearly 14 kms.

On August 8, the first day of the Amiens offensive, Private Edward Johnson was wounded slightly, yet remained on duty.

The second offensive in the Campaign was the Battle of Arras and Breaking the DQ Line (August 26-September 3, 1918), where Canadians were part of a spearhead force tasked with crashing one of the most heavily fortified positions, the Hindenburg Line—a series of strong defensive trenches and fortified villages. General Sir Julian Byng called the Canadian victory at the 2nd Battle of Arras and breaking of the DQ Line “the turning point of the campaign”, but it came at a cost of 11,400 Canadian casualties.

On the last day of this second offensive, September 3, Edward Johnson was again wounded in action. This time by shell fragments and/or shrapnel that caused “multiple gun shot wounds” in both feet, his thigh, and his left arm. Initially, Edward was treated at No. 33 Casualty Clearing Station, but the damage to his “shattered” left arm was so bad that it had to be amputated two days later at No. 2 Stationary Hospital in Abbeville. Edward was returned to England where he underwent a number of operations—including the removal of chunks of metal and pieces of bone and the re-amputation of his arm on October 21, 1918.

Edward Norman Johnson survived the war, and was invalided to Canada on September 11, 1919. More than a year later, he was discharged as medically unfit for service in late October 1920 in Toronto. Edward and his wife Elizabeth resided in London, Ontario, for a number of years after the war before returning to Sarnia and residing at 124 Brock Street.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

George Johnston was born in London, Ontario, on March 25, 1881, the son of William Harry and Mary Catharine (nee Walker) Johnston, of 182 Napier Street, Sarnia. George had at least one sibling, William Harry Jr., born April 19, 1891, in Sarnia. On September 28, 1915, in Sarnia, George Johnston, 34, a machinist at the time, married Isabella Morgan, a Montreal-born widow who was residing in Detroit, Michigan at the time. Isabella, 39, was the daughter of Stephen Mallette and Isabelle (nee Chapleau) Morgan.

When George, 36, enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force in Windsor two years later on December 28, 1917, the couple were residing on 12th Street in Detroit, Michigan. He stood five feet six-and- a-quarter inches tall, had grey eyes and dark hair, and recorded his trade or calling as woodworker and carpenter, and his next-of-kin as his wife Isabella Johnston of 878 12th Street, Detroit, Michigan. George became a member of the 7th Field Company, Canadian Engineers Training Depot (CETD). He embarked overseas bound for the United Kingdom on February 28, 1918, aboard S.S. Metagama.

George disembarked in England on March 11, 1918. By May 21, he was stationed at Seaford where he became a member of the Canadian Engineer Railway Battalion (CERB). One month later, on June 23, 1918, he was posted to the Canadian Engineers Reinforcement Pool (CERP). The following day, George arrived in France. One week later, on July 2, 1918, George became a member of the Canadian Engineers, 5th Battalion, with the rank of Sapper.

He was soon embroiled in the intense fighting of Canada’s Hundred Days Campaign. Fought between August 8 – November 11, 1918, in France and Belgium, it was the “beginning of the end” of the Great War. Canadians were called on again and again over the three-month period to lead the offensives against the toughest German defences. The series of victories repeatedly drove the Germans back, culminating in Germany’s unconditional surrender on November 11, but it came at a high price: approximately 46,000 Canadians were killed, wounded, or missing.

The first offensive in the Campaign was the Battle of Amiens in France (August 8-14, 1918), a truly all-arms battle, one in which all four Canadian divisions were involved. Over the course of one week, in a battle that British Field Marshal Douglas Haig called “the finest operation of the war”, the Canadians would advance nearly 14 kms.

The second offensive in the Campaign was the Battle of Arras and Breaking the DQ Line in France (August 26-September 3, 1918), where Canadians were part of a spearhead force tasked with crashing one of the most heavily fortified positions, the Hindenburg Line—a series of strong defensive trenches and fortified villages. General Sir Julian Byng called the Canadian victory at the 2nd Battle of Arras and breaking of the DQ Line “the turning point of the campaign”, but it came at a cost of 11,400 Canadian casualties. 

The third offensive in Canada’s Hundred Days Campaign was the Battle of Canal-du-Nord and Cambrai in France(September 27-October 11, 1918). Against seemingly impossible odds and a desperate and fully prepared enemy, the Canadians fought for two weeks in a series of brutal engagements. They successfully channel through a narrow gap in the canal, punched through a series of fortified villages and deep interlocking trenches, and captured Bourlon Wood and the city of Cambrai. General Arthur Currie would call it “some of the bitterest fighting we have experienced” and it came at a cost of 14,000 Canadian casualties.

On October 6, 1918, just over three months after arriving in France, Sapper George Johnston was wounded in action by enemy gunfire while fighting in the Battle of Canal-du-Nord and Cambrai. He was taken to No. 22 Casualty Clearing Station with a gunshot wound in the right thigh, recorded as “wounds, GSW R thigh, dangerously ill”. George died that day as a result of his wounds. His Circumstances of Death register records the following: Date of Casualty: 6-10-18. “Died of Wounds.” At No. 22 Casualty Clearing Station. Bucquoy Road Brtish Cemetery, Ficheux, South of Arras, France.  

In mid-October 1918, George’s brother, Harry Johnston, at the Wanless Grocery store in Sarnia, received a telegram informing him of his brother George’s circumstances of death—that George had lost his life at the 22nd Clearing Station, as a result of gunshot wounds to his thigh. Approximately one month after George’s death, the Armistice was signed ending the Great War.

George Johnston, 37, is buried in Bucquoy Road Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Grave IV.E.2.

In 1921, George’s parents were still residing at 182 Napier Street in Sarnia. Harry, 71, was still working as a watchman and Catharine, 72, was a housewife. Isabella Johnston, George’s widow, later remarried and resided in Torrance, California, as Isabella Fulton.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

George Jones was born in Sarnia on December 12, 1898, the youngest child of William Andrew and Georgina Ella (nee Ford) Jones. William and Georgina were married on May 24, 1886, in Port Huron, Michigan. Though both children were born in Sarnia—William (born January 7, 1864) and Georgina (born September 8, 1862)—their parents and George’s grandparents were born in the United States.

William and Georgina were both residing in Sarnia when they married, where William was employed as a painter. They resided at 167 Cameron Street, and they had five children together: William Andrew Jr. (born April 14, 1887); Ellen Elizabeth (born October 11, 1891); Carrie (born December 22, 1893); John Austin (born December 24, 1895) and George Andrew. Tragedy struck the Jones family on September 19, 1894, when first born William Andrew Jr., age seven, passed away as a result of appendicitis in Sarnia.

On Canada Census records, the Jones family was recorded as being of the “African” or “Negro” race. On George Jones’ Attestation papers, he was recorded as being of the “Black race”.

Like so many others swept up in the excitement and patriotism that characterized the First World War, young Black Canadians were eager to serve king and country by volunteering to serve in the conflict overseas. When the war broke out in 1914, a surge of volunteers enlisted, so the supply of men exceeded demand; therefore, since recruiting officers could afford to be selective, the “race” criteria factored into acceptance. No existing official government legislation authorized discrimination against coloured people, and no current military regulation prevented enrollment of coloured men into the military; however, at the start of the war, racist beliefs prevalent in the military that reflected those of the larger society, resulted in visible minorities such as Blacks, Ukrainians and Japanese being excluded from the First Contingent.

Despite being willing to serve, many potential recruits were told by unit commanding officers that they were not wanted by the Canadian military. This unofficial policy kept most black Canadians from enlisting for the better part of two years, although some did manage to convince sympathetic commanding officers to allow them into mostly white units. The decision to allow Black Canadian recruits to join was left up to the local recruiting and commanding officers. Individual Blacks were permitted to enlist if such local regiments as would accept them.  So, despite the barriers, hundreds of Black men from across the country did manage to join up during the opening years of the war. 

In the summer of 1916, when recruiting sources had largely dried up, army officials overlooked many of the racist beliefs in the forces, and allowed minorities to serve. But even then, most Black soldiers who served in the CEF remained segregated in labour units. In one case, after two years of tireless lobbying by black leaders, and with the assistance of supportive white Canadians, the government even authorized a black battalion in July 1916, the No. 2 Construction Battalion, which once overseas, was very much in demand.

However, some combat soldiers of colour did serve in combatant roles. Tim Cook, a Canadian historian, author, and research professor, researched the issue of discrimination while looking at soldiers’ letters, journals and diaries. He discovered that once in Europe, most non-Anglo-Saxon Canadian soldiers didn’t experience the same type of racism they experienced at home. “Black soldiers were accepted…They sang the same songs, they stood shoulder to shoulder, they dug the same trenches. They went over the top together.”

George’s older brother, John Austin Jones, also served in the war. He enlisted approximately 15 months before George did. John Jones, 21, enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force on January 25, 1916, in Sarnia. He stood five feet eleven-and-a-half inches tall, had brown eyes and black hair, was single, and was residing at home with his parents on Cameron Street at the time. He recorded his trade or calling as painter, and his next-of-kin as his father, William Andrew Jones, of 167 Cameron Street, Sarnia. John Jones became a member of the 149th Battalion, CEF. Just over six months after enlisting, on August 3, 1916, John Jones married 22-year-old Elizabeth Ethel Hunt in Sarnia. Elizabeth was born in London, England, the daughter of Harry and Louisa (nee Thurlow) Hunt. Elizabeth had immigrated to Canada in 1913.

Private John Jones embarked overseas on March 28, 1917, aboard S.S. Lapland, arriving in England on April 7, 1917 (his brother George would enlist one month later). Once in the U.K., John became a member of the 25th Reserve Battalion (Western Ontario Regiment) at Bramshott, and was later transferred to the 2nd Canadian Pioneers. Seven months after arriving in England, John arrived in France on November 27, 1917, as a Sapper with the Canadian Engineers.

On June 22, 1918, he was transferred to the 6th Battalion, Canadian Engineers, and the next day arrived with that unit at the front lines. John Jones was soon embroiled in Canada’s Hundred Days Campaign (August 8 – November 11, 1918, in France and Belgium). His brother, George, also found himself part of Canada’s Hundred Days Campaign, one that featured intense and brutal fighting as the end of the war neared.

Sapper John Jones survived this final campaign and the war. Six months after the war’s end, he was discharged on demobilization on May 29, 1919, in Ottawa. He returned to Sarnia and resumed his pre-war life. He and his wife Elizabeth resided at 179 Cameron Street, just down the street from John’s parents, and John’s job as a painter supported his family. In 1920, Elizabeth gave birth to their daughter, Marion. On November 5, 1967, World War I veteran John Austin Jones passed away at the age of 72. He is buried in Lakeview Cemetery in Sarnia.

Eighteen-year-old George Andrew Jones enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force on May 14, 1917, in Sarnia. He stood five feet seven inches tall, had brown eyes and black hair, was single, and was residing at home with his parents on Cameron Street at the time. He recorded his trade or calling as painter, and his next-of-kin as his father, William Andrew Jones of 167 Cameron Street, Sarnia. George became a member of the 63rd Depot Battery, Canadian Field Artillery with the rank of gunner. Seven months after enlisting, on December 14, 1917, George embarked overseas bound for the United Kingdom aboard S.S. Missanabie.

Gunner George Jones arrived in England on December 19, 1917, and was in Glasgow on December 31, 1917. He became a member of the Reserve Battalion, Canadian Field Artillery stationed at Witley. Three months later, at the end of March 1918, George arrived in France where he joined the Canadian Corps Reinforcement Camp (CCRC). Days later, on April 4, 1918, he was transferred from the Artillery Pool and became a member of the Canadian Field Artillery, 4th Light Trench Mortar Battery.

Four months after arriving in France, George found himself engulfed in Canada’s Hundred Days Campaign (August 8 – November 11, 1918, in France and Belgium). It was the “beginning of the end” of the Great War. Canadians were called on again and again over the three-month period to lead the offensives against the toughest German defences. The series of victories repeatedly drove the Germans back, culminating in Germany’s unconditional surrender on November 11, but it came at a high price: approximately 46,000 Canadians were killed, wounded, or missing.

The first offensive in the Campaign was the Battle of Amiens in France (August 8-14, 1918), a truly all-arms battle, one in which all four Canadian divisions were involved. Over the course of one week, in a battle that British Field Marshal Douglas Haig called “the finest operation of the war”, the Canadians would advance nearly 14 kms.

The second offensive in the Campaign was the Battle of Arras and Breaking the DQ Line in France (August 26-September 3, 1918), where Canadians were part of a spearhead force tasked with crashing one of the most heavily fortified positions, the Hindenburg Line—a series of strong defensive trenches and fortified villages. General Sir Julian Byng called the Canadian victory at the 2nd Battle of Arras and breaking of the DQ Line “the turning point of the campaign”, but it came at a cost of 11,400 Canadian casualties. 

The third offensive in Canada’s Hundred Days Campaign was the Battle of Canal-du-Nord and Cambrai in France(September 27-October 11, 1918). Against seemingly impossible odds and a desperate and fully prepared enemy, the Canadians fought for two weeks in a series of brutal engagements. They successfully channelled through a narrow gap in the canal, punched through a series of fortified villages and deep interlocking trenches, and captured Bourlon Wood and the city of Cambrai. General Arthur Currie would call it “some of the bitterest fighting we have experienced” and it came at a cost of 14,000 Canadian casualties.

On September 27, 1918, six months after arriving in France, Private George Jones was wounded in action by enemy artillery fire while fighting during this third offensive of Canada’s Hundred Days Campaign. He was admitted to No. 33 Casualty Clearing Station with “shell wound right buttock”. A week later, on October 5, he was recorded as “dangerously wounded”. On October 7, he was at No. 20 General Hospital, Dannes, Camiers, recorded as “now reported dangerously ill”. On October 8, 1918, George Jones lost his life as a result of the wounds received.

In mid-October 1918, William and Georgina Jones on Cameron Street received a telegram from England and Ottawa with news of their youngest son informing them that 334403, PVT. GEORGE ANDREW JONES, ARTILLERY, PREVIOUSLY REPORTED DANGEROUSLY WOUNDED, NOW REPORTED DANGEROUSLY ILL AT 20TH GENERAL HOSPITAL, DANNES, CAMIERES.

Approximately one month after George Jones death, the Armistice was signed ending the Great War. George Jones’ Circumstances of Death Register records the following: Date of Casualty: 8-10-18. “Died of Wounds.” (Shrapnel wound, right buttock). At No. 29 General Hospital, Camiers. Etaples Military Cemetery, France. The following is from the October 17, 1918, edition of the Sarnia Observer that provided details of his life and his death:

Local Man Dies of Wounds

The citizens of the city will regret to learn of the death of another of Sarnia’s war heroes in the person of Private George Andrew Jones, of the artillery, a message arriving to that effect. The young man was a son of Mr. and Mrs. W.A. Jones, 167 Cameron Street, and was known as a quiet, unassuming young fellow and well liked by all who knew him. He went overseas a couple of years ago with an artillery draft of the 63rd battery. He was in his 20th year, and is survived by his parents, two sisters, and a brother Private Austin Jones, now with the Canadian forces in France.

William and Georgina Jones resided at 167 Cameron Street in Sarnia their entire lives. Georgina passed away on June 17, 1929, in Sarnia at the age of 67. She was buried in Lakeview Cemetery, Sarnia.

George Jones, 19, is buried in Etaples Military Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France, Grave LXVI.H.17. On the Sarnia cenotaph, his name is inscribed as A. Jones.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

David Kerr was born in Newton Grange, Midlothian County, Scotland, on September 5, 1881, the eldest child of Alexander and Helen ‘Ellen’ (nee Hare) Kerr, of Scotland. Alexander Kerr, born April 23, 1856, in Scotland, and Ellen Hare, born March 16, 1858, were married on November 21, 1879 in Newbattle Manse, Scotland. They had four children together: sons David, and Thomas Harwell (born August 13, 1883); and daughters Euphemia Hare (born September 3, 1885), and Jane (Jennie) Meek (born January 24, 1889).

In 1901, at age 19, David Kerr was residing in Musselburgh, Scotland, and was working as a coal miner, like his father. All their lives were to change dramatically in the next few years. The following year, on April 13, 1902, David’s mother, Ellen, passed away as a result of lung and heart problems at the age of 44. In June 1903, Alexander remarried, this time to Ellen Reid (born June 29, 1870), in Scotland. Shortly after, the Kerr family decided to immigrate to Canada. On July 11, 1903, David and his family departed from Glasgow, Scotland, and arrived at the port of Montreal aboard the Corinthian. On October 25, 1905, in Halifax, Ellen gave birth to a son, Alexander Jr., a half-sibling for David.

Two years later, on August 18, 1905, David Kerr, age 23, a labourer at the time, married 20-year-old Agnes Druscilla (nee Siddall) in Sarnia. Agnes was born on June 26, 1885, in Sarnia Township, the youngest daughter of Robert John Siddall, a farmer in Sarnia Township, and Mary Ann (nee Laforge) of Wellington Street, Sarnia.

Four years earlier, in 1901, 16-year-old Agnes was residing with the Hanna family in Sarnia and was employed as a servant. The Hanna family included father William John Hanna and his second wife Maude (nee MacAdams), along with their three children: William Neil, Margaret, and Katherine Hanna. Agnes Siddall’s employer, William John “Jack” Hanna, was an influential and well-respected member of the community—he was a lawyer and a member of the Ontario legislature. One of the Hanna children, William Neil, served in the Great War and tragically lost his life only days after the Armistice. Willam Neil Hanna’s story is included in this Project.   

