First Nations Participation in Great War - Hiawatha's George Paudash

Depiction of Aboriginal,
Canadian Patriotic Fund
Poster, 1916
Credit: web.vui.ca/davies 

First Contingent Sailing from Canada, Oct 1914
Credit: Library and Archives Canada

By October 1914 the fleet that was carrying the first of the Canadian Expeditionary Force reached Plymouth Hoe, England.  Residents from the English towns and villages that surround the port city of Plymouth came out to the harbour to greet the soldiers from the distant cold colony that had come to the aid in the fight against ‘Prussian Barbarism.’

Civilians were surprised at what greeted them. According to one Canadian officer, R.F. Haig of Fort Garry Horse Regiment, English residents were disappointed that the Canadians were not wearing feathers and pelts, or wearing traditional headdresses. English citizens expected the Canadians of popular literature.  A country with a untamed wild frontier, filled with proud native warriors wearing war-paint mounted on horse back, living alongside hardworking farmers. Imagery of Canada and the ‘noble savage’ aside; the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) sent thousands of Aboriginal soldiers overseas during the First World War.

Depiction of Aboriginal,
Canadian Patriotic Fund
Poster, 1916
Credit: web.vui.ca/davies 

Aboriginal men had every reason not to want to fight for Canada. In the decades leading up to 1914, officials acting on behalf of the Crown and the Government enacted numerous laws and policies that oppressed Aboriginal people. Similar to the Indigenous population of Australia, contact with Europeans brought misery and hardship upon the native population. The once proud warrior nations that hunted buffalo in the Great Plains or traversed the Great Lakes of Ontario were brought to the brink of extinction by disease, war, and euro-centric policies that placed First Nations people into a system of reserves often located on unsuitable destitute land. European colonizers attempted to take all native children away from their families and place them into residential schools, where the children would be beaten, and in some cases sexually assaulted by predatory clergymen; all in an effort to have the ‘Indian’ taken out of them.

Minister Sam Hughes Touring Arras, 1916.
Credit: IWM

Despite the systematic oppression and societal exclusion, many Aboriginal men made the decision to enlist in the Canadian Expeditionary Force.  As wards of the crown, natives were not granted the rights of citizenship, and therefore were legally excluded from fighting overseas. The Minister of the Militia, Sam Hughes, a  xenophobic Orangemen, tried to further discourage the recruitment of natives by stating: “While British troops would be proud to be associated with their fellow subjects, yet Germans might refuse to extend to them the privileges of civilized warfare.” Many local battalion officers overlooked the Minister’s concerns and allowed Aboriginals to enlist.

Map of First Nations, Central Ontario
Credit: Ontario Aboriginal Affairs

Sgt. Mike Mountain Horse, awarded the DCM, explained his reason for enlisting in the CEF:

“The fighting spirit of my tribe was not quelched through reservation life. When duty called, we were there and when we were called forth to fight for the cause of civilization, our people showed all the bravery of our warriors of old.”

In Central Ontario there is several First Nations that near Peterborough and the Kawarthas, Northumberland, and Quinte Region. Aboriginal men from: Alderville, Curve Lake, Hiawatha, Chippewas of Rama and Georgina Island, and Mississauga of Scuggog, and the Tyendinaga Mohawks were all eligible to enlist in Peterborough in the No. 3 Military District.

                                                                 
                                                                             George Paudash

George Paudash, Nov. 1914.
Credit: http://21stbattalion.ca

In the November 1914, two brothers from the Hiawatha reserve located outside of Peterborough enlisted in the 21^st Battalion (Eastern Ontario).  George Paudash, age 24; and Johnson Paudash, age 39; were trained and quickly sent overseas. The brothers arrived in France in the Autumn 1915, and spent several months in the M and N trenches south of Ypres in Belgium. The men of the 21st Battalion learned to snipe, scout, and exist under shell fire at the M and N trenches.

Months later the first rotations in the lines, the 21st Battalion would be pushed into their first actual pitched fight with the enemy, at the St. Eloi Craters. After the battle of the craters, the youngest brother, Corporal George Paudash, developed numerous abdominal pains and was sent to hospitals in England before returning home.

