The RCR Roll of Honour for the First World War

[Michael OLeary]

The RCR Roll of Honour for the First World War

When the first volume of the regimental history (Fetherstonaugh) was published in 1936, it included a regimental Roll of Honour for the First World War.  This roll listed 774 Royal Canadians who were killed in action, died of wounds, sickness or disease, or otherwise paid the ultimate sacrifice and were recognized as the Regiment's war dead.

During my time as Regimental Adjutant, as I researched individual soldiers of the Regiment, I realized that the list in the regimental hstory was not complete.  Using newly available online sources such as the Canadian Virtual War Memorial, the Canadian Books of Remembrance, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Debt of Honour Register and other sources, I reviewed and added names to the Regiment's Roll of Honour for the First World War.

The result of this research, which has been the roll used on the regimental website since I created the Roll of Honour pages, and has been placed in the Quiet Room in the regimental museum, included 818 names.

Following my review of the CEF Part II Daily Orders for the Regiment, I have spent many hours comparing my working list of Royal Canadians who served in the Regiment (1914-19) to the premiere reference on Canada's fallen for the Great War: The CEF Roll of Honour (Compiled and edited by Edward H. Wigney, pub. 1996). This volume lists over 67,000 Canadians who died in the Great War.

From this review of Wigney's work, I now have a CEF Roll of Honour for the Regiment that stands at 827 names.  This roll can be seen here on my own website. 

Some work remains to confirm details with the Canadian Virtual War Memorial to eliminate possible errors in identified units of some of the fallen. This work has also added three more cemeteries to my list of resting places for our Great War casualties. (See the cemetery list for those places in Canada and abroad for which I still seek grave photos.)

Once a Royal Canadian, always a Royal Canadian - As I compared my compiled roll of Royal Canadians who served during the First World War to Wigney's roll of honour, I have also identified another 71 soldiers who had served with the Regiment and were serving with other units at the time of their deaths.  Some work remains to refine this list (such as confirming attached vs taken on strength) and I will be adding this supplementary list to my website once I have finished reviewing my data.

I will post updates as this work progresses.

Pro Patria

[Michael OLeary]

The following list of nine soldiers, along with supporting reference notes, has been forwarded to the Canadian Virtual War Memorial staff for consideration to amend or add to their records.

CVWM - Canadian Virtual War Memorial
CWGC - Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Wigney - The CEF Roll of Honour, compiled and edited by Edward H. Wigney, 1996

877140 Private Frederick ANDERSON

ANDERSON is not listed in the CVWM, but is identified in the CWGC database as a soldier of The Royal Canadian Regiment. ANDERSON served overseas with The RCR from Mar 1918 until Jul 1918 when he was transferred to the Canadian Labour Pool.

739841 Private George Joseph BAMFORD

BAMFORD is not listed in the CVWM, but is identified in the CWGC database as a soldier of The Royal Canadian Regiment. BAMFORD served overseas with The RCR from Dec 1916 until Feb 1917 when he was evacuated (sick) on 28 Feb 1917.

3181203 Private Robert Ervin CALDWELL

CALDWELL is listed in the CVWM and the CWGC database as a soldier of the “Canadian Militia.” A Military Service Act, 1917, draftee, CALDWELL's attestation paper shows no prior Militia service. CALDWELL served in France and Flanders with The Royal Canadian Regiment from Oct 1918 until Feb 1919 when he proceeded to England.

261612 Private Gavin Alston Carmichael

CARMICHAEL is not listed in either the CVWM or the CWGC database. He is identified in Wigney's Roll of Honour. he served overseas with The Royal Canadian Regiment from Oct 1916 to Aug 1918 and was again on the strength of The RCR from Sep 1918 until he was evacuated (sick) on 14 Jan 1919.

479106 Private Harold Raymond CLAYTON

CLAYTON in not listed in the CVWM, but can be found in the CWGC database (where his Permanent Force regimental number is listed and not his CEF service number). CLAYTON is identified by the CWGC and in Wigney's Roll of Honour as a soldier of The Royal Canadian Regiment.

454638 Private William Henry JACKSON

JACKSON is listed in the CVWM (and the CWGC) as a soldier of the 59th Canadian Infantry Battalion, the unit of his enlistment. The 59th Battalion was disbanded in England on 6 Jul 1916, and saw no service in France as a unit.  JACKSON served in France and Flanders as a soldier of The Royal Canadian Regiment from  Jun 1916 to Sep 1916, and was evacuated (wounded) on 21 Sep 1916.

734007 Private Frederick Grant KENNEDY

KENNEDY is listed in the CVWM (and the CWGC) as a soldier of the 112th Canadian Infantry Battalion, the unit of his enlistment. The 112th Battalion was disbanded in England on 7 Jan 1917, and saw no service in France as a unit.  KENNEDY served in France and Flanders as a soldier of The Royal Canadian Regiment from  Apr 1917 to Nov 1917, and was evacuated (wounded) on 20 Nov 1917.

477524 Private John Carrington LAWSON

LAWSON is not listed in the CVWM. He is listed in Wigney's Roll of Honour as a soldier of The Royal Canadian Regiment.  LAWSON is also listed in the CWGC database. He was serving overseas with The RCR when he was evacuated (wounded) on 17 Sep 1916.

