The RCR in the Great War – The Lost Cemeteries

[Michael OLeary]

The RCR in the Great War – The Lost Cemeteries

In my efforts to identify and locate the cemeteries holding Great War casualties of The RCR, I have been left with two “lost” cemeteries.  While the Commonwealth War Graves Commission gives directions to many of the cemeteries in Europe (often sadly dated directions at that), the cemeteries in Canada have no such finding aides.

I have been so far unable to positively locate through internet searches the following cemeteries:

Lower Wood Harbour (Greenwood) Cemetery, Nova Scotia, Canada
Seymour (Mount Pleasant) Cemetery, Ontario, Canada

Any assistance to confirm the locations of these cemeteries would be welcome.

Thank you.

Michael

[Ron Gross]

Michael, I worked as a researcher for a Geneaolgy & Reseach team a few years ago. I would advise you to check the county seat of the areas to see if those cemeteries were moved, or came under another name for one reason or another, as they should be listed in the area files.

Good luck!

Ron

[Ron Gross]

Michael I just did a fast seach and there is a Mount Pleasent Cemetery in London, Ontario. They have a large veteran area. I'm sure there are a few RCR's layed to rest in it. Pull it up and you should be able see the names of all those layed to rest. Just how you plan to find RCR veterans is up to you. There is also a Mount Pleasent Cemetery in Toronto with a veterans section. This cemetery is very old, and goes back about 1860.

Hope this helps.
Ron

[Mike Blais]

I'm not sure if this helps you but when I was organizing Albert Storm's memorial last year the lady at Pleasantview cemetery in Fonthill told me there were twelve hundred veterans buried there. I was quite surprised! I will see what I can find out. St Catherines also has a large veterans section, today, they had Canadian flags on all the stones, very impressive.

[Michael OLeary]

I've been in the Mount Pleasant Cemeteries in both Toronto and London, and have photographed RCR graves in each.  The particular cemeteries I am tracking down have officially recorded First World War casualties to the Regiment (i.e., soldiers listed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission).

As you can see from my map here I have located all of these cemeteries except the two I listed above.

[Mike Blais]

There is a problem with your list, Mike, one that may do great disservice to many Royal Canadians who died from their wounds after the cut off date when the government stopped recording names to the First War Book of Remembrance. This was April 20, 1922. Between 1919 and 21 the name of almost 3800 veterans  were added to the list.

Certainly, many soldiers took longer to die from their wounds but, because of bureaucratic asininity, their names are not where they should be.

Recognition denied?

I suggest this might be a project just for you, Michael! At least a regimental sense.

[Michael OLeary]

No, it's not a problem with my list.  I have been working on the Roll of Honour of the Regiment since shortly after I became the Regimental Adjutant.  In my research during that appointment I added a number of names of soldiers who died before the CWGC cut-off date for the First World War that the Regiment had not previously identified.  For the purpose of my current personal research, I am focusing on that list.  (Incidentally, I also added names to other wartime casualty lists.)

There were approximately 4000 officers, NCOs and soldiers that served in The RCR during the First World War.  Identifying all of them is a separate project that I will continue when time allows.  I currently have about 2600 names identified.  Locating all of their graves would likely be an impossible task, and it is well outside my current research initiative.

If you feel this is an injustice, I would invite you to begin researching it.

[Mike Blais]

I do, but it is an injustice I only became aware of recently, ie, this months legion magazine! A new book review, no less, Shock Troops. I think I may buy it. 

I will do some research locally after my memorial for Clayton Morningstar on the 11th of May. Between then and now, my focus will be Korea as I have the KVA attending and I want to be up on the subject matter prior to writing my speech. Should I come across any RCR great war veterans who fit the criteria, I will let you know and you can decide whether they should be added to your regimental list or not.   

[Michael OLeary]

The requirement for my current cemetery project is a listing in the Book of Remembrance as a soldier of The RCR.  That means they are identified by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the Canadian Virtual War memorial.

Other soldiers that I research, as I find the time, will find their stories here:
http://regimentalrogue.com/rcr_great_war_soldiers/rcr_great_war_soldiers.html

The start point I use for most of these (obviously not for John Babcock's) is that I have added their medals to my collection.  That brings them to my attention, so I order their service record and build a narrative from that and any other information I can turn up on them.

So you can see that I am not entirely focussed on the official casualties of the First World War, but for the purpose of finding the cemeteries that I started this thread for, I am.

[Mike Blais]

Yes, I understand.

So what would I do, regiment speaking, if I come across a WW1 RCR vet who died of his wounds but is not on the list and is not, by the RCR, recognized?

[Michael OLeary]

Yes, I understand.

So what would I do, regiment speaking, if I come across a WW1 RCR vet who died of his wounds but is not on the list and is not, by the RCR, recognized?

Send the gravestone details to the Regt Adjt for inclusion in the Regimental Roll of Honour:

http://www.theroyalcanadianregiment.ca/roll_of_honour/honour_roll.htm

As I built those pages on the regimental site using past copies of Pro Patria and The Connecting File, I also used online sources like the Legion Last Post and my own cemetery visits.  I found many Royal Canadians who had never been identified to the Regiment at the time of their deaths.

[Mike Blais]

Thanks. It was my intent to search some of the region's cemeteries for RCR's prior to Remembrance Day this year and I think both projects are complimentary. Tally ho! I'll let you now how I make out.

[Tim Robinson]

Mike,

Both the cemeteries are listed on this site. There may be contacts that you can use. The sites purpose is to gather photos of headstones around the globe from WW1.  Hopefully it is of use.

http://www.mapleleaflegacy.org/Countries/Canada.htm

[Michael OLeary]

Tim thank you.

I will try that, though I have heard of very slow response times from that project.

Cheers

Mike