George’s older brother, Johnson Paudash, would find fame as one of Canada’s greatest snipers.
(Next Entry)

Canadian Vimy Ridge Memorial

The Shell scared landscape of Vimy Ridge -90 years later
Credit: Burkepaterson.com

Canadian National Vimy Ridge Memorial

The Canadian National Vimy Ridge Memorial is a stunning piece of artwork and a landmark that looks over the Douai Plain and the Artois Region. The Vimy Ridge National Historic Site is visible for miles away, it towers over the landscape, the white granite monument is visible from the Notre Dame de Lorrette - France's largest National cemetery, which contains 40,000 French dead.

Notre Dame de Lorrette - France's largest Cemetery

This entry will showcase the Vimy Monument;  created by Walter Seymour Allward. Designer and Architect Allward was a renowned Canadian artist. Allward created monuments for the War of 1812, Boer War (South African War), Bell Telephone, Stratford War Memorial (1922), Brantford War Memorial (1933), and the Peterborough Citizens' Memorial (1929).

 

 

Mother Canada Mourning her lost sons.
Credit: BurkePaterson.com

Allward was a busy artist, while he was busy designing the Brantford and Peterborough Memorial, Walter Seymour Allward was also busy working on his latest commission from the Canadian Battlefields Memorials Commission in 1925 - Vimy Ridge. Allward and his labourers spent 11 years constructing Canada's largest Great War monument, on ground that many Canadians consider sacred. In the next few years Canadians will become very familiar with Allward and Vimy Ridge; Allward's work is now on the $20 tender.

                                  

New Canadian $20 tender
Credit: Bank of Canada & Global TV

                                            

                                          Walter Allward posing infront of his incomplete Vimy Ridge Monument
                                Credit: Library and Archives & mapleleafup.ca

Aerial view of Vimy Ridge dedication, 1936.
Credit: Library and Archives & mapleleaf.ca

Early 1930s - Laying foundation.
Credit: Library and Archives & mapleleafup.ca

Inscribing names of 11,000 Canadian soldiers that died in France with no known grave.
Credit: Library and Archives & mapleleafup.ca

Progress on the monument.
Credit: Library and Archives Canada & mapleleafup.ca

Early 1930s - In 1922 France donated 245 acres, centred on Hill 145 to Canada.
Credit: Library and Archives & mapleleafup.ca

Laying the base of the 24 foot tall monument base.
Credit: Library and Archives & mapleleafup.ca

Peterborough’s Youngest Lost Soldier: Anthony Skarrizi

Tyne Cot Commonwealth Cemetery
Credit: Royal British Legion

The expression “old men declare war, but the youth who must fight and die,” comes to mind when visiting any Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery.  Rows of white tombstones mark the last resting place for a generation of young men of the British Empire. Studies of death records have found that the majority of soldiers died in their 20s, with the median age being 22-26 years old. Most of the soldiers were cut down in the prime of their lives, leaving young wives and children to cope with the loss of a missing partner and father.

14 year old and 8 month old Anthony Skarrizi
Credit: http://21stbattalion.ca

Researchers have come across the graves of soldiers from the Great War that were too young to marry, or even shave. Recently I have come across the story of Peterborough’s youngest fatality of the Great War, Anthony ‘Tony’ Skarrizi who died during the last days of the Battle of Passchendaele. Private Anthony Skarrizi was 16 years and 11 months old when he died on 3 November 1917 outside of Passchendaele, Belgium.

Peterborough Examiner,
 22 November 1917

Government Records show that Anthony Skarrizi was born in Italy in November 1900. Like many Italian immigrants at the turn of the last century, the Skarrizi’s moved to Canada in 1907 hoping of finding employment as labourers. The young Anthony Skarrizi decided to join the military in August 1915. Private Skarrizi falsely attested his birth year as 1897, making the adolescent appear to be 18 to the Recruiting Sargent at the Peterborough Armouries,  in all likelihood he was only 14 years and 8 months old.