David and Agnes Kerr resided first at 310 Cromwell Street, and later at 136 N. Brock St. in Sarnia. They had four children together: Alexander Hugh (born June 14, 1906); twin girls Florence Mae and Helen Fidelis (born May 21, 1908); and Angus Stewart (born July 28, 1911). David was a well-known singer in Sarnia who sang on special occasions in connection with the different churches in the city. He was, for a few years, connected with the Prudential Life Insurance Company (as an agent), and was a member of the old Concert Band.

Thirty-three-year-old David enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force on January 15, 1915, in Sarnia. He stood five feet seven-and-a-half inches tall, had blue eyes and fair hair, and was married with four young children at the time. He recorded his trade or calling as labourer, and his next-of-kin as his wife Agnes Kerr, of 136 Brock Street, Sarnia. He also recorded that he had prior militia experience with the 27th Regiment.

He initially served as a private with the 34th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force. Five months later, in June 1915, he was promoted to sergeant, receiving a raise in pay from $20 to $25 a month. On August 17, 1915, David Kerr embarked overseas bound for the United Kingdom aboard S.S. Hesperian.

Arriving at Devonport, England, on August 26, 1915, David became a member of the 9th Reserve Battalion, “B” Company, stationed at East Sandling. From October 18 to November 12, 1915, he attended a military school in Shorncliffe where he earned a certificate in a bomb-throwing course. In mid-December 1915, the Sarnia Observer printed a letter that David Kerr had mailed to them from East Sandling Camp, Shorncliffe, England. Following is a portion of that letter:

Dear Mr. Editor

Allow me a small space in your valuable paper to let you know how the Sarnia boys are faring in England. We left Canada on August 17, and had a very good trip overseas until we came into the danger zone, then we had to

sleep on deck all night, so as to be ready for the life boats in case the German subs were near, but luckily for us they

let us pass, but the Hesperian was doomed on her return trip to Canada. She landed us at Devonport on the 26th of 

August, and was sunk on Sept. 4th, so when we heard about the mishap to her we said: “God bless the Germans”, but we thought of other words which would look bad on paper.

Now I’ll start with our camp life here. The first is the weather, which is very bad. It rains every other day, and the mud is supreme. Salisbury was no worse than Shorncliffe. The mud is ankle deep, but the boys shut their eyes and plough, which is the only way to do, as we have come too far to kick now…. Now for our training, which finished Saturday, December 4, after 14 weeks pretty hard drill. We get up at 6 a.m., fall in at 7:30, physical drill till 8, breakfast 8:15, fall in at 9, inspection by company officer, then we have an inspection by the colonel, which takes about an hour, and we have to stand at attention all the time; but thank God, the Brigadier put a stop to that. You had to shave, clean your buttons and shoes, and if he couldn’t see his face in your buttons it was Orderly room at 4 p.m. The boys call him some funny names. We have three route marches a week, from ten to fifteen miles, and full marching at that…. One thing we miss here is the brown shoes which were issued to us in Canada. We have the black ones here, with heel plates and hob nails, but they are good shoes for marching with, though when we go up town you would think it was a team of Clydes we make so much noise on the pavement….

We are attached to the 9th Reserve Battalion and they come from Edmonton, but the most of them have either been wounded, killed or taken prisoners, and we are filling up the gaps. They are coming and going all the time. I will give you an instance, it is hard to believe but is nevertheless true. I shook hands with a Sergeant going out on draft on Thursday morning and I was in Folkestone on Saturday evening watching the hospital ship come in, and the same Sergeant was the second man to come ashore, wounded, shot through the left shoulder. We are only six hours

journey from the trenches. We can hear the big guns bombarding the Belgium coast, so you see it doesn’t take long to get put out of commission over there. All the boys here are ready for the fray. I don’t think it will be long till they get their wish, as the quartermaster sergeant has everything ready for them. I don’t think I will get away with them, as I am instructing in bomb throwing. I was at school for a month for instruction and I got through with a first class certificate. I go to London next week to finish my course in explosives.

The scenery around here is lovely. We have lots of old land marks, such as the oldest house in Kent, and that makes the route marches more agreeable to the boys, and they enjoy them. The people have always a cheery word for the Canuck’s wherever we go, and the roads are good, which makes it better for us.

Now about the food; the most important factor of all. Well, it is wholesome and we get plenty of it…. The men have porridge, bacon and tea, bread and butter for breakfast and it is changed from time to time. For dinner they have roast, spuds, stew, at times it is always changed. Supper, tea and different kinds of fruit. I pay six cents for extras in the sergeant’s mess, and we feed good. I have to see the rations we are getting, and I know I never felt better in my life.

Well, Mr. Editor, all the Sarnia boys join me in wishing you and your staff and readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and tell the young men of Sarnia that they are needed here to do their bit. We don’t want Sarnia the Imperial City to have the name of having “Slackers” in its boundaries. From the boys of the Second draft of the old 34th Battalion, C.E.F. I remain one of the boys,

Sergt. D. Kerr

In mid-March 1916, David Kerr spent five days infirmed at Moore Barracks Hospital, Shorncliffe, due to bronchitis. Fifteen months after arriving in England, on November 27, 1916, he was transferred from the 9th Reserve Battalion to the Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) with the rank of Sergeant. Sergeant David Kerr arrived in France with the RCRs the next day.

His regiment made its way to an area in northern France dominated by a long hill known as Vimy Ridge. In late October 1916, the Canadians began arriving at the Vimy front in staggered marches. The muddy, cratered western slope was an immense graveyard, littered with the remains of thousands of unburied corpses and fragments of bodies. Above them, the Germans had transformed the ridge into a virtually impregnable defensive position with deep concrete dugouts, rows of barbed wire, underground tunnels, and multiple lines of soldiers with rifles, mortars and machine guns, all protected by artillery. The Canadians were tasked with capturing the ridge, something that French and British troops had failed to do.

A little over two months after arriving in France, in early February 1917, David Kerr spent two weeks infirmed at No. 8 Canadian Field Hospital and Corps Rest Station due to influenza. After his release from hospital, David rejoined his unit at Vimy Ridge.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge (April 9-12, 1917) was the first time (and the last time in the war) that all four divisions of the Canadian Corps, with soldiers from every region in the country, would surge forward simultaneously. The first day of the battle, April 9, 1917, was the single bloodiest day of the entire war for the Canadian Corps and the bloodiest in all of Canadian military history. The four-day victory at Vimy Ridge was a seminal battle, a turning point in the war for the Canadian Corps and a significant victory for Canada, later referred to as “the birth of a nation”.  Of the 97,000 Canadians who fought at Vimy Ridge, approximately 7,004 were wounded and 3,598 were killed in four days of battle. 

Just over four months after arriving in France, on April 9, 1917, Sergeant David Kerr of the RCR, was killed in action while fighting on the first day of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. His Circumstances of Death register records the following: Date of Casualty: 9-4-17. KILLED IN ACTION. Location of Unit at time of Casualty: ATTACK AT VIMY

RIDGE. La Chaudiere British Cemetery, 3 miles South South West of Lens, France. Remarks: Exhumed from 1 ½ miles South of Givenchy-en-Gohelle, 4 ¾ miles South South West of Lens. Sheet 44a.S.27.b.7.6.

Sarnians learned of David’s death on the front page of the April 27, 1917 Sarnia Weekly Observer, with the first line: Word was received here Tuesday of the death in action of Sergt. David Kerr, a well known and popular young Sarnian. David later received The 1914-15 Star citation. Another Sarnian, Frederick Johnson of the 24th Infantry Battalion, also lost his life in the same battle on the same day (Frederick Johnson is included in this Project).

David Kerr left behind his wife, Agnes, and their four young children (ages 6 through 11), who were residing at Market Square in Windsor, Ontario, at the time of his death. The Kerr family later resided at Field Avenue, Detroit, Michigan.

David Kerr, 35, is buried in La Chaudiere Military Cemetery, Vimy, Pas de Calais, France, Grave IX.B.12. On his headstone are inscribed the words ASLEEP IN JESUS BLESSED SLEEP FROM WHICH NONE EVER WAKE TO WEEP. WIFE AND FAMILY.  

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

Albert Harold Willsea Ketch was born in Oil Springs, Ontario, on July 16, 1894, the only son of Albert Edward and Helena Pamelia (nee Willsie). Albert Edward Ketch was born on December 26, 1870, in Manchester, England. Fifteen years later, in 1885, he arrived in Toronto, and entered the printing establishment of Warwick Brothers. He remained in Toronto for three years, and then went to London, Ontario, where he attended a military school for three years, and then a cavalry school in Quebec for three months. He returned to London and worked in different offices until 1893, when he came to Alvinston, Ontario.

Eight years after immigrating to Canada, on October 7, 1893, Albert Edward Ketch married Helena Pamelia Willsie (born April 1869 in Avon, Ontario) in Alvinston. Albert purchased the Oil Springs Chronicle, and ran it for six years. After selling the paper in August 1899, he purchased the Alvinston Free Press. In the meantime, the Ketch family was expanding with the birth of three children: eldest son Albert “Harold” Willsea (1894); and daughters Lylla Marilla (born January 1896), and Clara Hazel (born October 1897, later resided in London, Ontario, employed at the London Free Press).

Harold Ketch came from a military family. His father Albert (Edward) Sr. had first-class certificates from Military College, and from London; and his uncle, Robert Ketch, was an officer who was killed in the trenches of France in March 1915. A cousin, Henry Ketch, was also killed at the Dardanelles—there were only 35 soldiers left out of 1,000 who were trying to land at that time.

Harold had a rather tumultuous time in his teens due to events beyond his control. As a young boy, he was an enthusiast in baseball, football, and hockey, but tragedy struck him when he was 15 years old—his 39-year-old father, Albert Sr., passed away on November 3, 1909, in Alvinston, the result of coronary disease. He is buried in Alvinston Cemetery. Less than two years later, on July 12, 1911, 42-year-old widow Helena Ketch remarried in Sarnia, to 52-year-old widower, James N. Dodd. Both were residing in Alvinston at the time, and later moved to 108 Durand Street, Sarnia.

After his father had passed away, Harold left high school at the age of 15. He took charge of the printing office of the Alvinston Free Press and devoted himself to it full time. Realizing the importance of an education, he returned to school two years later and obtained his second-class certificate. He had experience in several well-equipped offices, such as The Montreal Herald, and the Simcoe Reformer. He then returned once again to take charge of the Alvinston Free Press. Harold was a member of the St. Clair Press Association and the Canadian Press Association.

Twenty-year-old Harold Ketch enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force, 48th Highlanders, in Toronto on May 10, 1915. He stood six feet and three-quarter inches tall, was single, and recorded his trade or calling as printer, and his next-of-kin as his mother, Mrs. J.N. Dodd of 108 Durand Street, Sarnia. He also recorded his birth

year as 1893 (not 1894, the correct date) making himself one year older than he actually was. Harold completed a course as a signaller in Toronto and was transferred to the 35th Battalion, “D” Company, Canadian Expeditionary Force. He embarked overseas bound for the United Kingdom on October 16, 1915, aboard S.S. Metagama.

Just over four months after arriving in the U.K., in early March 1916, Harold Ketch became a member of the 24th Battalion, Canadian Infantry, Signal Section. At that time, Harold wrote a letter home to his mother Helena Dodd. Following is the letter as it was printed in an April 1916 edition of the Sarnia Observer, under the headline,“HAROLD KETCH IS A POPULAR SOLDIER”:

My dear mother,

I have just finished telling Hazel (his sister) some news that I consider the best of news, and that is by the time you receive this letter, I will likely be somewhere in France. Two others and I volunteered to reinforce the signal section of the 24th Battalion, which is at the front. We volunteered this morning when Lieut. Woods called for volunteers. We were lucky to be in the front rank and in a jiffy we were out in front. We have had medical examination, and our rifles have been inspected, our bayonets sharpened and we had also had our kit inspected. We have identification discs about our neck on a string. On it is “No. 405569, Pte. A.H.W. Ketch, 24th Batt., Inf., Canadians”. On Monday, the 6th, we have a final inspection and then I suppose we leave. The two fellows who go with me, are good chaps and as we have three of our signalers with the 24th now, it won’t be like going to a strange bunch by any means. You should see the big black English army boots I have on, No. 10, and I have two pair of socks on. When I get back to civis again I sure won’t be able to wear freak shoes. We take the Oliver equipment with us and the Ross rifle. We also take two suits of underwear, three pairs of socks, one rubber sheet, one blanket and a few necessaries issued by the army. The rest we pack in our kit bags and they are stored away for us till we claim them. I got the papers you sent to Hettie. Don’t worry about me. Buck up and assist in anything you can to help us win the war. Be cheery under all circumstances. Regards to my Sarnia friends and acquaintances.    HAROLD

Days after writing the above letter, on March 9, 1916, Harold arrived in France with the Canadian Infantry, 24th Battalion, First Quebec Regiment. Three months later, on June 8th of 1916, Harold sent his mother Helena another letter, this from Flanders. Following is an excerpt from that letter:

Dear mother,

I am going to write several letters today as there is no telling when I’ll get the chance again for as you are aware already by the papers, we are in the thick of things now. I will let you know how I make out at every opportunity. Our regiment has a distinctive hat badge now. It is very bright and is the shape of a star surmounted with a crown. It has the letters V.R.C. on it (Victoria Rifles of Canada)…

Well, we are likely to be in the heat of things so what is in store for me is uncertain. What we want is more help from Canada in the way of willing men. We have a hard fight yet ahead before we beat Fritz, and all the men are needed. If the fellows at home would just stop to realize fully where their duty lay. If they were over here a few

minutes just to see what noble sacrifices our fellows are making for the glory of the old empire, I’m sure they would enlist by the thousands. Well Mother, be cheery and don’t worry about me. If anything happens to me you’ll know I did my best in a good cause and work hard all the time for more recruits and assistance to those over here….            

Well, be cheery and send me a parcel of eats and newspapers.

Lovingly, Harold                                 

 In just over one year at the front, Harold took part in two defining battles of the Great War. The Battle of the Somme (July 1-November 18, 1916) was one of the most futile and bloody battles in history. The Somme, a battle of attrition, lasted for more than four brutal months and saw the Allies advance around 10 kilometers. A more telling statistic is the number of injuries and deaths in the horrendous mass butchery that was the Somme—of the 85,000 Canadian Corps, there were more than 24,000 Canadian casualties. 

In the spring of 1917, the Canadian Corps made their way to an area in northern France dominated by a long hill known as Vimy Ridge. The muddy, cratered western slope was an immense graveyard, littered with the remains of thousands of unburied corpses and fragments of bodies. Above them, the Germans had transformed the ridge into a virtually impregnable defensive position with deep concrete dugouts, rows of barbed wire, underground tunnels, and multiple lines of soldiers with rifles, mortars and machine guns, all protected by artillery. The Canadians were tasked with capturing the ridge, something that French and British troops had failed to do.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge (April 9-12, 1917) was the first time (and the last time in the war) that all four divisions of the Canadian Corps, with soldiers from every region in the country, would surge forward simultaneously. The four-day victory at Vimy Ridge was a seminal battle, a turning point in the war for the Canadian Corps and a significant victory for Canada, later referred to as “the birth of a nation”.  Of the 97,000 Canadians who fought at Vimy Ridge, approximately 7,004 were wounded and 3,598 were killed in four days of battle.

Harold Ketch of the 24th Battalion, Quebec Regiment, was wounded at Vimy Ridge. On April 10, 1917, he had been appointed Lance Corporal. On April 14, 1917, he was admitted to No. 6 Casualty Clearing Station with a “gunshot or shell wound, right knee”. He returned to duty the next day.

He was awarded a Good Conduct Badge on May 10, 1917, and a Military Medal on May 17, 1917. The Military Medal award read “For conspicuous bravery at VIMY RIDGE on April 9th, 1917, when as a Lineman attached to BN. Report Centre, he showed great courage and determination in laying lines and keeping them in repair under heavy artillery fire, thereby enabling communication to be maintained throughout the operation. Although wounded he carried on with his duties for over twenty-four hours, when he was ordered out by his Officer. His action was indeed a most excellent example to his comrades.”

Sometime in July 1917, Harold Ketch went on furlough in England and was able to visit his uncle, George Ketch. Harold returned to his unit in France on August 12, 1917, and then took part in the second-largest Canadian military undertaking up to that point in the war, second only to Vimy.

The Attack on Hill 70 and Lens in France (August 15-25, 1917) was the first major battle orchestrated by Canadian commander Lieutenant-General Arthur Currie. It was also the first time German forces used flame-throwers and mustard gas against the Canadians. It became known as “Canada’s forgotten battle of the First World War”.

The German-held Hill 70 overlooked the ruined, but heavily fortified city of Lens. The Hill had been in German hands since 1914, and was well-protected by a maze of deep trenches and dugouts, deep mines, coiled barbed wire, and was bristling with German machine-gun strongpoints. The Germans knew an attack was coming.

The attack on Hill 70 commenced on August 15 at 4:25 a.m. with Canadians surging forward into No Man’s Land behind a creeping barrage. They pushed up the Hill through a shell-torn landscape into the face of enemy fire. In less than two hours of fierce fighting, the Canadians were able to capture many of their objectives, including the high ground. Over the course of the next four days and nights, the Germans launched 21 determined counterattacks, that included firing between 15,000-20,000 mustard gas shells on Canadian positions on August 18. Their attempts to recapture the Hill failed.

