A walk through a comprehensive display of First World War memorabilia at the art gallery here provides a glimpse into wartime life – both at home and on the battlefield – a full century ago.
Minto Remembers World War I, an exhibit recognizing the 100th anniversary of the Great War, recently wrapped up at the Minto Art Gallery.
The exhibit featured displays ranging from gas masks to photographs of local men who served during the conflict. While art and armies might seem incongruous, Minto Arts Council volunteer Rita Bedell explained the idea was conceived by Harriston resident Judy Tuck, an active member of both the arts council and the local Legion branch.
Tuck said the arts council has traditionally offered displays of a historical, as well as an artistic nature. While noting the former category is handled mostly by the Harriston Historical Society these days, with 2014 being the 100th anniversary of WWI, she said the display seemed a natural fit for the gallery.
“A lot of the items came from the Legion, but a lot were loaned to us by members of the community. They’ll be going back to them,” Bedell noted.
At the heart of the display is a wall filled with photos of World War I veterans from the Harriston area. Under some, brief captions provide some insight into their life outside the military. Many of the family names, such as those of Harriston Motors founder Walter Grose, lumber and coal merchants Elmer and Nelson Howes, or funeral director Frederick Hardy, will be familiar to long-time residents.
The stories of some of the soldiers are told through various exhibits spread throughout the hall.
Harriston native Raymond Pritchard enlisted in the Canadian infantry in 1915. In a letter home in August of 1917, while awaiting orders to travel to France, he told of life at the Canadian Pioneer School in Sussex, England.
“Well we are in huts here and fed off white enamel plates and bowls. Why, we live the life of a king here,” Pritchard wrote, adding he was considering a visit to the beach at nearby Seaford that very afternoon.
“This makes a fellow feel like trying to do his best when they feed up and place you in a place like this.”
A year later, Pritchard was wounded in action and died of his injuries on Aug. 26, 1918, at the age of 20. He was buried in Aubigny, France. His mother, Emma Anne Pritchard, to whom the cheery letter was addressed, was later selected as a Silver Cross Mother, and asked to lay a wreath at a national service on behalf of all mourning mothers of Canadian soldiers.
Major Charles E. Livingstone lived his whole life in Harriston – but for his years of wartime service. A farmer, a Canada Packers’ hog buyer and an assistant postmaster during his civilian career, he became a member of the 30th Wellington Rifles Harriston Company in 1898. At the outbreak of the war, he held the rank of major and, along with his two younger brothers John and Arthur, enlisted for active service. Charles spent time in England during the war and on his return in 1917 acted as an escort officer on Atlantic tranSports until the war ended. His obituary from the Harriston Review, Feb. 20, 1947, says he was “gazetted” Lieutenant-Colonel after the war but continued to be known as major. His brother Arthur won the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry at Amiens.
Not all the local residents who contributed to the war effort did so on the battlefield.
The display contains a Toronto Star article from earlier this year which tells the tale of Dr. John FitzGerald, the son of a Harriston pharmacist, who moved into the emerging field of public health after studying medicine at the University of Toronto.
When the war broke out, Canada asked the university to produce vaccines and anti-toxins for its soldiers to fight diseases like diphtheria, typhoid, meningitis, smallpox and tetanus. That led to the establishment of Connaught Laboratories, where FitzGerald worked on the vaccines, which were hailed as a lifesaver for soldiers waging battles in fields filled with human and animal waste. After the war, FitzGerald continued to expand the laboratories and established a school of hygiene.
The Minto exhibit also included general displays on the war, such as a copy of a Newspaper advertisement issued by the Military Service Council. It details the pay offered to Canadian soldiers (excluding commissioned officers), noting “the fact that wages in Canada are generally higher than those paid in Europe is recognized in the system of remuneration for men on active service. Clothing and all equipment, in addition to food is also supplied to the Canadian solider, leaving him with no expense except personal incidentals.” Pay rates listed range from $1 per day for privates, gunners and sappers to $2 per day for a warrant officer, with field allowances ranging from 10 to 30 cents added on.
The ad states, “a considerable number of men who have enlisted in the Canadian Forces have found themselves better off under the army rate of pay.”
While some were perhaps financially better off, it’s doubtful remuneration was at the forefront of thoughts for those who found themselves on the front lines.
Some of the most vivid accounts of the fighting can be found in a school project titled Trenches of the First World War, prepared by student Judith Anne Murray in 1972 for a history class taught by Tuck, a former Norwell District Secondary School teacher. The project included an interview with her grandfather, T. Alexander “Sandy” Murray, who fought in France at Sommes, Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele and Ypres.
“I enlisted in 1915 and left a year later. I didn’t have a care in the world when I left,” said the elder Murray, who’s 58th Battalion “lost a lot of men” at Ypres when the Germans dropped shells on a bush where they had been hiding.
“After the battle the bush here was flattened. Not a green leaf left, only stumps. Here our trenches were badly destroyed so we let the Heine take eleven lines and repair them. They held them for eleven days then we got our trenches back, all built up.”
Of Vimy Ridge, Sandy Murray said, “It was Easter morning when the big battle began. We marched through here and caught the Germans off guard. The Heine fought from above. We managed to take their trenches in the hill. This was to our advantage because we were out of shell fire and could see any move they made below.”
Passchendaele was “the worst place we ever fought,” the veteran recalled.
“This was low, swampy country with a constant rainfall. Here we crawled 80 rod, along the ground, out of fire, in the mud. We were advancing on the Germans. We managed to hold it for 11 days, then had to back up and give the Heine ground, after losing a lot of men.”
While at Passchendaele, Murray was given “a run for my life.
“I was running from the trench in a guide party to bring relief when a Heine airplane machine gunned me. I kept running ‘till I reached a pillbox for protection. All my friends thought I was doomed.”
Just before the signing of the armistice that ended the war, Murray was injured by shell fire.
“I hollered for a stretcher and was carried to a dugout where I was dressed and fixed up. Then stretcher bearers carried me down to the base.
“On the way the Heine started shelling. Since my stretcher wouldn’t fit in the shell hole I was left up top for 10 minutes during the battle, receiving no more injuries! Then I was sent to hospital in England.”
Asked by his granddaughter to comment on his experience in the conflict, Murray offered a summary that many soldiers might relate to.
“Many times we thought they would break through. They seemed to keep coming and coming, but we always went over the top strong, always winning.”
The exhibit at the arts council’s Harriston library display room wrapped up on Nov. 1. But many of the artifacts will be on display at the Harriston Legion Memorabilia Room on Nov. 11, and Tuck said viewings can always be arranged through the branch.