Canadian Military Police Corps (Provost)

Private Skarrizi completed his military training in Canada, and embarked for overseas service. After sailing to Liverpool, England he was found to be underage and redeployed for permanent base duty. Military law states all soldiers must be 18 to enlist in the military and 19 years old for overseas service. Once his age was discovered, Skarrizi spent 6 months on base duty being assigned to several guard and provisional units; he became an unruly and irresponsible soldier. His young age combined long rotations in the much hated “bullrings” (reinforcement camps) likely contributed to his declining morale.  By the winter of 1916-1917, Private Skarrizi had several run-ins with the Canadian Provost Corps.

Great War Military Depiction of
Field Punishment No 1

He was arrested and court martialed four times for: neglecting to obey an NCO, absent without leave on two occasions, and absent from parade. The young soldier was punished by being restrained, having his pay docked, and after his second conviction for being absent without leave, he was given the dreaded Field Post No 1. According to the Manual of military law, the Field Post No 1 punishment consists of restraining an individual at the feet and hands and attaching the convicted soldier to a wagonwheel, or fencepost in a public area, whereby all other soldiers could witness the punishment.

Two months after the last conviction, Skarrizi was transferred to France with the 21^st Battalion. One month after landing in Boulogne, France, the young private was attached to Kingston’s 21^st (Eastern Ontario) Battalion billets in Villers Au Bois.  The question arises: why and how would a known underage soldier allowed to be sent overseas? No one knows. It is likely that Officers decided to send Skarrizi to France because serving at the front would stop the adolescent Italian-Canadian soldier from running away from the Canadian military camps.

Picture of Passchendaele
Credit: Archives of Ontario/RCL

Terrain of Passchendaele
Credit: Library and Archives Canada

Unfortunately for Private Skarrizi, he joined the 21^st Battalion only several weeks before the Canadian Corps moved into Belgium to take part in the Battle of Passchendaele. The four month long British led Passchendaele offensive had almost ground to a halt. The British High Command jointly employed their “shock troops” of Australian and Canadians to help resolve the political and military mess that the British Generals had created in attempting to take Passchendaele. The Canadian Commander, Arthur Currie, planned to win the battle but slowly and in several phases in order to insure that the Canadians did not suffer needless losses of men. This article will not go into the general history of the Passchendaele campaign. It is interesting to note that during the research for this entry, I found there was a lack of contemporary historical analysis into the Canadian involvement at Passchendaele.

Aerial Photograph of Passchendaele,
displaying location of Crest Farm

On 30 October 1917, the first phase of the Canadian assault at Passchendaele ended. The Canadians launched the second phase of their attack on Passchendaele after the PPCLI and the 72^nd Battalion provided miraculous results for the Canadian Corps. The 3^rd Division captured two German strongholds, Meetcheele crossroads, which was lined with concrete bunkers and Crest Farm, a swampy redoubt of trenches and shell holes that overlooked the advances to the town of Passchendaele.

On the night of 3 November 1917 the 4^th Canadian Brigade relieved the Canadians that captured the lunar swampy landscape that was Crest Farm at 2:45 AM. The relatively fresh 21^st Battalion was sent in to guard the recently captured Crest Farm by the 4^th Division. On the right was the 19^th Battalion, and on the left the 21^st Battalion was on left of Crest farm.

1917 Map and Location of Crest Farm
Credit: McMaster Archives

Contemporary Photo of location
 of Crest Farm Credit: Google Maps

At 3:45 AM, the German started to bombard Crest Farm and reserve and support areas. At 4:50 AM, Brigade HQ witnessed the 21^st Battalion sending off  red S.O.S. flares. The attack by German Stoßtruppen (Storm Troops - Specialist Assault Troops) breached the Canadian wire charged right into the 21^st and 19^th Battalions. The 19^th Battalion made quick work of the German attackers, while on the left; the 21^st Battalion had to call in a reserve company to help dislodge the enemy. By 6:45 AM, the Germans had launched two small isolated attacks on the 21^st Battalion, both of which were halted. Canadian After-Battle reports state German infantry laid in shell holes in front of the Canadian position but were unable to advance. During the defence of Crest Farm, the 19^th Battalion provided valuable assistance to not only the 21^st Battalion, which suffered 203 causalities, but also to the Australians on the right flank.  The 19^th Battalion sent almost a company sized force to help shore up the Australian defences.