On August 15, 1917, three days after returning to his unit, Lance Corporal Harold Ketch of the 24th Battalion, was killed in action while fighting on the first day of the Attack on Hill 70. Harold’s Circumstances of Death Register records the following: Date of Casualty: 15-8-17. “Killed in Action”. Location of Unit at

time of Casualty: ATTACK NORTH OF LENS. Locations of Grave: He was buried on the roof of a bomb store between two deep Dugout Tunnels, back of Lens, between St. Elio or St. Emile and another small place. Remarks: Grave cannot be located as bomb store and dugouts have been blown up.

With the victory at Hill 70, the corps commanders decided to push into the city of Lens, launching attacks on August 21 and 23. The Canadians were overextended and inexperienced in urban combat, while the Germans held all the observational and positional advantages. The Canadians had successfully captured Hill 70 but were unable to take the city of Lens. The 10-day battle came at a cost of approximately 9,100 Canadians listed as killed, wounded or missing.

In early September 1917, Mrs. Helena Dodd received the following short telegram from the Director of Records about her only son:

OTTAWA, ONT. SEPTEMBER 3

DEEPLY REGRET TO INFORM YOU 405569, LANCE CORPORAL ALBERT HAROLD WILLSIE KETCH, INFANTRY, OFFICIALLY REPORTED KILLED IN ACTION, AUGUST 15, 1917.

Only a day or two before receiving the above telegram, Helena Dodd had received a letter from Harold, dated August 12th, 1917. In it, he described how he was in England on leave visiting his cousin and uncle George, and that he was that day leaving to return to France.

In mid-September 1917, the Sarnia Observer included “an appreciation story” on Harold Ketch. A portion of that story read A brilliant journalistic and literary life has been cut short in the death of Lance-Corp. Ketch, but such nobility in sacrifice should steel the hearts of the living, to aid in crushing the satanic power of the would be oppressor of mankind whose only rule is ‘might makes right’ We submit this appreciation to the memory of one whom we very highly regarded. A memorial service was held at the Methodist Church at Alvinston on September 16, 1917.

Helena Dodd later resided on Elias Street in London, Ontario. She passed away on May 3, 1922, at age 53, in London Hospital and she is buried in Alvinston Cemetery.

Albert Harold Ketch, 23, has no known grave. He is memorialized on the Vimy Memorial, Pas de Calais, France. Harold Ketch’s name is also inscribed on the Village of Alvinston’s Memorial.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

Charles Knight was born in Sarnia, on July 27, 1896, the son of William Russell, a barber, and Catherine Jean “Jennie” (nee Saunders). Thirty-year-old William (born April 26, 1852 in Hawkestone, Simcoe County) married 22-year-old Jennie (born June 28, 1858 in Goderich) in Goderich on October 5, 1882. William and Jennie honeymooned in Kakebeka Falls, west of Thunder Bay, before returning to Goderich, where William worked as a hairdresser/barber.

Their union blessed them with nine children: Alberta Louise (born November 18, 1883, died at birth); William Ernest (born February 9, 1885); Harry Wallace (born May 26, 1887); Arthur Russell (born February 18, 1889); Oliver Saunders (born February 14, 1892, died two weeks later on March 1, 1892); James Abraham (born September 24, 1892); Jennie Mae (born January 12, 1895); Charles Edwin; and Clarence Homer (born April 30, 1899, died at 6 months on November 17, 1899). Sometime around 1892, the Knight family moved to Sarnia and resided at 158 North Brock Street. William continued his career as a barber to support his large family.

Charles’ older brother William also served in the war. Two months before Charles enlisted, 30-year-old William Ernest Knight enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force in Toronto on January 7, 1916. He stood five feet five-and-a-half inches tall, had brown eyes and dark brown hair, was single, and was residing at 318 Jarvis Street, Toronto at the time, where he was employed as a druggist. He recorded his next-of-kin as his mother, Jennie Knight of 158 Brock Street North, Sarnia. He also recorded that he had three months military experience as a Private in the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC).

Arriving in England aboard the SS Olympic in mid-April 1916, William was initially detailed for duty to No. 1 Assistant Director of Medical Services (ADMS), and later was posted to Canadian Army Medical Corps Training Centre (CAMCTC). Almost a year later, in March 1917, William went on to serve with the CAMC on hospital ships Letitia, Araguaya, Liverpool and Llandovery Castle. He made 24 round trips across the ocean. He made several trips on the Llandovery Castle except, ironically and fortunately, her last ill-fated trip in June 1918. The Llandovery Castle was torpedoed by a German submarine, killing 234, including Private David Smuck of Sarnia (his story is included in this Project).

Prior to the last fateful voyage of the Llandovery Castle, William had reverted to the rank of private so that he could serve in France. On September 10, 1918, Private Knight arrived in Havre, France, where he served as a stretcher-bearer with the 13th Field Ambulance. William survived the war that ended in November 1918, and in December 1918, he was admitted to No. 32 Stationary Hospital in Wimereux, France, where he was diagnosed with chronic bronchitis. He received treatment in France, and in England, and was invalided to Canada in mid-May 1919. On July 5, 1919, William was discharged in Toronto and was declared “medically unfit for service”. Despite his hardships, William survived the war, but his younger brother, Charles, wouldn’t be as fortunate.

On March 20, 1916, 19-year-old Charles Edwin Knight enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force in Goderich. He stood five feet two inches tall, had brown eyes and dark brown hair, was single, and was residing in Goderich at the time. He recorded his trade or calling as factory hand, and his next-of-kin as his father, William R. Knight of 158 Brock Street, Sarnia. Charles became a member of the 161st Huron Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force. More than seven months later, on November 1, 1916, he embarked overseas bound for the United Kingdom aboard S.S. Lapland. Charles arrived in England on November 11, 1916, and was transferred to the Canadian Infantry, 58th Battalion, Central Ontario Regiment, stationed at Shorncliffe.

Less than three weeks after disembarking in the U.K., on November 29, 1916, Private Charles Knight of the

58th Battalion arrived in France. In the spring of 1917, the Canadian Corps made their way to an area in northern France dominated by a long hill known as Vimy Ridge. The Canadians would be tasked with capturing the ridge, a virtually impregnable defensive German position, something that French and British troops had failed to do. The Battle of Vimy Ridge (April 9-12, 1917) was the first time (and the last time in the war) that all four divisions of the Canadian Corps, with soldiers from every region in the country, would surge forward simultaneously. The four-day victory at Vimy Ridge was a seminal battle, a turning point in the war for the Canadian Corps, and significant victory for Canada, later referred to as “the birth of a nation”.  Of the 97,000 Canadians who fought at Vimy Ridge, approximately 7,004 were wounded and 3,598 were killed in four days of battle. Charles Knight took part in fighting and survived the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

Less than three months later, on July 2, 1917, Charles Knight was admitted to No. 22 General Hospital at Camiers due to inflammation of connective tissue (ICT) in his heels. He was discharged 18 days later from No. 6 Convalescent Depot in Etaples, and rejoined his unit at the front. By mid-October 1917, Charles Knight was part of the Canadian Corps that arrived arrived in an area of Flanders, Belgium, with some of the most ghastly and appalling battlefield conditions ever—a place known asPasschendaele.

Fought between October 26 – November 10, 1917, the Battle of Passchendaele was waged in unceasing rain on a battlefield that was a ghastly mess of rotting, mangled corpses, gagging gas, water-filled craters, and glutinous mud. Overcoming almost unimaginable hardships and horrific fighting conditions, the Canadians achieved a remarkable victory that few thought possible; however, it came at a cost of almost 12,000 Canadian wounded and more than 4,000 Canadians killed.

On October 26, 1917, the first day of the nightmarish Battle of Passchendaele, Charles Knight was killed in action during an attack.

Note: Another Sarnian, James Millar Pirrie, also lost his life in the same battle on the same day (James Pirrie’s story is included in this Project).

Medals presented after the war to Charles Knight’s mother Catherine “Jennie” Knight;

Charles Knight’s Circumstances of Death register records the following: Date of Casualty: 26-10-17. “Killed in Action”. Location of Unit at time of Casualty: ATTACK WEST OF PASSCHENDAELE. He was awarded the Allied Mothers Badge and the Memorial Cross, which were presented to his mother, Catherine “Jennie”, by the Canadian Government. She wore the Memorial Cross for the remainder of her life, and passed it on to her grandson, Fred. Now, it is treasured by her great granddaughter, Jodi.

Charles Knight, 21, has no known grave. He is memorialized on the Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial, Belgium, Panel 18-24-26-30.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

Thomas Knowles was born in Point Edward, on January 28, 1891, the eldest son of John (born January 25, 1864) and Hughmina “Mina” Elizabeth (nee Mooney, born August 12, 1867) Knowles. John and Mina had five children together: Sadie Armatage (born March 27, 1889); Thomas Neville; John William (born March 23, 1894); Hughmina V. (born March 26, 1897); and Bernice Winnifred (born July 13, 1903). John Knowles supported his family by working first as a GTR locomotive fireman, and then as a retail shoe merchant in Sarnia. The Knowles family resided at 335 London Road, and later 339 Christina Street, Sarnia.  

Thomas’ younger brother, John William Knowles, left Sarnia in October 1915 for London, Ontario, to take a course at the Military school there in preparation to enlist for active service. Both Thomas and he enlisted in that same month. Eleven months later, in September 1916, 22-year-old John Knowles completed his Officers’ Declaration Paper at Camp Borden, and became a lieutenant with the 149th Battalion, CEF. He stood five feet eight inches tall, had hazel eyes and black hair, was single, and recorded his next-of-kin as his father, John Knowles Sr. of Sarnia. Six months after becoming a lieutenant, in late March 1917, John embarked overseas from Halifax bound for the United Kingdom aboard S.S. Lapland. He arrived in England on April 7, 1917, and became a member of the 25th Reserve Battalion at Bramshott. Ten months later, in mid-February 1918, John was taken on strength into the 4th Reserve Battalion.

On April 9, 1918, Lieutenant John Knowles proceeded to France as a re-enforcement with the 1st Battalion. Early that summer, Allied Commanders proposed a plan to take advantage of German disarray following their failed Spring Offensive. Canadian troops were to play a key role as “shock troops” in cracking the German defences. They spent two months preparing for what became their Hundred Days Campaign. It was the “beginning of the end” of the Great War, one that featured intense and brutal fighting where Canadians were called on again and again.

On August 9, 1918, at Folies, France (near Amiens), at the start of Canada’s Hundred Days Campaign, Lt. John Knowles of the 1st Battalion was wounded in action. A bullet passed through his right hip and left leg, and another bullet passed through his left hand. He received initial treatment at No. 48 Casualty Clearing Station and then at No. 2 Stationary Hospital in Abbeville, and later at Royal Free Hospital in London.

In December 1918, six months after being wounded (and one month after the Armistice), John was discharged from Granville Canadian Special Hospital in Buxton. He was transferred to Canada where he was admitted to St. Andrew’s Military Hospital, and later the Dominion Orthopaedic Hospital in Toronto, where he remained until June 1919. John Knowles was discharged in October 1919, struck off strength being declared medically unfit for service.

Thomas Neville Knowles spent his boyhood days in Point Edward village, and later in Sarnia, where he was a popular young man with many friends. Prior to enlisting, he was employed with the Mooney Biscuit Company of Stratford, Ontario. At age 24, Thomas enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force on October 6, 1915, in Stratford, Ontario. He stood five feet eight inches tall, had brown eyes and dark brown hair, was single, and was residing at 57 Church Street in Stratford at the time. He recorded his trade or calling as candy maker, and his next-of-kin as his father, John Knowles of 335 London Road, Sarnia. Thomas became a member of the “B” Squadron, Canadian Mounted Rifles (CMR), Depot Regiment. He embarked overseas bound for the United Kingdom on April 28, 1916, aboard S.S. Metagama.

He arrived in England on May 6, 1916, and was initially posted at the Canadian Corps Depot (CCD) in Shorncliffe. On June 12, 1916, Thomas became a member of the Canadian Cavalry, Royal Canadian Dragoons Reserve Regiment (RCDRR) stationed at Shorncliffe. Five months later, on November 16, 1916, Thomas Knowles of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, arrived in France.

When the war began, many of the traditional generals were not yet ready to concede that the day of the horse was over; however, as the war progressed, faced with deep trench complexes, machine guns, mechanized artillery, and barbed wire, there were few cavalry charges on the Western Front, as horse-mounted troop regiments became an outdated mode of warfare. Often the cavalrymen were required to dismount and fight as infantry during the larger battles. Other duties included mounted patrol work, escort duties, traffic control, trench mapping, stretcher bearing, as well as pursuit of the enemy during offensive operations.

More than nine months later, on September 1, 1917, Thomas was admitted to No. 12 Stationary Hospital in St. Pol, France, due to scabies (itchy skin infestation caused by mites). He returned to his unit six days later. On

September 12, 1917, he was appointed the rank of lance corporal. In mid-November 1917, he was granted 14 days leave, when he was able to return to England. On December 4, Thomas rejoined his unit in France.

In mid-March 1918, the Germans launched their Spring Offensive on the Western Front. From the first day, and in the days following, the Germans broke through the British lines, making enormous gains and forcing an Allied retreat. During part of their Offensive, the Germans were able to advance until they occupied Moreuil Wood, a commanding ridge on the riverbank of the Avre River overlooking the village of Moreuil, about 20 kilometers south of Amiens, France.

It was here that the Canadian Cavalry Brigade (that included Lord Strathcona’s Horse, Royal Canadian Dragoons and Fort Garry Horse) was tasked with holding the Germans back. To this point in the war, mounted cavalry charges were of limited use against barbed wire, deep trenches, mechanized artillery and machine-guns. With the British fighting and retreating, and the fluid enemy lines, the battlefield opened up, so on March 30, the Canadian Cavalry Brigade (CCB) saw their opportunity. 

On March 30, 1918, Lance Corporal Thomas Knowles of the Royal Canadian Dragoons took part in the Battle of Moreuil Wood, France. At the one-day battle, the charge of the Canadian Cavalry Brigade at Moreuil Wood was the biggest Canadian cavalry charge of the war. Confronting the enemy head-on, the Germans found facing several hundred men and horses riding en masse, with swords drawn, a terrifying experience.  

While taking part in a cavalry charge, Lance Corporal Thomas Knowles was struck by a bullet from an enemy rifle and instantly killed. His Circumstances of Death Register records the following: Date of Casualty: 30-3-18. “KILLED IN ACTION”. While taking part in a Cavalry charge near the Bois de Moreuil, he was hit just below the heart and instantly killed by a bullet from an enemy rifle. Reported Locations of Grave: North West corner of Bois de Moreuil. Thomas Knowles’ remains were never recovered.

On April 18, 1918, his father, John, on London Road in Sarnia, received the following telegram about his son from the Director of Records in Ottawa: SINCERELY REGRET TO INFORM YOU 226125 PRIVATE THOS. NEVILLE KNOWLES, CAVALRY, OFFICIALLY REPORTED KILLED IN ACTION MARCH 30TH 1918.

In May 1918, the Sarnia Observer published a review of the engagement in which two Sarnians participated—”Private Thomas Knowles lost his life, and Private Leonard Galloway received serious injuries”. Both men were attached to the Royal Canadian Dragoons. Following is the article:

Review of Great Battle in Which Sarnia Boys Played a Big Part

The commander in chief has mentioned the splendid work of the British cavalry in the recent fighting and I am now able to write things which I wanted to write before because in the first days of this battle I saw cavalry riding out to meet the enemy round about Ham and Guiscard, and afterward on patrol work below Delville Wood and Pozieres. From March 22 onward they fought mounted and dismounted, helped to stop gaps in the line and stem the German tide, charged Germans on foot and Germans on horseback, cleared woods and roads with machine guns and rifles, rode out in patrols to reconnoiter the enemy’s position, chased German advance guards out of villages and acted as rearguards to the British infantry. Their losses were not light but light for all the service they did on the hours and days and nights of grave peril.

On March 22 they dismounted and held the Ollezy-Ham line when the enemy was bearing down in vast numbers, and some dragoons fought all night, covering the withdrawal of the tired troops. They could leave only a few men to look after the horses and it was the men of a labor battalion who one night led their horses to the next position, each man with 15 horses tied together on one rope, which was not an easy job on a dark night, with poor, frightened beasts.

The British cavalry had hard fighting around Guivry, and on the 26th they moved up to help the French, who were meeting the enemy hordes bearing down on Noyon. The British squadrons had their left flank exposed when they were ordered to hold Porquericot Ridge, on which the enemy was moving. They went at full speed, pressing their horses forward to something like a gallop, and the infantry soldiers cheered at the sight of this living tide of fine men and fine beasts streaming over the slopes. The enemy was already on the ridge, but the cavalry held the southern side of it, stopping the enemy from gaining the height.

When the allied line withdrew to the Driette river it was necessary for the cavalry to conform to this movement which they did with the enemy again on their left flank, so that the Lancers, Hussars and Canadian

cavalry were under furious machine gun fire. After supporting the British infantry near Marcelcave, the dismounted cavalry with one mounted squadron, made a gallant attack through Moreuil Wood and cleared out the enemy. Afterward, however, it was again filled with Germans who had many machine guns and the cavalry were again asked to clear it. It was a perilous task, for two battalions of the enemy held the wood, and their machine gun fire swept

through the glades; but in this wood of Moreuil on the morning of April 1 British cavalry performed a feat as fine as the Balaklava charge, and this also should be made into a ballad and learned by heart.

