The Denbigh cenotaph stands in the cemetery beside St. Luke’s United Church, at the corner of Highway 28 and Bridge Street. It was dedicated by the Northbrook branch of the Royal Canadian Legion (Branch 328), likely in the mid 1990s.
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Caudebec-en-Caux is a charming town on a bend of the River Seine between Honfleur and Rouen. Two war memorials caught my eye.
L’église Notre-Dame, on Place du Parvis, is a splendid example of Flamboyant Gothic architecture. Rumour has it that Henri IV called it the most beautiful chapel in his kingdom.
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The neo-gothic post office (Posterijen) on the east side of the Market Square (Grote Markt) in Brugge (Bruges) was built in the 1890s. To the right of the doorway, a bronze plaque is dedicated to 62 postal workers in West Flanders killed in WW1.
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A pilgrimage to Mont Saint-Michel is well worth it to see the medieval abbey atop the tidal island and the stunning views of the tidal basin below. Focussed on the sights up and down as you climb the Grande Rue, you might overlook the parish church of Saint Pierre and its adjacent cemetery.
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At eleven o’clock this morning came to an end the cruellest and most terrible war that has ever scourged mankind. I hope we may say that thus, this fateful morning, came to an end all wars.
David Lloyd George, British prime minister. Speech in the House of Commons, 11 November 1918.
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St Peter and St Paul’s Anglican Church, at 152 Metcalfe St (corner Gloucester St) in Ottawa, remembers several parishioners who served and died in WW1.
An honour roll lists the names of 269 who served: “These from this Parish served King and Country in the Great War, 1914-18.” Most men served in the army, three served in the navy. Twelve women served in the Red Cross and hospitals. Those killed are marked with a cross. All the names are listed below.
A memorial window is dedicated “To the honour and glory of God and in grateful tribute to the men from this parish who gave their lives in the Great War for the maintenance of honour, justice and liberty. This window is erected A.D. 1918.” The window depicts “David and the three mighty men” and a verse from II Samuel 23:17: “Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives?” A plaque below the window lists 41 parishioners killed in the war:
Wilfred Harrison, F Loren May, Hugh Lindesay, Paul Armstrong, Robert E Greene, John H Elliott, Arthur Major, John C Galway, G Geoffrey May, G Wynne Dowsley, Ernest Bonsall, Fred W King, Henry Peck, Eric May, Charles H Stearns, Edward Mennie, John F Buels, Albert Heward, John Abrahamson, Sidney Cripps, Harry Lewis, Charles Lewis, Robert Cranmer, Leonard Endycott, Harry Williams, Oliver Paynter, George E Robinson, Edwin Assinder, Arthur Pearce, Harold Fraser, Alexander McFarlane, Harry Mason, JF Martin, Frederick Barnet, William Trappitt, A Baxendall, Sydney Harris, Albert Broadrib, JG Rothwell, Edwin Hull, Ernest W Painter.
The list isn’t quite the same as those on the honour roll: Rupert Hunter and RO Spreckley are marked on the honour roll, but not the plaque. Ernest W Painter is on the plaque but not the honour roll.
Two parishioners are remembered on individual plaques:
In loving memory of Capt Edward T Mennie, MC, 38th Batt. CEF. Born Nov. 30th 1890. Died of wounds received at Valenciennes Nov. 7th 1918. “Faithful Unto Death” This tablet is erected by his widow.
To the dear memory of Corporal Garnet Wynne Dowsley, Canadian Field Artillery. Killed in action at Abraham Heights, near Passchendaele, Flanders, Dec 1st 1917, aged 34 years. A brave soldier and loving son.
Names on the Honour Roll
Red Cross and Hospitals: Arnoldi, CP / Arnoldi, Helen / Bray, Lassie / Clarke, Mildred / Goodeve, Mildred / Johnston, Eilleen / May, Marion / Martin, Olive Baker / McNichol, Annie / Sheridan, Florence / Smith, Lydia / Turner, Matilda
Navy: Godfrey, Val / Sherwood, Edson / Beament, Harold
Woodland Cemetery in Kitchener is the final resting place of 187 prisoners of war (POW), who died while detained in Canadian POW camps in WW1 and WW2. Of these, 39 were POWs in WW1. Originally buried close to where they died, the bodies were relocated to Kitchener by the German War Graves Commission in 1970 for ease of care for them in one location. Fitting, I guess, in that Kitchener’s original name – Berlin – was changed in WW1.
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The Heroes’ Temple stands in the courtyard of the Dohány Street Synagogue in Budapest. The temple was designed by Lazlo Vágó and Ferenc Faragó and built in 1931 as a memorial to the 10,000 Hungarian Jewish soldiers who died in WW1..
Continue readingMark Carmichael’s book, Heroes of the Great War, is the first in a promised series featuring untold stories of the men who served in the 116th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in WW1. I am pleased to welcome Mark to Great War 100 Reads today to share some reflections about his work.
What first interested you in the men of the 116th Battalion?
Mark Carmichael: My introduction to the men of the 116th Battalion started back in July 1997. I just graduated from university and instead of getting a job and paying off my student loans, I went on a European adventure. The first and only item on my itinerary was to visit the final resting spot of my great grandfather. All I knew was that he was killed at the Battle of Canal du Nord and buried in a place called St. Olle British Cemetery. When I arrived at the site I discovered that, incredibly, 73 of the 89 soldiers buried there were from his battalion. I find the next part of this story interesting. I may have travelled half-way across the globe to find my ancestor’s grave but my attention was focused on the guys to the right and left of him and those to the right and left of them. I was intrigued. I needed to find out were these guys who were at my great grandfather’s side when he was killed. I needed to know that they were more than just a name carved in some stone.
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Today is Labour Day in Canada and the US … a day to celebrate workers. While May Day is the workers’ day in other countries, we can also raise a glass to them today.
A bronze plaque on a pub on Borough High Street is dedicated “to the memory of the men of the London Hop Trade who died for us in the Great War 1914-1918.” Garlands of hops frame the top of the plaque.
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Great War 100 Reads 