1033023 Pte. John McMillan, The RCR - St. Olle British Cemetery

[Michael OLeary]

As part of my website project to collect the grave photos of First World War casualties of the Regiment, there are occasional surprises in the photos I received.  

Private  John McMillan served overseas with the Regiment and died on 28 Sep 1918.  He is buried in St. Olle British Cemetery.

Unfortunately, there is an error in the inscription on Private McMillan's gravestone.



On 11 Nov 2009, I informed Veterans Affairs Canada of the error in unit naming on Pte McMillan's gravestone:

Good evening sir/madam,

I believe that the Regiment identified on the gravestone and in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site for the Canadian soldier 1033023 Pte. John McMILLAN (Date of death: 28-Sep-18) is incorrect. He is identified in the Canadian Virtual War Memorial as a soldier of The Royal Canadian Regiment, and is also recorded in the Canadian Books of Remembrance as such. Pte McMillan is also listed in the roll of honour in the regimental history of The Royal Canadian Regiment.

Pte McMillan's gravestone in the St. Olle British Cemetery identifies him as a soldier of the Canadian Labour Corps, which may require replacement if my information is correct.

A recent photo of Pte McMillan's gravestone can be viewed
here

CWGC

CVWM

Book of Remembrance page

Thank you very much for your consideration of this inquiry.

From the received reply, we can expect the Commonwealth War Graves Committee to correct Pte McMillan's gravestone one day.

My name is John S. Brehaut and I am responsible for updating and maintaining the Canadian Virtual War Memorial Website (CVWM).  Thank you for your email that you sent to us on November 11, 2009.  Please accept my apology for the delay in getting back to you.

I just received a reply from an analyst at the Library and Archives Canada and he did his research on the units. He confirmed that Private John McMillan's unit should be The Royal Canadian Regiment.

An amendment has been forwarded to the Commonwealth War Graves's Head Office in the UK who will process in due course.

We really appreciate being notified of an error and please accept our thanks for bringing this error to our attention.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you,

John S. Brehaut
Canada Remembers Division
Veterans Affairs Canada
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

[bjmaclean]

Good job sorting this out Mike

[ranrad]

Great research Mike, its nice to see this error will be corrected.. my thanks for your work..ranrad

[Michael OLeary]

A further update confirming that this correction is being worked on:

Dear Captain O'Leary,

My colleague, Johanne Neville, has informed me an amendment to change
his regiment from Canadian Labour Corps to Royal Canadian Regiment was
sent to our Head Office on 15 January 2010.

My colleague will verify the seven names and we will contact you at a
later date. Thank you.

Dominique Boulais (Mr / Monsieur)
Deputy Secretary-General / Sous-secrétaire général
Canadian Agency / Agence canadienne
Commonwealth War Graves Commission / Commission des sépultures de
guerre du Commonwealth

[woody]

Excellent research Mike.
Bob Woodward

[Michael OLeary]

Private McMillan's regimental service is captured by only two entries in the Part II Daily Orders of the overseas battalion:

21 Aug 18 - Taken on strength on transfer from 1st Cdn Infantry Works Coy.
20 Sep 18 - Classified B.2 and struck off strength of the battalion on transfer to Cdn Labour Pool.


From the OFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE CANADIAN FORCES IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-19; THE MEDICAL SERVICES:

For the purpose of ascertaining the physical condition of each soldier and his value as a reinforcement a system was established early in 1917 by which men were assigned to groups according to their fitness for service. Five medical categories were created, A, B, C, D, E, to include, respectively, men who were fit for general service; fit for certain kinds of service; fit for service in England; temporarily unfit but likely to become fit after treatment; and all others who should be discharged.

Category A was divided into four classes 1, 2, 3, 4, which contained respectively: men who were fit for active service in respect of health and training; men who had not been in the field but only lacked training; casualties fit as soon as they were hardened by exercise; and boys who would be fit as soon as they reached 19 years of age.

Category B was likewise subdivided into four groups, to include men who were fit for employment in labour, forestry, and railway units; men who were fit for base units of the medical service, garrison, or regimental outdoor duty; men capable of sedentary work as clerks; or skilled workmen at their trades. In Category C were placed men fit for service in England only.

In Category D were all men discharged from hospital to the command depot, who would be fit for Category A after completion of remedial training; and there was a special group to include all other ranks of any unit under medical treatment, who on completion would rejoin their original category. Category E included men unfit for A, B or C, and not likely to become fit within six months. It was a general rule that a soldier could be raised in category by a medical officer but lowered only by a board.