Twelve hundred men who had been riding all through the night went forward in three waves and charged

that dark wood next morning at a hard gallop. The first wave rode to the edge of the wood, and the second to the centre, and the third wave went right through to the other side, riding through the enemy and over his machine guns and in the face of a hail of bullets from hidden machines. They cleared the wood of Moreuil and brought back prisoners and thirteen machine guns, but there were many empty saddles, and many men and horses fell.

That was the finest exploit of the British cavalry, but elsewhere it did splendid work, and everywhere the men were gallant and cool, as when some of the dragoons came under a heavy shrapnel fire near Gentille, and many men had to shoot their wounded horses to put them out of their agony.

Despite heavy losses, over 300 casualties, the Battle at Moreuil Wood was a key Allied victory that contributed greatly to the halt of the German Spring Offensive.The charge of the Canadian Cavalry Brigade at Moreuil Wood was not the first Canadian cavalry charge in the First World War, but it was the biggest. Some historians refer to the events of this battle as “the last great cavalry charge,” since few other military charges on horseback took place after this one.

Thomas Knowles, 27, has no known grave. He is memorialized on the Vimy Memorial, Pas de Calasi, France. On the Sarnia cenotaph, his name is inscribed as N. Knowles.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

Norman Leckie was born in Sarnia, on May 7, 1889, the youngest child of Robert (born April 23, 1850) and Margaret “Maggie” (neé McVicar, born June 4, 1854) Leckie. Robert and Margaret had four children together: Elymer Robert (born December 11, 1881); Christy Ann (born July 28, 1883); Sarah Ethel (born August 1, 1886); and Norman Chester (born 1889). Robert supported his family working as a farmer in Sarnia.

In 1911, 22-year-old Norman Leckie was residing in Battleford, Saskatchewan, with his 29-year-old brother Elymer and his wife Rose, and their infant daughter, Freida. Rose was born about 1891 in Germany, and had immigrated to Canada in 1908. Brothers Norman and Elymer were farming together in Battleford in 1911.

On December 13, 1915, Norman Leckie enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The 26-year-old stood five feet nine-and-three-quarter inches tall, had blue eyes and black hair, was single, and recorded that he was residing with his parents in Unity, Saskatchewan at the time. He recorded his trade or calling as farmer, and his next-of-kin as his father, Robert Leckie, of Unity, Saskatchewan, (the address was later changed to Sarnia, Ontario). Norman became a member of the 65th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force. Six months later, on June 18, 1916, he embarked overseas from Halifax bound for the United Kingdom aboard S.S. Empress of Britain.

Private Leckie arrived in England on June 28, 1916, and became a member of the Canadian Infantry, 54th Battalion, Central Ontario Regiment, stationed at Bramshott. Approximately six weeks later, on August 13, 1916, the 54^th Battalion and Norman Leckie departed England, crossed the English Channel, and arrived the next day in Havre, France. They were quickly thrust into and immersed in the horrendous mass butchery that was the Battle of the Somme.

Norman and the 54th Battalion arrived one-and-a-half months into the gruesome Battle. Waged from July 1-November 18, 1916, it was one of the bloodiest and most futile battles in history. The Somme, a battle of attrition, lasted for more than four brutal months and saw the Allies advance around 10 kilometers. A more telling statistic is the number of injuries and deaths: of the 85,000 Canadian Corps, there were more than 24,000 Canadian casualties. 

Two months after arriving in France, on October 20, 1916, Private Norman Leckie of the 54th Battalion was wounded in action by shrapnel. He was struck by a number of pieces of shrapnel—in the left hip and lower back, some pieces piercing portions of his pelvis. He then walked three miles to the dressing station and was attended to an hour-and-a-half after being wounded. About five hours after being hit, he was operated on at the casualty clearing station and “some shrapnel was removed.”

Four days after being wounded, on October 24, Norman was admitted to No. 13 General Hospital in

Boulogne, where doctors recorded that he was “dangerously ill with a gun shot wound back”. He was operated on and three more shrapnel pieces were removed. Three days later, still at No. 13 General Hospital, his condition was again recorded as, “dangerously ill, not doing very well, gun shot wound back”.

On November 12, he was at Hacksbury Road Military Hospital in York with “gun shot wound left buttock.” Norman was confined to bed there for two months, and underwent another operation where more metal fragments were located and removed, along with several small pieces of dead bone. He was able to walk on crutches at times.

On February 5, 1917, Leckie was at King’s Canadian Red Cross Convalescent Hospital at Bushy Park, Hampton Hill, Middlesex, with “very deep wounds, several pieces of dead bone and foreign bodies have been discharged,” and was reported weak and anemic. On February 14, he was admitted to Moore Barracks Canadian Hospital at Shorncliffe, still recovering from his “gun shot wound left buttock”. He still had fragments of shrapnel inside his body, including some in his arm and others closer to his spine that moved around, thus putting pressure on his spine which, in turn, caused sharp pain. On March 9, he underwent another operation.

Two months after that operation, on May 11, 1917, Norman was discharged and “invalided to Canada for further medical treatment”. Two days later, with a recorded “gun shot wound left leg” he sailed from Liverpool bound for Canada aboard the hospital ship S.S. Letitia.

When Norman returned to Canada, he was admitted to the Davisville Military Hospital in Toronto. He lay there for over a year with an open wound in the hip, with constant discharge from the wound. He underwent several more operations, including one where pieces of shrapnel were removed from his arm, and another where several small pieces of bone were removed.

On October 10, 1918, at 4:20 p.m., while still in Davisville Hospital, Norman Leckie passed away, the tragic result of the wounds that he had received two years prior. The poison and infection from the German shell that had lacerated his hip could not be stemmed by medical operations. His Circumstances of Casualty Register records the following: Davisville Military Hospital, Davisville, Ontario. Gun shot Wound left Buttock and Thigh. Admitted to hospital on May 25th, 1917, operated on for sequestrum. Three other operations for the same condition. Died at 4:20 P.M. October 10th, 1918. Burial Lakeview Cemetery, Sarnia, Ontario.

Norman’s body was returned to the home of his sister, Mrs. Levi Fair, who resided on the 2nd Line in Sarnia Township. His funeral with full Military Honours took place on October 13, 1918. It was one of the largest military funerals seen in the city at that time. It began with a very solemn service at the home of Norman’s sister, with his comrades as pallbearers, and members of the Great War Veteran’s Association as his guard of honour. The cortege then departed for the deceased’s final resting place. Accompanying the hearse in the full military funeral parade were comrades, infantry veterans, relatives, family members, and friends, who travelled in a procession of automobiles and buggies, in a line over half-a-mile in length. The parade made its way into Sarnia, down Mitton, Davis, and Christina Streets to Exmouth Street on its way to Lakeview Cemetery.

At the cemetery, the funeral party was met by a military band, firing party, and wreath bearers. After the burial, a service was read by Reverend Morrison, and the band played “Nearer My God to Thee”. The firing party then took its place over the grave and fired three volleys, which was followed by the playing of the “Last Post”. When the military parade left, his parents and relatives remained to view for the last time on earth their son and brother, Norman Leckie, who paid the supreme sacrifice.

One month after Norman’s death, the Armistice agreement was signed on November 11, ending the Great War. Parents Robert and Margaret Leckie later resided in Kitscoty, Alberta, and then Eburne, British Columbia.

Norman Leckie, 29, is buried in Lakeview Cemetery.

His name was not originally on the Sarnia cenotaph, unveiled in November 1921. In November 2019, his name, along with 25 others, was added to the Sarnia cenotaph, engraved in stone to be remembered always. 

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

Thomas Littlefield was born in London, Middlesex, England, on August 7, 1896, the son of Jane Littlefield of Rayne, Braintree, Essex, England. At some point he immigrated to Canada and resided in Sarnia.

On January 16, 1915, Thomas Littlefield, age 18, enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force in Sarnia. The minimum age to join the military at that time was 18. Thomas stood five feet nine inches tall, had hazel eyes and light hair, and was single at the time. He recorded his occupation as an apprentice machinist and his next-of-kin as his widowed mother, Jane Littlefield, in Rayne, Essex, England. He also recorded his prior military experience with the 27th Regiment, St. Clair Borderers Militia.

Thomas became a member of the 34th Battalion. Seven months later, in August 1915, he embarked overseas bound for the United Kingdom as part of the Second Canadian Contingent.

            Thomas arrived in England on August 26, 1915, and was taken on strength into the 9th Battalion at Shorncliffe on the coast of Kent. He trained in England for almost five months before arriving in France in January 1916 where he became a member of the Canadian Infantry, 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles (2nd Central Ontario Regiment).

Note: Sources including the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Veterans Affairs Canada, and the Canadian Virtual War Memorial, record Thomas Littlefield as a member of the 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles; however, his Personnel Records list him as a member of the 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles.

When the war began, many of the traditional generals were not yet ready to concede that the day of the horse was over; however, as the war progressed and faced with deep trench complexes, machine guns, mechanized artillery, and barbed wire, few cavalry charges occurred on the Western Front. Horse-mounted troop regiments became an outdated mode of warfare. Often the cavalrymen were required to dismount and fight as infantry during the larger battles. Other duties included mounted patrol work, escort duties, traffic control, trench mapping, stretcher bearing, as well as pursuit of the enemy during offensive operations.

            In May 1915, the 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles (4th CMR) had been asked to volunteer for overseas service as a dismounted unit. With many regrets in abandoning the horses, the men were eager to get to the field of action. In the following month they joined the 5th and 6th CMRs at Valcartier to form the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles Brigade.

In mid-July 1915, S.S. Hesperian carried the 4th and 5th CMRs to England where, on July 29, they continued their training at Shorncliffe. Note: S.S. Hesperian was afterwards torpedoed and sunk by the Germans, while returning on her second voyage after conveying the 4th CMR to England.

Three months after arriving in England, in late October 1915, the Regiment departed England and arrived in Boulogne, France. One month later, they moved to the front lines in Flanders, Belgium. In late December 1915, the Third Canadian Division was formed, and six regiments of Mounted Rifles were converted into four battalions of infantry, making the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th Battalions of the 8th Brigade, part of the Third Division.

Private Thomas Littlefield returned to France on January 21, 1916, and approximately three weeks later, he became a member of the Canadian Infantry, 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles (2nd Central Ontario Regiment). The following are excerpts from Captain S.G. Bennett’s 1926 regimental history The 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles 1914-1919:

The month of January 1916 had been spent doing infantry training, and by mid-March the Regiment took over the trenches in front of Zillebeke, Belgium. The trenches here were old and known as the most unpleasant of habitations. The very name of the (Ypres) Salient was a nightmare to every man who knew it. The weather was cold and raw; it had been snowing. Added to these unpleasant conditions were the discomforts of the sodden trenches. Everyone lived a rodent life; in the daytime, nothing stirred but at night the Salient was a hive of moving troops and transports, entering in small groups to relieve and ration the men in the front line. Machine guns raked the roads, shells of all descriptions enfiladed this strategic death-trap, high explosives crashed on the pave or fell in the town of Ypres. The night was made more unreal by the flares and Verey lights which seemed to surround the mysterious darkness. During the days in the front line, the men’s lives were menaced by bombs and grenades. Dodging minnenwerfers and repairing the damage occupied many hours on duty.

In early May 1916, the 4th CMR went into new trenches located farther north, again in front of Zillebeke and in Sanctuary Wood. Bennett again provided a detailed description: The water-logged soil did not permit deep dugouts in this low undulating country. The trenches were built up above the surrounding ground and even then in many places the men crouched in water up to their knees. The weather was cold and wet and except for the welcome braziers, improvised from oil-drums, life would have been unbearable. Toward the end of the month the temperature suddenly became warmer, and the men, instead of being chilled to the marrow and grovelling in slime, were now sweltering in the brilliant sunshine. The weather probably more than any other thing, affected the spirits and outlook of the men; good weather enormously diminished their discomforts, though floods of sunshine did not extinguish their irresistible tendency and privilege to “grouse” at the elements.

In mid-May, the Battalion moved from the front-line trenches toward Ypres, Belgium, and beyond where they remained in Divisional Reserve for two weeks. As Bennett noted They had drill and bath parades and prepared themselves for their next move. Little did they know for what they were preparing.

At the end of May 1916, the 4th CMR returned to the front lines and found themselves skirting the south-easterly edge of Armagh Wood and holding the strategic elevation of Mount Sorrel in Belgium. The 5th CMR were in support in Maple Copse and Railway Dug-Outs at Zillebeke-Bund. They both soon found themselves part of the Battle of Mont Sorrel (June 2-13, 1916). The 30-metre hill, Mont Sorrel, was the last remaining high ground in the Ypres salient still in British hands.

The following are more excerpts from Captain S.G. Bennett’s The 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles 1914-1919:

Daylight on June 1^st disclosed clean and dry trenches which afforded the best cover and most comfort of any heretofore occupied. There were good fire-bays and many elephant-shelters with gas curtains protecting the spirit, if not the flesh. It was an unusually beautiful, clear, early-summer day except for some definite shelling on Sanctuary Wood and the appearance of several captive-balloons, there was nothing to foreshadow an impending blow.

Lieut-General Sir Julian Byng had just taken over the command of the Canadian Corps. The large concentrations of enemy troops, the amount of artillery which had been “registered” on vulnerable points for days past and the activity of the Germans building new trenches and saps were menacing, and had been worrying the Staff for some time. Visibility had been poor. Heavy mists had covered the industrious enemy for several days. Preparations against possible attack had been made… but despite an increasing vigilance no definite indications appeared as to the exact point of attack, or when it would be launched.

At sunrise on June 2, 1916, everyone was about early preparing for a visit from Divisional Commander Major-General Mercer. At about 8 a.m., the dignitaries were escorted towards the front line. Bennett described the initial setting as a calm, beautiful and noticeably quiet morning. Suddenly, without warning, from a heavenly, peaceful sky broke a deafening detonation and cloud of steel which had no precedent for weight and violence. Every conceivable type of gun, howitzer and trench-mortar around Ypres poured everything it had upon the Third Divisional front. The most extravagant imagination cannot picture such a downpour of destruction. Even those who had tasted the bitterest in modern warfare were staggered by the violence of this onslaught.

Nothing like it had been experienced heretofore and it is doubtful if its fierceness was exceeded by any later bombardment. It continued for four-and-a-half hours. The greatest concentration was directed against the 8^th Brigade, but even the trenches which were shelled the least became mere jagged scars, unfit for defence. That anyone lived through it is a miracle. Trenches were soon demolished, shelters caved in, the ground over which tall weeds and long grass had grown was ploughed, beaten and pock-marked by shells. Sanctuary Wood, Armagh Wood and Maple Copse which a few hours before were verdant woods were transformed into charred, jagged stumps.

The intense bombardment continued for five hours with no stopping. Three mines were sprung about 1 p.m. on the Battalion front. At 1 o’clock the bombardment ceased, but only as a signal for the preparation of further violence. The ground quivered and gently heaved and then came the volcanic roar of a mine. It hurled into the air a large part of the front line and its defenders. Sandbags, wire, machine guns, bits of corrugated iron and bits of men were slung skyward. After this final eruption all was quiet, even our own guns. Immediately the German infantrymen appeared in full equipment, with large spades slung over their backs. They advanced in large numbers with an air of assurance and confidence that all resistance had been removed by their artillery.

As soon as the bombardment commenced, all realized that this was an affair of prime importance. The men manned the fire-bays until blown out or buried under the debris; some searched for cover to save their lives for the attack they knew would follow. A few went to the “Tunnel”, only to be buried or taken prisoner in the defenceless trap A very few survived to tell what happened on that terrible morning…

… For the 4th CMR it was a day of obliteration. Only three officers out of twenty-two came back from the trenches. Seventy-three men out of 680 answered their names on June 4th… The 1st CMR on the left had an equally bad time and their casualties were almost as heavy. The 5th CMR which so nobly supported the Brigade in Maple Copse, was also cut up. Both of these Battalions lost their commanding officers.

On June 2, 1916, during the staggering German attack on the first day of the Battle of Mont Sorrel, Private Thomas Littlefield was killed in action. He was killed in the area of the Ypres Salient, during the attack on Maple Copse. Thomas was originally reported as “missing between June 2 and June 3”. His Circumstances of Casualty records the following: Previously reported Missing, now Killed in Action, June 2/3, 1916, Attack at Maple Copse. There was no record of burial.

In those first few days, the Germans gained some 300 to 700 yards along a varied front by penetrating the front line and some of the support trenches of the Brigade. They subsequently failed to consolidate their gains. Over two weeks of fighting that resulted in almost no change in the ground held by both sides, the “June Show,” as the battle was known informally, came at a cost of over 8,700 Canadians killed, wounded, or missing.

Thomas Littlefield, 19, has no known grave. He is memorialized on the Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial in Belgium, Panel 30 and 32.

His name is also etched on one of the large Memorial plaques that were part of the original Sarnia cenotaph as having served in World War I. The plaques are now located on the outside wall of the Sarnia Canadian Legion.

His name was not originally on the Sarnia cenotaph, unveiled in November 1921. In November 2019, his name, along with 25 others, was added to the Sarnia cenotaph, engraved in stone to be remembered always.  