1033179 Private Joseph SHANLEY

SHANLEY is listed in the CVWM (and the CWGC) as a soldier of the 97th Battalion, his unit on enlistment. The 97th Battalion was disbanded in England on 31 Oct 1916 and saw no service in France as a unit.  SHANLEY served in France and Flanders as a soldier of The Royal Canadian Regiment. from October 1916 to February 1917 and was evacuated (sick) on 25 Feb 1917.

[Michael OLeary]

The initial response that I have received follows:

Good morning Michael:

I am the person to whom you should speak if you think you've found
someone we've not commemorated, or commemorated incorrectly.

I am responsible for the Books of Remembrance, and the Canadian Virtual
War Memorial falls from the Books.  There should be a Commemorative
Record for everyone listed in the 7 Books of Remembrance.

I will order the files which you've highlighted and let you know my
findings. 

Thank you for the review you've made, without your hard work, we just
couldn't do our work with due diligence.

Catherine

Catherine Tremblay (Mrs./Mme)
Senior  Officer/Agente principale
Canada Remembers Ottawa

[Michael OLeary]

Thanks to photos taken by a member of the Air Force in Portage-la-Prairie, the case to confirm Private Carmichael as a casualty of The Royal Canadian Regiment is supported up by the inscription on his gravestone.

Portage-la-Prairie (Hillside) Cemetery

261612 Private Gavin Alston Carmichael

CARMICHAEL is not listed in either the CVWM or the CWGC database. He is identified in Wigney's Roll of Honour. He served overseas with The Royal Canadian Regiment from Oct 1916 to Aug 1918 and was again on the strength of The RCR from Sep 1918 until he was evacuated (sick) on 14 Jan 1919.

[ranrad]

Nice . I hope this cemetery is soon on the list of the War Graves Commission for refurbishment.. His stone needs relettering too...hard to make out his name .. but.. they do get to it. They redid a Cemetery our little Legion in Sask looked after..fixed all the stones, reset them all in concrete.. looked real goos.. then we realizeed they had reseeded the grass not thinking that its the bald prairie, and no water.. we ended up with a real weed patch.. brought tears to my eyes and i was so angery i started pulling the weeds and cursing like a mad man.. filled 6 big garbage bags.. and was back to bare earth.. but they came back and reseeded with a seed that grows anywhwre and all year long.. the plot looked real nice and proper after that.. its the BCATP plot at Caron Sk..  just off the Trans Canada.. it has 10 British pilots and one Canadian.. the Canadian was actually a WW! Vet that our Legion helped out in his latter yrs.. a Lt in the Signals Corp...as an aside, that Legion aalso holds a Service at the plot every yr, at least on Remembrance Day.. no matter the weather.. there are pics of people standing in snow drifts ,obviously shivering.. but they do go.. and many of them...ranrad 

[Michael OLeary]

I have received the first result from the Canadian Virtual War Memorial staff:

Good morning Michael!

Private Carmichael's death was ruled attributable to his service.  He died of TB.

He will be entered into the addendum of the First World War Book of Remembrance this year. 

Thank you for finding him and obtaining a photo of his marker in Portage la Prairie (Hillside) Cemetery.   

Catherine

Great War researchers have coined an appropriate phrase to describe these lost soldiers who were missing from Roll of Honour and have been restored through current research: "In From the Cold." (Website link.) Lost to the Regiment for 80 years, we can now consider 261612 Private Gavin Alston Carmichael taken on the strength of the Regiment's Roll of Honour.

Pro Patria

[Tim Robinson]

Mike,

Well done to you and happy to see your hard work being recognized. I gather that the next logical step is to add these soldiers to the Regimental Roll of Honour. The Website is an easy fix. The Roll in the Museum and RHQ a bit more challenging. Would you recommend that each soldier be added to the roll when confirmed and entered into the CWGC and CVWM or immediately?

Another issue is of course the Roll of Honour in the Archway of Wolseley Barracks which is of course well outdated and in need of some repair. Perhaps it is time to raise money for a new memorial, perhaps in the form of a memorial wall that can be added to as needed. We both know The RCR Memorial needs repair/replacement. The wall seems to be the current trend and I believe a logical choice for the above reason. Probably about $150k from what I have researched though more detail is required. Yourthoughts or anyones for that matter.

Tim

[Michael OLeary]

Many of the names that I have added to date were already in the CVWM and CWGC, they had just not been included in the regimental history.

For the more recent names (such as those listed above), we should probably wait until the CVWM confirms each of them.  In some cases we may find that although they may not be formally classified as casualties of the war, they will still deserve a listing in our general regimental Roll of Honour (for example a soldier whose death was after his discharge but not attributed to wartime injuries or service).

As a Regiment, we should also determine how to formally handle these situations, and putting them in a modern context (i.e., how would we do it for someone today) isn't a bad starting point:

a.   Those Royal Canadians who died while serving with another unit, such as those soldiers who were in the 7th Light Trench Mortar Battery (for example, 477501 Private Henry William Krimmel)

and

b.  Those soldiers of other units who served for a period of time with the Regiment and returned to their parent units before their deaths.  Some were formally on the strength of the Regiment and later posted back to their parent units, others were only attached to Regiment for a short period (which, I suppose, actually makes two more "classes" of cases).

Even once a list is confirmed for a new permanent roll, there's nothing wrong with having a purpose designed section for names to be added.  It is no different than the addendum to the Books of Remembrance for newly identified casualties.