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

Roy Lumley was born in Wheatley, Kent, Ontario, on March 4, 1894, the son of Richard Henry (born June 1853, Egermont Twp, Grey) and Sarah Elizabeth (nee Brown, born June 1860) Lumley. Richard, a farmer at the time, married Sarah on August 25, 1881, in Brooke, Lambton County. He later worked as a labourer with Cleveland-Sarnia Saw Mills Company, and the family resided at 254 Maria Street; then 241 Exmouth Street; and later on Water Street, Sarnia. Richard and Sarah had eight children together: William Albert (born 1880); Jida May (born March 1885); Frank (born 1888); Laura Jane (born 1892, passed away at age twelve on January 11, 1904, the result of diabetes); Roy Lumley; Maryle (born July 1896); Dewey Admiral (born December 22, 1901); and Ella (born August 18, 1906).

Prior to enlisting, Roy Lumley, like his father, was an employee of the Cleveland Sarnia Saw Mills Company in Sarnia. At age 21, Roy enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force on September 7, 1915, in Sarnia. He stood five feet six inches tall, had dark blue eyes and light brown hair, was single, and recorded his trade or calling as labourer, and his next-of-kin as his father, Richard Lumley of Exmouth Street, Sarnia (it was later changed to Water Street, Sarnia). Roy became a member of the 70th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force. Seven months later, on April 24, 1916, Roy Lumley embarked overseas from Halifax bound for the United Kingdom aboard S.S. Lapland.

He arrived in Liverpool, England on May 5, 1916, where like all privates, he earned his $30 a month pay. On July 6, 1916, he was transferred to the 39th Battalion stationed at Shorncliff and then was moved to West Sandling. On July 23, 1916, he was admitted to Moore Barracks Canadian Hospital in Shorncliffe suffering from German measles. He remained in hospital for over two weeks, and was discharged on August 8, 1916. Two months later, on October 13, 1916, he was transferred to the Canadian Infantry, 21st Battalion, Eastern Ontario Regiment. The next day, Private Roy Lumley of the 21st Battalion arrived in France. They would make their way to an area in northern France dominated by a long hill known as Vimy Ridge. 

The Canadians arrived at the Vimy front in staggered marches, beginning in late October 1916. The muddy, cratered western slope was an immense graveyard, littered with the remains of thousands of unburied corpses and fragments of bodies. Above them, the Germans had transformed the ridge into a virtually impregnable defensive position with deep concrete dugouts, rows of barbed wire, underground tunnels, and multiple lines of soldiers with rifles, mortars and machine guns, all protected by artillery. The Canadians were tasked with capturing the ridge, something that French and British troops had failed to do.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge (April 9-12, 1917) was the first time (and the last time in the war) that all four divisions of the Canadian Corps, with soldiers from every region in the country, would surge forward simultaneously. The first day of the battle, April 9, 1917, was the single bloodiest day of the entire war for the Canadian Corps and the bloodiest in all of Canadian military history. The four-day victory at Vimy Ridge was a seminal battle, a turning point in the war for the Canadian Corps and a significant victory for Canada, later referred to as “the birth of a nation”. Of the 97,000 Canadians who fought at Vimy Ridge, approximately 7,004 were wounded and 3,598 were killed in four days of battle.

It was during the Battle of Vimy Ridge that Roy was wounded in action and had to be cut from barbed wire entanglements. He was taken to No. 23 Casualty Clearing Station to be treated for his wounds. A few days later, on April 15, 1917, Roy Lumley lost his life, the result of fatal wounds he had received in action in the field at Vimy Ridge. His Circumstances of Death Register records the following: Date of Casualty: 15-4-17. “Died of Wounds.” At No. 23 Casualty Clearing Station. Lapugnoy Military Cemetery, 5 miles West of Bethune, France.

Not long after her son’s death, Sarah Lumley received a letter written by the nurse who was caring for her son the day after he had entered the hospital. At the same time, Sarah received another letter from a comrade of her son, which he had penned only the day before the young hero died. The writer apparently had been at the hospital only a short time, and on leaving, was hopeful of Roy’s recovery. The letter reads as follows:

France, April 14th, 1917

Dear Madam,

I am dropping you a few lines at your son’s request as I know him quite well. I saw him after he was wounded and he was alright then, and likely he is in England by this time. He went through the hospital on the 11th and I dropped you a card at that time. I hope Madam that you will take no offence at me writing, for your son and myself were in the same battalion in London, Ont., and you don’t need to worry for he is all O.K., and hopes to be alright soon. He was very cheerful when I saw him and we had quite a chat together while they were dressing his wounds. He can thank his knife for saving his life. I hope you get a letter soon from him and hope he gets well.

One of his chums, Pte. W.C. Hopwood, B.E.F. France

(Note: the reference in the letter to Roy’s knife was taken by his friends to mean that it was used to cut him out of wire entanglements).

In mid-June 1917, Richard and Sarah Lumley on Exmouth Street in Sarnia received a personal letter of sympathy about their son from Honourable A.E. Kemp, Minister of Militia and Defence for Canada.

Roy Lumley, 23, is buried in Lapugnoy Military Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France, Grave III.D.11.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

Charles Major was born in Sarnia, on October 30, 1883, the eldest son of Charles Hedley (born August 1859 in Moore Township) and Catharine Alice (nee Dodds, born 1863 in Plympton Township) Major. Charles Hedley Major, at age 23, married Catharine Alice Dodds, age 19, on November 22, 1882 in Moore Township, Ontario. Residing at 273 Davis Street in Sarnia, Charles Sr. and Catharine had two children together: Charles Robson and his brother, Melvin Willis (born June 15, 1886). Charles Sr. was working as a miller when he married, and by 1891, he was employed as an engineer.

Tragically, when Charles Jr. was five years old, his mother, Catharine, age 25, passed away on October 20, 1888. One year later, on September 9, 1889, Charles Sr. remarried in Sarnia, this time to 23-year-old Chestina Jesse Moffat (born in Edinburgh Township, New York, USA). Charles Sr. and Chestina had three children together, half siblings for Charles Jr. and Melvin: Herbert Earl (born September 17, 1890); Grace Pearl (born January 1894); and Edna May (born March 1898). The family continued to reside at 273 Davis Street, Sarnia.

At some point, Charles Jr. moved out west. In 1906, the 23-year-old was residing as a roomer in Souris District, Manitoba, and in 1916, he was residing in the town of Camrose, Victoria District, Alberta. On July 13, 1916, at the age of 32, Charles enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force at Sarcee Camp, Calgary, Alberta. He stood five feet nine-and-one-quarter inches tall, had blue-grey eyes and black hair, was single, and was residing in Camrose, Alberta at the time. He recorded his trade or calling as clerk, and his next-of-kin as his father, Charles Hedley Major of 273 Davis Street, Sarnia. Charles became a member of the 202nd (Edmonton Sportsman) Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force. He embarked overseas from Halifax bound for the United Kingdom on November 23, 1916, aboard S.S. Mauretania.

Charles Major arrived in Liverpool, England, on November 30, 1916. Approximately six months later, on May 27, 1917, Private Major was transferred to the Canadian Infantry, 31st Battalion, Alberta Regiment at Camp Witley. The next day, he arrived in France with the 31st Battalion. By mid-June 1917, Private Charles Major was at the front lines.

Two months later, in August 1917, Charles Major took part in the second-largest Canadian military undertaking up to that point in the war, second only to Vimy. The Attack on Hill 70 and Lens in France (August 15-25, 1917) was the first major battle orchestrated by Canadian commander Lieutenant-General Arthur Currie. It was also the first time German forces used flame-throwers and mustard gas against the Canadians. It became known as “Canada’s forgotten battle of the First World War”.

The German-held Hill 70 overlooked the ruined, but heavily fortified city of Lens. The Hill had been in German hands since 1914, and was well-protected by a maze of deep trenches and dugouts, deep mines, coiled barbed wire, and was bristling with German machine-gun strongpoints. The Germans knew an attack was coming.

The attack on Hill 70 commenced on August 15 at 4:25 a.m. with Canadians surging forward into No Man’s Land behind a creeping barrage. They pushed up the Hill through a shell-torn landscape into the face of enemy fire. In less than two hours of fierce fighting, the Canadians were able to capture many of their objectives, including the high ground. Over the course of the next four days and nights, the Germans launched 21 determined counterattacks, that included firing between 15,000-20,000 mustard gas shells on Canadian positions on August 18. Their attempts to recapture the Hill failed.

With the victory at Hill 70, the corps commanders decided to push into the city of Lens, launching attacks on August 21 and 23. The Canadians were overextended and inexperienced in urban combat, while the Germans held all the observational and positional advantages. The Canadians had successfully captured Hill 70 but were unable to take the city of Lens. The 10-day battle came at a cost of approximately 9,100 Canadians listed as killed, wounded, or missing.

Less than three months after arriving in France, on August 21, 1917, Charles Major lost his life in action while fighting during the Attack on Hill 70 and Lens. His Circumstances of Death Register records the following: Date of Casualty: 21-8-17. “KILLED IN ACTION”. WEST OF LENS, France.

On September 5, 1917, Charles Hedley Major, at 273 Davis Street in Sarnia, received the following telegram from the Director of Records in Ottawa: DEEPLY REGRET TO INFORM YOU 231712 PTE. CHARLES ROBSON MAJOR, INFANTRY, OFFICIALLY REPORTED KILLED IN ACTION AUGUST 21ST.

 Charles Major Sr. passed away in Sarnia on June 19, 1919, at the age of 60, the result of carcinoma. It was less than two years after his son’s death. He is buried in Lakeview Cemetery, Sarnia. Charles Robson Major’s step-mother, Chestina, passed away in 1935, and she is also buried in Lakeview Cemetery. Melvin Major, Charles’ brother, married Kathleen Sheppard in July 1909. They had three daughters together and resided at 298 George Street, Sarnia, where Melvin worked as a machinist. Melvin passed away in Sarnia in February 1942. Both Melvin and his wife Kathleen are also buried in Lakeview Cemetery, Sarnia.

Thirty-four-year-old Charles Robson Major has no known grave. He is memorialized on the Vimy Memorial, Pas de Calais, France.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

Daniel Edward Vincent Manning was born in Marylebonne, Middlesex, England, on December 25, 1883. At the age of seven, in 1891, he was residing at St. Mary’s Orphanage for Boys at North Hyde Heston, Middlesex, England, a residence housing approximately 100 orphan boys between the ages of seven and sixteen. He became a member of a group known as British Home Children.

Between 1869 and 1948, over 100,000 children, most between six and fifteen years of age, were sent to Canada from the British Isles during the “British Child Emigration Movement”. Circumstances in Britain had resulted in their families experiencing hard times. There was no social system in place to help these families through difficult circumstances. Over 50 organizations, including churches and philanthropic groups, sent these impoverished, abandoned, and orphaned children to Canada in the belief that they would have a better chance for a healthy, moral life in rural Canada. Both the British and Canadian governments supported the program. Canadian families welcomed them; however, often siblings were separated, and far too many were used as a source of cheap farm labour and domestic help.

In 1898, Daniel Manning, now 14, was sent to Canada as part of a group of approximately 60 “poor Catholic children from the Westminister Diocese” in England (the children ranged in age from three to sixteen). The children departed Liverpool aboard the Numidian, and arrived in Montreal on September 24, 1898. Sent by the Canadian Catholic Emigration Committee, they were taken into care by St. Marylebone Parish, first settling in St. Sulpice, L’Assomption County, Quebec.

At some point, Daniel Manning came to reside in Sarnia.

On August 27, 1915, Daniel Manning, age 31, enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force in Sarnia. He stood five feet five inches tall, had dark blue eyes and gray hair, was single, and recorded his trade or calling as clerk. He originally did not record any next-of-kin, but later his next-of-kin was changed to Mrs. E. Seveft, of 24 Prospect Avenue, London, Ontario.

Daniel enlisted with the 70th Battalion, CEF, and by late October 1915, he was a member of the 33rd Overseas Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force. Daniel embarked overseas from Halifax bound for the United Kingdom on March 13, 1916, aboard S.S. Lapland.

Daniel arrived in England on March 26, 1916. Five weeks later, on May 6, 1916, he was taken on strength into the 36th Battalion, stationed at Shorncliffe. Just over two months later, on July 17, 1916, Private Daniel Manning became a member of the Canadian Infantry, 1st Battalion, Western Ontario Regiment.

The next day, he arrived in France with the 1st Battalion. Private Daniel Manning was quickly thrust into and immersed in the horrendous mass butchery that was the Battle of the Somme.

Waged from July 1-November 18, 1916, it was one of the bloodiest and most futile battles in history. The Somme, a battle of attrition, lasted for more than four brutal months and saw the Allies advance around 10 kilometers. A more telling statistic is the number of injuries and deaths: of the 85,000 Canadian Corps, there were more than 24,000 Canadian casualties. 

Less than two months after arriving in France, on the night of September 10, 1916, Private Daniel Manning was wounded while in action during the Battle of the Somme. He had been part of a working party when he was hit by shrapnel in the stomach.

He was taken to a dressing station, and then to No. 21 Casualty Clearing Station, but passed away there the following day, the result of wounds received. His Circumstances of Death Register records the following: Date of Casualty: 11-9-16. “DIED OF WOUNDS”. Was wounded by shrapnel in the stomach while on a working party on the night of September 10th, 1916. He was taken to a dressing station, from there evacuated to No. 21 South Midland Casualty Clearing Station where he died the following day. Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery Extension, 5 miles West of Albert, France.

Daniel Manning, 32, is buried in Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme, France, Grave VI.A.10.

His name was not originally on the Sarnia cenotaph, unveiled in November 1921. In November 2019, his name, along with 25 others, was added to the Sarnia cenotaph, engraved in stone to be remembered always.  

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

Herbert John Manning was born in Colchester, Essex, England, in January of 1891, the eldest son of Harry Samuel and Marion Manning. Harry Manning was born in Barrow Green, Suffolk, England, on December 9, 1868. In 1881, at the age of 14, Harry Manning was working as a farm labourer, alongside his 16-year-old brother Albert, and their father, Michael Manning, in Norfolk, England. Marion Mayes/Graves was born in Thurston, Norfolk, England, in 1867. Marion (also spelled Mary Ann in early records) went by two maiden names: Marion Mayes—her mother’s surname, and Marion Graves—her father’s surname. In 1881, at the age of 15, Marion Graves was working as a servant under a nurse in Surrey, England.

Harry Manning and Marion Mayes/Graves were married in 1890 in England. They had ten children together: Susanna Graves (born January 1886); Herbert John (born January 1891); William (born 1892); Cecil Francis (born April 8, 1893 or 94); Evelyn Sarah (born 1896, later married George Frederick Ferris, a soldier, on February 12, 1918, in Sarnia, and would reside in Point Edward); Harry Frederick (born February 18, 1897 or 98); Alfred George (born August 21, 1899 or 1900, and later married Eva Butler on December 2, 1920, in Sarnia and would reside in Point Edward); Frederick Charles (born 1903, later married Beatrice Maude Herendeen on January 19, 1924, in Sarnia); Gladys Bertha (born 1907); and Frank (born 1909).

Note: For a few of the birth years above, official Census records indicate different birth years.

In 1891, while he was residing in Colchester, Harry Manning was a soldier with the British Army, Norfolk Regiment, and Marion Manning was employed as a tailoress, while raising their two young children at the time: Susannah (age 5) and Herbert (age 3-months). Ten years later, in 1901, the Manning family was residing in Greenwich, London, England—the household included parents Harry (a general labourer) and Marion, and their four boys: Herbert (age 10), Cecil (age 7), Harry Jr. (age 3) and Alfred (age 7-months). In 1911, the Manning family was residing in Croydon, London, England, and included parents Harry (general labourer) and Marion, and their children: Cecil (age 17, a painter), Evelyn (age 15), Harry Jr. (age 13), Alfred (age 10), Frederick (age 8), and Gladys (age 4).

In 1914, Harry and Marion Manning and several of their children—Frederick Charles, Gladys, Alfred George and Frank—emigrated from England to Canada. They ended up residing in Point Edward, Ontario.

Marion Manning had five brothers, and 13 brothers-in-law who served in the Great War (two of whom were killed in action). Marion also had a cousin who lost both legs and arms in the war. Showing her patriotism, she was quoted as saying, “I would enlist myself if I could.”

Harry Manning, along with four of his sons—Cecil Francis, Harry Frederick Jr., Alfred George and Herbert John—all served in the Great War. Harry and sons Cecil, Harry Jr., and Alfred all enlisted with in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, while Herbert enlisted in the British Forces.

Herbert’s father, Harry Samuel Manning, had seen 12 years of service in the British Army, Norfolk Regiment, while residing in England. On December 27, 1915, 47-year-old Harry Manning enlisted in Sarnia in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, Lambton149th Battalion. At the time, three of his sons—Cecil, Harry Jr., and Herbert—had already enlisted and were serving overseas. His fourth son, Albert, enlisted one week after he did.

Harry recorded his birthdate as December 9, 1873, making himself five years younger than he actually was (so, recruiters believed he was 42 years old). It was not uncommon for those over the age of 45 to lie about their age in order to enlist; some even rubbed shoe polish into their hair to mask the gray hairs.

Harry stood five feet seven inches tall, had hazel eyes and dark brown hair, and recorded his occupation as labourer, and his next-of-kin as his wife, Marion, residing in Point Edward (Victoria Avenue), Ontario. He advanced in rank from private, to lance corporal, to corporal, and then sergeant in mid-June 1916. Nine months later, in mid-March 1917, he was transferred to No. 1 Special Service Company (S.S. Co.), CEF.

All of his service was completed in London, Ontario, but he was unable to go to France on account of his age. In January 1918, his services with S.S. Co. were no longer required. Sergeant Harry Manning, then recorded as 49 years old, was discharged on January 7, 1918, in London, Ontario. The Great War ended 10 months later.

The first Manning son to enlist was Cecil Francis Manning. On August 1914, at the age of 21, Cecil enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force in Watford, Ontario. It was on August 4, 1914, that the United Kingdom declared war on Germany. Canada and Newfoundland, as colonies of Britain, were bound by the Mother Country’s decision and thus automatically at war.

Cecil was a farmer and had also been employed (by Mr. W.H. Kenny) as a chauffeur in the city. Cecil enlisted again on September 22, 1914, in Valcartier, Quebec, becoming a member of the 1st Battalion, CEF. He stood five feet six inches tall, had blue eyes and light brown hair, was single, and recorded his occupation as painter, and his next-of-kin as his mother, Marion Manning, of R.R. #5, Kingscourt, Watford, Ontario. [Note: Cecil recorded his birth year as 1892; however, census records list it as 1893 and 1894].

In early October 1914, Cecil embarked overseas bound for England aboard S.S. Laurentic. He was part of the First Canadian Contingent, comprised of a little more than 31,000 men, 100 nurses, and over 7,000 horses, that departed the port of Quebec aboard an armada of 30 ocean-liners, hastily painted in wartime grey and bound for the United Kingdom.

The Canadians underwent rigorous training over the cold, wet winter of 1914-1915 at Salisbury Plain, England. In February 1915, Cecil, as part of the 1st Canadian Division, embarked for the trenches in France. In January 1915, Cecil had been promoted to the rank of lance corporal, and three months later, in France, in April 1915, he was promoted in the field to the rank of corporal.

In early April 1915, Cecil arrived along with the rest of the 1st Division of Canadians at the Ypres salient battlefield in Belgium, an area traditionally referred to as Flanders. They were positioned at the centre of the salient jutting into the German line. The battlefield was an enormous open graveyard, a quagmire of mud and shallow trenches, littered with human excrement, pools of water and unburied corpses. They were surrounded on three sides by enemy soldiers and artillery.

It was here that the Canadians engaged in their first battle of the war, the Second Battle of Ypres—their baptism by fire. It was where the Germans unleashed the first lethal chlorine gas attack in the history of warfare. In the first 48 hours at Ypres (April 22-24), there were more than 6,000 Canadian casualties—one Canadian in every three became casualties of whom more than 2,100 died and 1,410 were captured.

On April 24, 1915, Cecil Manning was gassed at St. Julian.

Fighting continued in the Ypres salient on and off until late May 1915, at a cost to the Canadian Corps of just

over 8,600 soldiers killed, wounded, or captured in just over one month. Following the Battle of Ypres, the decimated 1st Canadian Division marched south to join in the Allied offensives in France that were already under way. The Canadians were thrust into fighting near the villages of Festubert in mid-May and then Givenchy in mid-June, both in northern France, part of a wider British offensive against German lines.

The Battle of Festubert was the second major engagement fought by Canadian troops in the war. The fighting here followed the grim pattern of frontal assaults against entrenched German forces that had all the advantages of terrain, firepower, and well-positioned machine guns. With little planning and inaccurate maps, they repeatedly charged over open ground with little artillery support. By May 25, after a week of fighting, the battle was over. The result was slaughter on both sides, and the Canadians had made only small gains.

About three weeks later, in mid-June 1915, the 1st Canadian Division was thrust into the fighting at Givenchy. Supposedly, lessons had been learned at Festubert, and plans were made to address the issues of German barbed wire and machine gun nests. Three artillery pieces were secretly moved closer to the front line, and a tunnel was dug under the German trenches and packed with explosives in the hope that it would eliminate a large section of the enemy front line trenches. Although the Canadians achieved some of their objectives, the gains were negligible and the cost was extremely high—2,468 casualties at Festubert and a further 400 at Givenchy.

Approximately seven weeks after being gassed, on June 15, 1915, Corporal Cecil Manning was wounded in action at Givenchy, France. He was injured by shrapnel in the left foot and was buried by a shell explosion. His disability was recorded as “gunshot wound, left foot, severe and neurasthenia”.

Cecil was in Boulogne Hospital for two days, then in No. 8 Stationary Hospital, Wimereux, and later a patient at Red Cross Hospital at Broughty Ferry for three weeks. He was then transferred to Canadian Convalescent Hospital, Monks Horton, in Kent, where he remained for six weeks. He then reported to Dibgate Camp where he was assigned light duty.

In late September 1915, Cecil was transferred to the 36th Battalion at West Sandling, and in late October 1915, he was recommended for Home Service in Canada. Corporal Cecil Manning was discharged on June 10, 1916, in London, Ontario, declared medically unfit for service. After his discharge, Cecil returned to reside in Brixton, London, England.

Another one of Herbert’s younger brothers, Harry Frederick Manning Jr., enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force on August 16, 1915, in Watford, becoming a member of the 34th Battalion, CEF. The 18-year-old stood five feet seven inches tall, had light brown eyes and dark brown hair, was single, and recorded his occupation as farm labourer, and his next-of-kin as his father, Harry Manning, of R.R. #5, Kingscourt (Watford), Ontario. [Note: Harry Jr. recorded his birth year as 1897, however census records list it as 1897 and 1898].

On October 23, 1915, Harry Jr. embarked overseas bound for England aboard S.S. California. Seven months later, on May 26, 1916, Private Harry Manning Jr. arrived in France as a member of the 2nd Battalion, Canadian Infantry, and was then transferred to the 7th Battalion.

The 7th Battalion had initially embarked for Great Britain in October 1915, and arrived in France in September 1915 where it fought as part of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade, 1st Canadian Division. Early Battle Honours awarded to the 7th Battalion included Ypres (April-May 1915), Festubert (May 1915), and Mount Sorrel (June 1916). Soon after arriving in France, Harry Manning Jr., as part of the 7^th Battalion, was immersed in the horrendous mass butchery that was the Battle of the Somme.

Waged from July 1-November 18, 1916, it was one of the bloodiest and most futile battles in history. The Somme, a battle of attrition, lasted for more than four brutal months and saw the Allies advance around 10 kilometers. A more telling statistic is the number of injuries and deaths: of the 85,000 Canadian Corps, there were more than 24,000 Canadian casualties.

Two months after arriving in France, on July 25, 1916 at the Somme, Harry Manning Jr. was blown up by a mine explosion, and was buried, causing shock and an injury (“contusion”) on his right knee. He was taken to a field dressing station where his knee was bandaged, and was then sent through a casualty clearing station to No. 14 General Hospital where his treatment included “hot fomentations”.

On July 29, 1916, he was sent back to England and was admitted to Bagthorpe Military Hospital, Nottingham, as a result of his right knee contusion. He remained there for almost three months, until October 12, 1916, and was then transferred to the King’s Canadian Red Cross Convalescent Hospital, Hampton Hill, where he remained for almost a month. He was finally discharged on November 9, 1916.

Harry Jr. was then sent to the Canadian Record Office in London, England, where he was assigned light duty. In July 1918, the military granted him permission to marry his wife, Florence, who resided in Dartmouth Park Hill, Highgate, in London, England. Harry Jr. arrived back in Canada in November 1918. He was discharged from service, declared medically unfit, on December 24, 1918 in London, Ontario. Harry Manning Jr. and his wife Florence Manning resided at Victoria Avenue, Point Edward.

Another one of Herbert’s younger brothers, Alfred George Manning, enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force on January 3, 1916, in Sarnia, becoming a member of the 149th Battalion, CEF. He stood five feet one inch tall, had dark blue eyes and brown hair, was single, and recorded his address as Sarnia, his occupation as labourer, and his next-of-kin as his mother, Marion Manning, of 4 Grand Trunk House, Point Edward, Ontario. Alfred recorded his birthdate as August 21, 1897, when in fact, it was August 21, 1899 or 1900, thus making himself at least two years older than he actually was. Recruiters believed that he was 18 years old when he was actually 16 ½ years old. [Note: Alfred Manning recorded his birth year as 1897; however, Census records list it as 1899 and 1900].

The minimum age to join the military at that time was 18, although 17-year-old applicants were accepted with parental consent, with the promise that their sons would not see front line action (the military later changed the minimum age to 19).

Private Alfred Manning served with the 149th Battalion until early March 1917. It was then that the Medical Officer recorded that Alfred Manning was underage (“was 17 on August 21st, 1916”), and that he had flat feet, though it was recorded that Alfred, “has taken in all route marches and feet have caused no trouble. Some marches were fifteen to twenty miles long. Has reported sick three times in fourteen months service for minor disabilities.”

Four months later, on July 26, 1917, Alfred Manning was transferred to the Special Service Company, Class “A”. One year later, in early August 1917, he was again recorded as underage (“will be 18 on August 21st 1917”), and as having “flat feet”, which were “painful on route marches of five miles or more or when standing in one position any length of time.” Approximately two months later, on October 25, 1917, 18-year-old Private Alfred Manning arrived in England as a member of the Canadian Forestry Corps. He served there for the duration of the war, and returned to Canada in late March 1919. Alfred Manning was discharged as “medically unfit” in April 1919.

Eldest son Herbert John Manning (born in Colchester, Essex, England, in January 1891) enlisted at the age of 24 with the British Forces in Battersea, Surrey, England, in 1915. Herbert became a sergeant with the Queen’s (Royal West Surrey) Regiment, 10th Battalion, Regimental Number G/9457.

In early May 1916, the Queen’s Regiment, 10th Battalion (Battersea) landed in Havre, France, and was engaged in various actions on the Western Front until the end of the war. This included the 1916 Battles of Flers-Courcelette and Transloy Ridges; the 1917 Battles of Messines, Pilkem Ridge, Menin Road; and some time on the Italian Front; and the 1918 Battles of St. Quentin, Bapaume, Arras, Lys, Ypres, and Courtrai.

Herbert Manning spent two years in the trenches before losing his life on March 27, 1918, during fighting near Arras, France.

In early May 1918, Herbert’s mother Marion in Point Edward, received a cablegram advising her that her son had fallen while in action.

Herbert John Manning was the only one of the family of five Mannings fighting in the Great War to pay the supreme sacrifice. Their patriotism was outstanding. Herbert’s parents, Marion Graves Manning (passed away in September 1938) and Harry Samuel Manning (passed away in 1955) are both buried in Lakeview Cemetery in Sarnia.

Herbert John Manning, 27, has no known grave, and is memorialized on the Arras Memorial, Bay 2, Pas de Calais, France.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

Albert McDonald was born in Bosanquet, Lambton County, Ontario, on January 5, 1894, the only son of

Alexander (born 1861, a farmer) and Mary (nee Perkins, born June 15, 1873) McDonald. In April 1890, 29-year-old Alexander McDonald (a labourer at the time, the son of James and Sarah McDonald) married 18-year-old Mary Perkins (the eldest daughter of Albert and Margaret Perkins) in Petrolia. Alexander and Mary resided in Courtright for a time, and later 216 Essex Street, and then 237 Bright Street, Sarnia. They had three children together: son Albert; and daughters Edna Mary (born 1895, married Howard Thomas Chambers on November 5, 1913, in Sarnia), and Sarah Jane (born 1898, married Howard Stubbs on January 20, 1920, in Sarnia). Tragedy struck the McDonald family in 1901 when the father of the family, Alexander, passed away at the age of 49. Albert was 16 years old at the time.

Prior to his service, Albert was employed for two years in the butcher shop of W.J. Laughlin, North Front Street. As the war dragged on in Europe, with the Canadian troops thinning at an alarming rate, and no end to the war in sight, the government instituted the Military Service Act (MSA) in July 1917.

At the age of 24, Albert was drafted under the Military Service Act of 1917, Class One. He underwent his medical examination in Sarnia on October 29, 1917, and was called to service on January 9, 1918, reporting to the 1st Depot Battalion, Western Ontario Regiment in London, Ontario. He stood five feet eight-and-a-half inches tall, had blue eyes and brown hair, was single, and resided at 121 Collingwood Street, Sarnia, at the time. He recorded his trade or calling as butcher, and his next-of-kin as his mother Mary McDonald, residing in Courtright, Ontario. Albert embarked overseas bound for the United Kingdom on February 5, 1918 aboard S.S. Grampian.

Approximately 125,000 men were conscripted into the CEF, and only 48,000 were sent overseas. The first conscripts went to France in April 1918. That summer, thousands more of them, mostly infantry, were funneled across the English Channel to Canadian Corps reinforcement camps in France. Only about 24,000 Canadian MSA conscripts reached the Western Front lines. They helped keep the ranks of the ragged infantry battalions at or near full strength during the crucial final months of the war, thus allowing the Canadian Corps to continue fighting in a series of battles.

Albert arrived in England on February 16, 1918, and became a member of the 4th Reserve, stationed at Bramshott. Approximately three-and-a-half months later, on June 1, 1918, he became a member of the Canadian Infantry, 18th Battalion, Western Ontario Regiment, with the rank of Private. He arrived in France soon after, and within two months found himself part of Canada’s Hundred Days Campaign, one that featured intense and brutal fighting as the end of the war neared.

Early that summer, Allied Commanders proposed a plan to take advantage of German disarray following their failed Spring Offensive. Canadian troops were to play a key role as “shock troops” in cracking the German defences. They spent two months preparing for this campaign.

The Hundred Days Campaign (August 8 – November 11, 1918, in France and Belgium) was the “beginning of the end” of the Great War. Canadians were called on again and again over the three-month period to lead the offensives against the toughest German defences. The series of victories repeatedly drove the Germans back, culminating in Germany’s unconditional surrender on November 11, but it came at a high price: approximately 46,000 Canadians were killed, wounded, or missing.

The first offensive in the Campaign was the Battle of Amiens in France (August 8-14, 1918), a truly all-arms battle, one in which all four Canadian divisions were involved. Over the course of one week, in a battle that British Field Marshal Douglas Haig called “the finest operation of the war”, the Canadians would advance nearly 14 kms.

The second offensive in the Campaign was the Battle of Arras and Breaking the DQ Line in France (August 26-September 3, 1918), where Canadians were part of a spearhead force tasked with crashing one of the most heavily fortified positions, the Hindenburg Line—a series of strong defensive trenches and fortified villages. General Sir Julian Byng called the Canadian victory at the 2nd Battle of Arras and breaking of the DQ Line “the turning point of the campaign”, but it came at a cost of 11,400 Canadian casualties. 

Less than three months after joining the 18th Battalion, on August 28, 1918, Private Albert McDonald was killed in action by enemy shrapnel while fighting in the 2nd Battle of Arras. Several weeks later, in mid-September of 1918, Albert’s mother, Mary, on Essex Street in Sarnia, received a telegram informing her that her son PTE. ALBERT MCDONALD HAD BEEN KILLED IN ACTION ON AUGUST 28TH. Albert McDonald’s Circumstances of Death Register records the following: Date of Casualty: 28-8-18. “KILLED IN ACTION”. Was hit in the body by shrapnel and killed, during military operations near Vis-en-Artois in front of Arras. Vis-en-Artois British Cemetery, France.

Albert McDonald, 24, is buried in Vis-En-Artois British Cemetery, Haucourt, Pas de Calais, France, Grave I.B.33. On his headstone are inscribed the words, FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.

In Pinehill United Cemetery in Thedford, there is a headstone that marks the graves of Albert’s parents, Alexander and Mary McDonald. Inscribed on the headstone are the words, McDONALD ALEXANDER 1861-1910  HIS WIFE MARY PERKINS 1872-1940  PTE ALBERT A. 1894-1918.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

David Hegler McGibbon was born in Sarnia, on November 4, 1897, the middle son of David Christie and Agnes Ada (nee Ferguson) McGibbon. Twenty-nine-year-old David Christie McGibbon (born July 26, 1865, in Halton County, Ontario) married 24-year-old Agnes Ferguson (born October 20, 1871, in Ingersol, Ontario) on June 20, 1894, in Ingersol. David was a lumber merchant, like his father, residing in Sarnia at the time of his marriage.

David Sr. and Agnes had three children together, all boys: Finlay Ferguson (born June 22, 1895); David Hegler; and Kenneth Charles (born December 22, 1901). The McGibbon family resided at 120 Queen St in 1909, and later 366 Christina Street in Sarnia. Tragedy came to the McGibbon family when father David Sr., at age 45, passed away on August 15, 1910, in Guelph. David Hegler was just 12 years old.

David’s older brother, Finlay Ferguson McGibbon, also served in the war. At age 21, Finlay enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force on May 1, 1916, in Toronto, becoming a member of the 92nd Battalion. He stood five feet six-and-a-half inches tall, had blue eyes and fair hair, was single, and resided in Sarnia with his widowed mother and two brothers. Finlay recorded his trade or calling as advertisement writer, and his next-of-kin as his mother, Mrs. D.C. McGibbon, at 363 Christina Street, North, Sarnia (later changed to 366 Christina St.). She later resided at 200 London Rd. Finlay also recorded that he was a member of the Active Militia, 27th Regiment. On May 20, 1916, Private Finlay McGibbon embarked overseas aboard S.S. Empress of Britain. He arrived in England nine days later.

Three months later, on August 27, 1916, Finlay McGibbon departed England bound for France, a sergeant with the 15th Battalion, Canadian Infantry. He was soon immersed in the horrendous mass butchery that was the Battle of the Somme. Waged from July 1-November 18, 1916, it was one of the most futile and bloody battles in history. The Somme, a battle of attrition, lasted for more than four brutal months and saw the Allies advance around 10 kilometers. A more telling statistic is the number of injuries and deaths: of the 85,000 Canadian Corps, there were more than 24,000 Canadian casualties. 

Just over two months after arriving in France, in early November 1916, Finlay was evacuated to a field ambulance suffering from influenza and a sprained back. By the end of that month, he was returned to England, and was finally discharged from hospital in April 1917. Finlay served the remainder of the war in England.

He returned to Canada and was discharged in July 1919. Six years later, on June 25, 1925, Finlay McGibbon (an insurance broker) married Catharine Eliza Langdon (a graduate nurse) in Toronto.

In mid-1917, one year after his older brother Finlay had enlisted, 19-year-old David Hegler McGibbon enlisted. David became a member of the Air Force, Royal Flying Corps, 42nd Training Squadron, with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant.

Flying, still in its infancy, was extremely dangerous. The wooden-framed planes were flimsy and equipping the light aircraft with heavy weaponry was problematic. The demands of war meant that pilot training was often cursory. Many recruits had only a few hours of instruction before being expected to fly solo; consequently, more pilots died from accidents and mechanical failure than from enemy fire. By war’s end, almost a quarter of all British flyers were Canadian. Of 6,166 British Empire air service fatalities, 1,388 were Canadian. An additional 1,130 Canadians were wounded or injured, and 377 became prisoners of war or were interned.

Only in England for about two months, on September 15, 1918, David McGibbon lost his life in a flying accident. In late September 1918, the sad news of Flight Lieutenant David McGibbon’s death was received in Sarnia via two telegrams: one from the Secretary of Air Ministry, London, England; the other from Major James G. Merrison. Besides expressions of sympathy, the messages contained very little information beyond the fact that David had been killed in an airplane accident on September 15th.

David Hegler McGibbon, 20, was buried on September 22, 1918 in St. Gregory and St. Martin Churchyard, Wye, Kent, United Kingdom, Grave 125. On his gravestone are inscribed these words: IN LOVING MEMORY OF 2^ND LIEUT. D.H. McGIBBON, R.A.F. SARNIA, CANADA. KILLED IN A FLYING ACCIDENT SEPT 15^TH 1918. AGED 20 YEARS & 10 MONTHS.

Both of David’s parents, David Christie McGibbon (passed away in 1910) and Agnes Ada McGibbon (passed away in 1940), are buried in Lakeview Cemetery, Sarnia. On the Sarnia cenotaph, David Hegler McGibbon’s name is inscribed as H. Mc Gibbon.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

Andrew McIntosh was born in London, Ontario, on September 30, 1883, the son of Andrew McIntosh Sr. (born June 1855, in Melrose, Scotland) and Sophie McLarren (nee McPhee, born April 1858, in Inverness, Scotland) McIntosh. When he was a child, Andrew immigrated to Canada and by 1861, at the age of five, he was residing in Goderich, Ontario, with his family. At that same time, his future wife, Sophie McPhee, was living in Scotland but immigrated to Canada later.

On October 22, 1879, 24-year-old Andrew McIntosh married 20-year-old Sophia McPhee in Hamilton, Ontario. At the time, Andrew was employed as a baggageman in Hamilton, and Sophia was residing in London, Ontario. In 1881, Andrew and Sophia, and their two young children at the time, were living in London, Ontario where Andrew was employed as a brakeman. Andrew Sr. and Sophia had seven children together: Maggie (born February 15, 1879); Thomas (born January 1880); Andrew Jr. (born 1883); Mary (born February 1885); Isabelle (born February 15, 1887); Raymond (born 1890); and Alexander (born January 3, 1893).

Father of the family, Andrew Sr., sadly passed away in December 1900 at the age of 45. Andrew Jr. was 17 years old at the time. By 1901, widowed Sophia McIntosh and her children had moved to Toronto.  

Thirty-two-year-old Andrew McIntosh enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force on November 16, 1915, in Sarnia. He stood five feet eight inches tall, had blue eyes and brown hair, was single, and lived in Sarnia at the time, residing at 383 Russell St., S. He recorded his trade or calling as R.R. conductor, and his next-of-kin as his mother, Sophia McIntosh, residing at 79 Ryerson Avenue. The address was later changed to 224 Spadina Avenue, Toronto. Andrew became a member of the 70th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force.

Andrew McIntosh embarked overseas from Halifax bound for the United Kingdom on April 24, 1916, aboard S.S. Lapland. He arrived in England on May 5, 1916. Approximately six weeks later, on June 18, 1916, Andrew became a member of the Canadian Infantry, Central Ontario Regiment, 58th Battalion, with the rank of private. The next day, he arrived in France with the 58th Battalion.

Within weeks, Andrew was engulfed in the horrendous mass butchery that was the Battle of the Somme. Waged from July 1-November 18, 1916, it was one of the most futile and bloody battles in history. The Somme, a battle of attrition, lasted for more than four brutal months and saw the Allies advance around 10 kilometers. A more telling statistic is the number of injuries and deaths: of the 85,000 Canadian Corps, there were more than 24,000 Canadian casualties. 

The second major offensive of the Somme battle was the week-long Battle of Flers-Courcelette (September 15-22). It was here where tanks made their first appearance in the war. The Battle was a stunning success for the Canadians, but it came at a cost of over 7,200 casualties. It was during this second major offensive of the Somme battle where Andrew McIntosh was killed in action.

Three months after arriving in France, on September 17, 1916, Private Andrew McIntosh was killed by an

enemy shell during an attack in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. His Circumstances of Death Register records the following: Date of Casualty: 17-9-16. “KILLED IN ACTION”. While taking part in an attack at Courcelette, he was instantly killed in the early morning of September 17th, 1916, by the explosion of a heavy caliber shell. No record of burial.

Andrew McIntosh, 32, has no known grave. He is memorialized on the Vimy Memorial, Pas de Calais, France.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

Walter Wake McKenzie was born in Point Edward, Ontario, on April 28, 1891, the only son of Thomas and Alice Emily (neé Wake) McKenzie. Thomas (born May 23, 1860, in Ireland) had immigrated to Canada with his family in 1863. On June 20, 1888, Thomas married Alice (born October 4, 1867, in Point Edward) in Point Edward, Ontario. Thomas was employed as a fireman when he married, and later worked as a GTR engineer, and a bursar at the Mercer Reformatory. Thomas and Alice had two children together: Walter Wake (born 1891) and Frances Alice (born February 18, 1896 in Point Edward). Originally residing in Point Edward (in 1891), and then Sarnia (in 1901), the McKenzie family later moved to Toronto.

Walter McKenzie received his early education in Sarnia public schools and, after attending Parkdale Collegiate in Toronto, he entered the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto in 1909 and graduated as a physician in 1914. After graduating, Walter was on the medical staff of the Hamilton Insane Asylum for a year. He was the Vice President of the Medical Society Staff of the Hamilton Asylum when he decided to fight for his country.

On September 8, 1915, Walter McKenzie, age 24, enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force in Niagara, Ontario. He stood six feet two inches tall, had blue eyes and fair hair, and was single at the time. He recorded his trade or calling as physician, and his next-of-kin as his mother, Mrs. Thomas McKenzie, who resided at 66 Melbourne Avenue, Toronto.

Two months later, in November 1915, Doctor Walter McKenzie was promoted to captain and Medical Officer of the 83rd Overseas Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force. Six months after being promoted, on April 1, 1916, Walter completed his Officers’ Declaration Paper and was declared medically fit at Riverdale Barracks in Toronto. Captain Walter McKenzie of the 83rd Battalion, Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC), embarked overseas from Halifax bound for the United Kingdom on April 28, 1916, aboard S.S. Olympic. He arrived in Liverpool, England, on May 7, 1916.

The 83rd Battalion (the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada) was recruited and mobilized in Toronto and was an infantry battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. It embarked for Britain on April 28, 1916. Its training camp in England was at West Sandling, and its personnel provided reinforcements for the Canadian Corps.

The Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) included doctors, nurses, stretcher-bearers, and physiotherapists and played an essential role in keeping soldiers alive. They performed their roles at field ambulance units, casualty clearing stations, general hospitals, stationary hospitals, convalescent hospitals, sanitary sections, mobile laboratories, and hospital ships. Field ambulance units removed casualties from dressing stations and regimental aid posts to casualty clearing stations where urgent surgery was performed. Patients then proceeded to general hospitals and then to stationary hospitals before arriving at a special hospital or a convalescent hospital.

In July 1916, Captain Walter McKenzie was attached to the 12th Battalion at West Sandling. Two months later, in mid-September 1916, after suffering a fainting attack, Walter spent eight days as a patient in the Shorncliffe Hospital with stomach trouble that his fellow doctors diagnosed as gastritis. On October 10, 1916, he was transferred to the CAMC Training School (attached to the 83rd Battalion), at Shorncliffe Military Hospital. Two months later, in mid-December 1916, he spent nine days as a patient at Westcliff Eye and Ear Hospital in Folkestone due to tonsillitis.

In letters home to his parents, even in mid-January 1917, Walter said that he was doing well. In late January, the Director of the Shorncliffe Hospital cabled that Captain Walter McKenzie had taken seriously ill. In late January 1917, he was declared “permanently unfit for general service but fit for home service”.

On February 17, 1917, he was admitted to the Shorncliffe Military Hospital recorded as “seriously ill—epilepsy”. Two days later, at approximately 12:30 p.m. on February 19, 1917, Walter McKenzie succumbed to the disease recorded as “cerebrospinal meningitis” at Helena Officers Hospital, Shorncliffe. Captain Walter McKenzie’s death was officially recorded as Date of Death: 19-2-17. Died. (Epilepsy) Helena Officers Hospital, Shorncliffe.

The following is from a February 21, 1917 newspaper reporting on his death;

CAPT. McKENZIE DEAD

M.O. of 83rd Battalion Dies After Short Illness

            Capt. Walter W. McKenzie, only son of Thomas McKenzie, bursar at the Mercer Reformatory, died suddenly day before yesterday at Shorncliffe Military Hospital, where he was one of the physicians in attendance upon the wounded. He is a graduate of the University of Toronto class of 1914, and was on the medical staff of the Hamilton Insane Asylum for a year after graduating. He went overseas as medical officer to the 83rd Battalion, and was appointed to the staff of the Shorncliffe Military Hospital. He had been in good health up till quite lately, letters just received by his parents dated January 29th saying that he was well. On Monday the director of the Shorncliffe Hospital cabled that Capt. McKenzie had taken seriously ill; and later in the day, that he had died. The body will be embalmed, placed in a metal casket and sent back to Canada. No word has been received yet as to the cause of death, or the duration of his illness.

[Note: In May 1917, the Imperial War Graves Commission (IWGC) was created. At the end of the Great War, the IWGC’s work began in earnest—tasks included recording details of the Empire’s war dead; recovering bodies buried in isolated graves on battlefields; and securing land for war cemeteries and memorials.

One of the issues it discussed was whether or not to repatriate the bodies of the fallen to their native countries. The IWGC, committed to the ideal of equal treatment of all war dead, determined that the fallen would have preferred to lie alongside their comrades. Their graves would become a symbol for future generations, a unique army of fallen soldiers, and an “Empire of the Silent Dead.”]

So, the McKenzie family, like tens of thousands of other Canadian families, never had the opportunity to bury their loved one or have a funeral at home.

Walter McKenzie, 25, is buried in Shorncliffe Military Cemetery, Kent, United Kingdom, Grave M.506. On his headstone are inscribed the words HIS NAME LIVETH FOREVER.

In Westminster Memorial Park in Toronto, a memorial marker indicates the location of Walter McKenzie’s parents’ graves. Inscribed on it are the words McKENZIE   IN LOVING MEMORY OF THOMAS MCKENZIE MAY 23, 1860-NOV. 4, 1931  ALICE EMILY WAKE OCT. 4, 1867-APR. 1, 1955  WALTER WAKE MCKENZIE M.B. APRIL 28, 1891-FEB. 19, 1917  GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

Immediately after the Great War ended Sarnians were debating how the city should honour its fallen soldiers. There were a number of different proposals including that of a more traditional monument—the proposal that Irene McMullin preferred. Late in November 1918, she penned a heartfelt letter to the editor of the Canadian (Sarnia) Observer. The powerful words of a grieving mother no doubt resonated with others. Three years after the end of the Great War, the Sarnia Cenotaph Memorial was unveiled.

Leonard Calvin McMullin was born in Bradshaw, Lambton County, Ontario, on November 28, 1898, the only son of William Claude (born April 1869) and Irene (nee Tiderington) McMullin. Irene (born July 29, 1870 in Cayuga, Ontario) was the daughter of Archibald Tiderington (born September 1836 in Ontario, a blacksmith, and later a farmer) and Elizabeth Tiderington (born May 1842 in Scotland).

In 1881, both 12-year-old William McMullin, and 11-year-old Irene Tiderington, were residing in Bothwell, Ontario. Fifteen years later, on May 4, 1896, 27-year-old William married 25-year-old Irene in Wallaceburg, Ontario. Two years after marrying, William and Irene had their only child together, Leonard Calvin. 

Ontario Birth Records record Leonard’s middle name as Claude (and his father’s middle name as Claude); however, in all of Leonard’s military records, including his Attestation Papers, and his own signature, Leonard recorded his middle name as Calvin.

In 1901, Leonard’s father, William, was residing as a boarder in Chatham, employed as a carpenter, while Irene and Leonard were residing in Sombra with Irene’s parents Archibald and Elizabeth Tiderington. In 1914, Leonard’s parents William and Irene divorced. Irene McMullin resided at 418 South Vidal Street and later 466 Davis Street, Sarnia.

Growing up in Sarnia, Leonard was an all-round athlete, a great reader and musician, and a popular member and willing worker with Devine St. Methodist Church. On February 4, 1916, at age 17, Leonard enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force in Sarnia. He stood six feet tall, had blue eyes and light brown hair, was single and residing on South Vidal Street with his divorced mother at the time. He recorded his trade or calling as labourer, and his next-of-kin as his mother Irene McMullin of 418 South Vidal Street.

The minimum age to join the military at that time was 18, although 17-year-old applicants were accepted with parental consent, with the promise that their sons would not see front line action (the military later changed the minimum age to 19). Irene provided Leonard with the needed permission. An estimated 15,000 to 20,000 underage Canadians served in the First World War.

Leonard became a member of the 149th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force with the rank of private. He was part of the 800 young men of the 149^th that in late May 1916 marched through the Sarnia downtown streets thronged with cheering spectators to Victoria Park (now Veterans Park) for a special church service. The next morning, the 149^th marched to City Hall and then down Front Street to the train station at the foot of Cromwell Street. Sarnians gave them a rousing farewell as they departed for war.  

The 149^th Battalion trained at Carling Heights (Wolseley Barracks) and then Camp Borden, before returning to Queen’s Park in London. On October 20, 1916, Leonard entered the military hospital in London where he spent 41 days recovering from scarlet fever.

On March 28, 1917, Leonard embarked overseas from Halifax bound for the United Kingdom aboard S.S. Lapland. Arriving in Liverpool, England, on April 7, 1917, he moved to Bramshott Segregation Camp and was then transferred to the 25th Reserve Battalion. A week after Leonard’s arrival in England, a Sarnia Observer headline stated “149^th Battalion Arrives Safely in England.” In the same edition, Sarnians learned some of the details about the Battle of Vimy Ridge that had taken place that Easter weekend.

Shortly after his arrival in England, Leonard wrote a letter to his mother Irene in Sarnia. Following is a portion of that letter:

Dearest Mama,

Just a line to let you know we arrived safe. We got into Liverpool about three…our ship had struck a mine in

the bay outside the city and had a big hole put in the boat, but we got to the dock O.K. We started on the train

(some jittery it is, too) about an hour ago and I expect we will go to Bramshott. One fellow from the 244th Battalion, from Montreal was drowned and two hurt when the boat struck. It knocked me out of my bunk. We arrived at Bramshott Camp this afternoon at 4 p.m. and are quarantined for ten days so as to be sure that no disease is brought over ‘ome from dear old Canada. A man of the 198th Buffs (I have their badge) fell down a hatch of one of the fleet of boats at Halifax and was killed. It is also said that 4 men have died from shock and hurts when the Lapland struck that mine.

The 186th Battalion arrived a little while ago, also the 246th Scots from Halifax, (I also have their badge) and we are all together. We are in tents, but after our ten days (C.B. the boys call it) we will be moved into huts across the road. This place is very much like Camp Borden. You might send me a cake and a pair of woolen mitts: the leather ones are cold.

Your boy, Leonard

Seven months after arriving in England, on November 17, 1917, Leonard was transferred to the 4th Canadian Reserve Battalion at Bramshott. Four days later, on November 21, he arrived in France where he was initially posted to the 1st Battalion. Two weeks later, he became a member of the Canadian Infantry, Western Ontario Regiment, 18th Battalion, with the rank of private. Arriving at the front lines, Leonard witnessed a nightmarish scene—a labyrinth of trenches in a crater-filled battlefield with mazes of barbed wire, that was littered with rotting, mangled corpses, gagging gas, and glutinous mud.  

Six months later, on May 22, 1918, the 18^th Battalion left Wailly, a small village in the north of France, to relieve the 31^st Battalion at front line positions at Neuville Vitasse. Over the next two nights, as both sides exchanged shellfire, 18^th Battalion working parties fortified their trenches and sent out patrols in search of enemy positions.

At dawn on the morning of May 25, Private Leonard McMullin slept or waited in his funk hole—a small area or recess in a trench wall that provided some extra protection and a place to rest. Without warning, a German “fish tail” mortar shell flew into his trench and exploded on impact near him. Leonard was instantly killed. Leonard McMullin’s Circumstances of Death Register records the following: Date of Casualty: 25-5-18. “Killed in Action”. While sleeping in his funk hole in a front line trench, near Neuville Vitasse in the early morning of May 25th, 1918, he was killed by an enemy ‘fish tail’ bomb that dropped near him. Wailly Orchard Cemetery 3 ¼ miles South West of Arras, France.

His death, outside a formal, designated battle, was a common occurrence. In the daily exchange of hostilities—incessant artillery, snipers, mines, gas shells, trench raids, and random harassing fire—the carnage was routine and inescapable. High Command’s term for these losses was “wastage.”

On June 6, 1918, his mother Irene in Sarnia received the following telegram from the Director of Records in Ottawa: DEEPLY REGRET TO INFORM YOU THAT 844831, PTE. LEONARD CALVIN MCMULLIN, INFANTRY, IS OFFICIALLY REPORTED KILLED IN ACTION ON MAY 25TH, 1918.

Not long after learning the news of the death of her only child, Irene McMullin wrote the following poem, which she submitted to the Sarnia Observer:

Somewhere in France

“Somewhere in France,” so weary, so faithful! “Innocence,” dreaming whilst shells scream overhead;

Dreaming of Home and the Land of the Maple; Knapsack his pillow, the clay for his bed.

“Somewhere” in No Man’s Land! God grant that mother, Never shall dream what we’re bidden to do!

Stake we our life’s blood, but leave for no other. Strenuous deeds which a soldier must do!

“Somewhere,” a mother so lonely is waiting, Craving good tidings from over the sea;

Praying, “O God, should it be Thy good pleasure, Send my darling in safety to me.”

“Somewhere,” in Heaven, past troubles and tears, For a voice, “Come, thou blessed,” in mercy he heard,

‘Neath his cross, khaki clad, fitting garb for our heroes, His dearly loved form now lies undisturbed.

 “Somewhere in France” his life work has ended, As o’er parapets gleam the first rays of sun.

‘Twixt boyhood and man, not a score yet of summers! Now peace, grand, eternal – a living “Well done.”

Tho’ poppies may fade, or the lark’s wing grow weary, Mother love – oh so boundless – no living, no end!

Sleep well son! Dear Heart, we ne’er shall forget thee, For thy life thou hast given, for country and friends.

Leonard McMullin, 19, is buried in Wailly Orchard Cemetery, France, Grave II.F.15. On his headstone are inscribed the words, THE ONLY SON OF HIS MOTHER HE LOVED HONOUR MORE THAN HE FEARED DEATH. On the Sarnia cenotaph, his name is inscribed as L.C. McMullen.

At the end of the Great War, debates ensued in Sarnia as to how the city would pay tribute to the fallen soldiers. Several suggestions for memorials were discussed and included the following: purchasing a new park and planting oak trees with metal plates inscribed with the names of the fallen; the building of some sort of community memorial building; or constructing a “Veterans home”; or erecting some form of a traditional monument.

Six months after her son’s death, in late November 1918, Leonard’s mother Irene wrote a letter to the Canadian (Sarnia) Observer expressing her preference. She was one of thousands of Canadian families who were forced to grieve without a body, or without an expensive overseas visit to a grave. Many thousands were unable to achieve the necessary closure so important to those who had never had a chance to say a proper goodbye. Following is Irene’s heartfelt letter:

Editor Canadian Observer

Dear Sir,

May I speak for my boy? He is sleeping somewhere in France. I do want to tell you what I believe would please him, could he but speak. For some years prior to enlisting in Lambton’s 149th O.S. Bn., he had taken great pleasure in the public library and the park surrounding it (Victoria Park) and since a memorial to the boys who will never return has been under discussion, my greatest comfort has seemed to centre there, and always I can picture to myself a monument of suitable design, bearing the names of all our city’s fallen heroes, their graves beyond the reach of loving hands to tend and care for, with no mark save a temporary wooden cross.

Reader, have you a boy sleeping over there? If so, does not the little white wooden cross seem a frail thing? And many of our precious boys have not even that much. A granite monument would be a memorial which would withstand the elements for many generations to come and in that way would perpetuate their names as nothing else could. Also it would be something which the residents of our city and visitors as well, would have cause to admire and revere. Furthermore, if this proposed memorial to the boys who have lost their lives should take the form of a home, or a Y.M.C.A. or Y.W.C.A., it would be natural for the original motive to be lost sight of, within a few years.

There are already associations formed for the purpose of bringing comfort and pleasure to the returned heroes. We feel that they can never be fully repaid for their sacrifices and services for humanity. They are deserving

of as good as can be produced, but our city and country are prosperous and wealthy, and can well afford to give our beloved dead a separate memorial.

In the years of the future, when one by one our returned heroes have gone to their reward in the Great Beyond, their earthly remains laid to rest beside their father and mother, perhaps, their names and record engraved upon the family monument, or possibly a gravestone of their very own (not only they but you and I together with all others who have known and loved and been loyal to our faithful armies) this proposed granite monument would still stand firm ever beaming the message of peace on earth.                        

The little white wooden crosses over there seem to send us the message “Do not forget us,” though only wrapped in a blanket, perhaps and buried khaki clad, in a soldier’s grave.

Thanking you, Mr. Editor for space and patience, I am

                                                            Yours truly,

                                                            The Mother of One, Mrs. Irene McMullin, 466 Davis Street.

In 1921, the Sarnia cenotaph was unveiled. The granite block featured two bronze tablets that listed the names of over 1,000 Sarnians who had served in the war. On the west side of the monument was another bronze tablet bearing the names of 60 Sarnians who lost their lives in the Great War. One of those listed was L.C. McMullen—misspelled, but it was there.

That year, Irene was residing with her Scottish-born mother Elizabeth Tiderington at 118 Samuel Street, Sarnia. Their neighbour at 120 Samuel Street was Charles Augustus Lester, a local painter. Irene McMullin no doubt visited the memorial with her son’s name on it.

On June 18, 1927, at the age of 56, she re-married in Port Huron, Michigan, to 54-year-old Charles Augustus Lester (his third marriage). Irene and Charles Lester resided in Sarnia. On March 20, 1931, at the age of 60, Irene passed away in Sarnia, the result of a cerebral hemorrhage. She was buried three days later in Bradshaw Cemetery in Sombra Township, Lambton County.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

More information on this soldier is available in

Valour Remembered: Sarnia-Lambton War Stories by Tom Slater and Tom St. Amand

John McMutrie was born in Manchester, England, on July 3, 1875, the son of William Arnold McMutrie, of Regent Road, Salford, Manchester, England. At some point, John immigrated to Canada and took residence in Sarnia.

On August 4, 1914, the United Kingdom declared war on Germany. Canada and Newfoundland, as colonies of Britain, were bound by the Mother Country’s decision and thus automatically at war.  

On November 2, 1914, 39-year-old John McMutrie enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force in Sarnia and became a member of the 18th Battalion. He stood five feet eight-and-one-half inches tall, had brown eyes and black hair, was single, and recorded his trade or calling as labourer, and his next-of-kin as his father, William McMutrie, of Regent Road, Salford, England. John’s next-of-kin was later changed to his niece, Mrs. Ellinor Cattermole, of 37 Dalton Street, Salford, Lancashire, England. He also recorded that he had served three years with the militia.

John embarked overseas from Halifax bound for the United Kingdom on January 18, 1915, aboard S.S. Grampian.

Eight months after his arrival in England, on September 14, 1915, John arrived in France, as a member of the Canadian Infantry, Western Ontario Regiment, 18th Battalion, with the rank of private. The 18th Battalion fought as part of the 4th Canadian Infantry Brigade, 2^nd Canadian Division. The first Battle Honour awarded the 18th Battalion was Mount Sorrel (June 2-13, 1916) in Belgium. Mount Sorrel was the last remaining high ground in the Ypres salient still in British hands. Over the two weeks of fighting at Mount Sorrel that resulted in almost no change in the ground held by both sides, the “June Show,” as the battle was known, came at a cost of 8,700+ killed, wounded or missing Canadians.  

John McMutrie survived the Battle of Mount Sorrel, but only a month later he was involved in the horrendous mass butchery of the next major battle. The Battle of the Somme, waged from July 1-November 18, 1916, was one of the bloodiest and most futile battles in history. The Somme, a battle of attrition, lasted for more than four brutal months and saw the Allies advance around 10 kilometers. A more telling statistic is the number of injuries and deaths: of the 85,000 Canadian Corps, there were more than 24,000 Canadian casualties.

The second major offensive of the Somme battle was the week-long Battle of Flers-Courcelette(September 15-22). It was here where tanks made their first appearance in the war. The Battle was a stunning success for the Canadians, but it came at a cost of over 7,200 casualties.

In the days following this second offensive, the 18th Battalion, as part of the 2nd Canadian Division, continued to fight in operations at the Somme in support of the Allied advance, including at the Battle of Thiepval (September 26-28), where the Canadians suffered approximately 3,500 casualties; and the Battle of Ancre Heights (October 1-November 11), where the Canadian Corps were tasked with taking the heavily defended Regina Trench, which was then to serve as a jumping off point for attacks farther north.

Thirteen months after he had arrived in France, on October 3, 1916, Private John McMutrie lost his life in action during the Battle of the Somme. His Circumstances of Death Register records the following: Date of Casualty: 3-10-16. “Killed in Action”. TRENCHES AT COURCELETTE. No record of burial.

After the war, John’s medals and decorations were sent to his niece, Mrs. Ellinor Cattermole of Dalton Street, Salford, Manchester, England.

John McMutrie, 41, has no known grave. He is memorialized on the Vimy Memorial, Pas de Calais, France.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo

David Chester Montgomery was born in Kars, Carleton, Ontario (near Ottawa), on August 1, 1893, the youngest child of James and Harriet Irene ‘Hattie’ (neé Lee) Montgomery. On March 8, 1878, James (born 1851, North Gower, Carleton, Ontario) married Harriet Irene (born December 25, 1860, Marlborough Township, Carleton, Ontario) in Carleton, Ontario. In 1878 and 1881, James was supporting his family by working as a farmer in North Gower, Carleton.

James and Harriet had eight children together: John Simpson (born June 16, 1878, later resided Rouleau, Saskatchewan); James Howard (born February 7, 1880, later resided Chaplin, Saskatchewan, and then Burnaby, B.C.); Laura Eva (born June 7, 1881, resided Carleton, and in April 1904, married blacksmith John Albert McEwen in Carleton); Ida May (born February 1, 1883, and in January 1907, married engineer Stephen James Martin in Ottawa, and later resided Calgary, Alberta); Violet Mabel (born October 29, 1884, and in 1910, married Ellwood Phillips, and resided Regina, Saskatchewan, and then Sarnia); William Bower (born February 4, 1888, later resided Calgary, Alberta); Robert Henry (born February 26, 1889, later resided Calgary, Alberta) and David Chester (born 1893).

In 1891, James and Harriet Montgomery and their seven children (David hadn’t been born yet), were residing in Carleton District, Ontario, where father James was working as a tanner. Four years later, on October 19, 1895, the patriarch of the family died at the age of 44 as a result of an accident. David Chester was only two years old at the time.

Six years later, in 1901, widowed Harriet Montgomery, the head of household, and her eight children, were still residing in Carleton District. Several of her children were now working: John was employed as a farm labourer; James was a carpenter; Laura Eve was a tailor; and Ida was employed as a servant. Tragedy struck the Montgomery family again in March 1907 when Harriet passed away in Carleton at the age of 46, the result of pneumonia. For David, now 13 years old, he had now lost both his parents.

David’s older brother, Robert, at the age of 26, enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force on August 2, 1915 in Calgary, becoming a member of the 56th Battalion, CEF. Private Robert Montgomery, still a recruit, was struck off service after only two months. Despite his six-foot frame, he was deemed “not likely to become an efficient soldier” by both the Medical Officer and Approving Officer. He was discharged on October 2, 1915, at Sarcee Camp (near Calgary). Four months after Robert Montgomery was discharged, his younger brother David enlisted. 

David Chester Montgomery’s name is inscribed on the Sarnia cenotaph—the following is his link to Sarnia: David’s sister, Violet Mabel Montgomery, married Ellwood Stewart Phillips (of Watford, Ontario) in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, on July 12, 1910. By 1919, Violet and Ellwood were residing on Errol Road West in Sarnia. Violet and Ellwood had six children together: Franklin James, Stewart Lee, Harry Ardiel, Alexander Ellwood, Dorothy Caroline and Irene Pearl Phillips (the latter two were born in Sarnia). Violet (nee Montgomery) Phillips was very close to her younger brother, David, who spent some time living in Sarnia with his sister before he moved out west to live with his brother James.

Ellwood and Violet Phillips remained and raised their family in Sarnia. Ellwood Phillips passed away in 1941, and Violet Phillips passed away in 1970, and both are buried in Lakeview Cemetery, Sarnia. Of note, Ellwood Avenue in Sarnia is named after Ellwood Stewart Phillips. Of Ellwood and Violet Phillips’ six children, two served during World War II. Their first child, Franklin James Phillips, served in the Royal Canadian Air Force. Their second child, Stewart Lee Phillips, served in the 4th Anti-Tank Regiment, part of the 5th Canadian Armoured Division, seeing action in North Africa, Italy, Holland, and Germany. An accomplished athlete, in 1988, Stewart Lee Phillips was inducted into the Sarnia-Lambton Sports Hall of Fame. 

On February 9, 1916, David Montgomery, age 22, enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. He stood five feet nine inches tall, had blue eyes and dark brown hair, was single, and lived in Avonlea, Saskatchewan, at the time. He recorded his trade or calling as a hardware salesman, and his next-of-kin as his brother, James Howard Montgomery, in Chaplin, Saskatchewan. David became a member of the 128th Overseas Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force.

Six months later, on August 15, 1916, David embarked overseas from Halifax bound for the United Kingdom aboard S.S. Grampian.

Private David Montgomery arrived in Liverpool, England, on August 24, 1916. Just over three months later, on December 5, 1916, at Bramshott, he became a member of the Canadian Infantry, 49th Battalion, Edmonton Regiment. The next day, he arrived with the 49th Battalion in France.

The 49th Battalion recruited and mobilized in Edmonton, and had arrived in England in June 1915. By the following October, it had disembarked in France. It fought as part of the 7^th Infantry Brigade, 3^rd Canadian Division, and by the time David arrived in France, the 49^th Battalion had already been awarded Battle Honours that included Mount Sorrel (June 2-13, 1916); Somme (July 1-November 18, 1916) and Flers-Courcelette (September 15-22, 1916).

Two months after David arrived in France, in mid-February 1917, the 49th Battalion made its way to an area in northern France that was dominated by a long hill known as Vimy Ridge. The Canadians began arriving at the Vimy front in staggered marches in late October 1916. The muddy, cratered western slope was an immense graveyard, littered with the remains of thousands of unburied corpses and fragments of bodies. Above them, the Germans had transformed the ridge into a virtually impregnable defensive position with deep concrete dugouts, rows of barbed wire, underground tunnels, and multiple lines of soldiers with rifles, mortars and machine guns, all protected by artillery. The Canadians were tasked with capturing the ridge, something that French and British troops had failed to do.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge (April 9-12, 1917) was the first time (and the last time in the war) that all four divisions of the Canadian Corps, with soldiers from every region in the country, surged forward simultaneously. The first day of the battle, April 9, 1917, was the single bloodiest day of the entire war for the Canadian Corps and the bloodiest in all of Canadian military history. The four-day victory at Vimy Ridge was a seminal battle, a turning point in the war for the Canadian Corps and a significant victory for Canada, later referred to as “the birth of a nation”.  Of the 97,000 Canadians who fought at Vimy Ridge, approximately 7,004 were wounded and 3,598 were killed in four days of battle. 

On April 10, 1917, Private David Montgomery was wounded in action by enemy gunfire at Vimy Ridge.

That day, he was admitted to No. 24 General Hospital, Etaples, with a “gun shot wound face, fracture base of skull and gun shot wound leg”.

Twelve days later, on April 22, he was reported, “dangerously ill (GSW. Fract. base skull & GSW leg)”.

On April 26, 1917, Private David Montgomery lost his life as a result of the wounds he received in action. His death was recorded as “Previously reported dangerously ill now died of wounds received in action – GSW. Frac. Base Skull, 24 General Hospital, Etaples.” His Circumstances of Death Register records the following: Date of Casualty: 26-4-17. “Died of wounds” (Gunshot Wound Fracture Base Skull) at No. 24 General Hospital, Etaples. Etaples Military Cemetery, France.

David Montgomery, 23, is buried in Etaples Military Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France, Grave XVIII.A.3. On his headstone are inscribed the words IN MEMORY OF OUR BELOVED BROTHER WHO DIED FOR HIS COUNTRY.

Source: The Sarnia War Remembrance Project by Tom Slater

Editors: Tom St. Amand and Lou Giancarlo