Menin Gate, Leper Belgium

During the defence of Crest Farm, 16 year old Private Anthony Skarrizi went missing. There is no record in existence that tells historians what happened to the young inexperienced soldier. All we know is that he never answered his company roll call again. His name is engraved at the monument to the missing at the Menin Gate at Leper (Ypres), Belgium. Like most of the missing of the Great War, Private Skarrizi was likely killed by a direct hit by an enemy shell. The impact of the explosion, and the confusion that followed the battle hampered efforts by stretcher bearers to retrieve the body of Private Skarrizi. After the battle, Anthony Skarrizi’s family at 656 Reid Street, Peterborough, would receive several telegraphs and letters informing them that their son was missing, and eventually declared dead. 


__________________________________________
Author would like to acknowledge the assistance and great research work provided by the 21st Battalion Website. Please visit them at http://www.21stbattalion.ca

Peterborough's Confederation Square: Winter 1914 - 1915.

Here is an image of B Squadron, of the 8th Canadian Mounted Rifles.

The picture is taken on the North-east corner of Confederation Square - facing the George United Church (then a Wesleyan Church) 

Untitled Photo. The picture fits the period when B Squadron of the 8th Canadian
Mounted Rifles was raised in Peterborough in December  1914  -  March 1915.
Credit: Peterborough Museum & Archives, Balsallie Collection of Roy Studio Images, 2000-12 (2634-1)

14 years after this photograph was taken, Peterborough's cenotaph would be unveiled at this very location. On 29 June 1929 by the Commander of the disbanded Canadian Corps, Sir General Arthur Currie, helped unveil the cenotaph. The monument to Peterborough's dead was designed by Walter S. Allward. After completing the Peterborough memorial, Allward sailed to France for his next project. Canada's national war monument - the stunning Vimy monument.

The Alderville First Nation Cenotaph and War Monument: An Architecturally Unique Memorial

First Nations communities in
Central Ontario. Credit:  Ontario Aboriginal Affairs 

The areas that comprise Peterborough, Northumberland, and the Quinte region sent thousands of men overseas during the Great War.  Enlistment for service on the Western Front was not limited to men of European ancestry. Many local Ojibway, and Mississauga Aboriginal people from the Curve Lake, Hiawatha, and Alderville First Nations served overseas.

Alderville Cenotaph. Credit: M. Ferguson

After the war had ended, The First Nation of Alderville erected a War Monument in 1927 to honour their 35 war volunteers and 9 sons that were lost in the war. Alderville's contribution to the Canadian war effort was extensive and  admirable. From the tiny reserve, Alderville had sent 35 soldiers off to war, from an adult male population of 63 men. The Ojibway soldiers went to defend the ideals of democracy even  though as 'Indians' they were not entitled to vote.

The tiny aboriginal reserve rests on County Road 45 connects Peterborough to Cobourg. The monument is located adjacent to the highway. The cenotaph for the small community with a population of 313  is a local attraction and landmark. It is not uncommon to see automobiles parked on the side of the road with amateur photographers taking snap shots of the unique monument. 

Canada's Most Decorated
Aboriginal Soldier, Francis
Pegahmagabow Credit: Wikipedia

Several academics have constructed careers out of studying loss and mourning by studying French war memorials. I doubt Art Historians and Cultural Studies professors would be able to make sense of Alderville’s cenotaph. It is a monument without a cross, brooding soldier, or shield and sword. In fact, the monument looks like a tribute to the emerging Art Deco movement of the 1920s, or at the very least, inspired by abstract modern art. Historian Jonathan Vance, a Canadian War and Society scholar attempted to make sense of the monument in his 1997 book Death So Noble: Memory, Meaning, and the First World War. In the book he writes, “one especially bizarre design exists in Campbellford [sic], Ontario; a massive column with three huge orbs suspended from a cube-topped platform, it is less a war memorial than a monument to the ingenuity of the stonemason. (202)”

I have personally seen my fair share of monuments and cenotaphs in Canada, France, Belgium, and England. Without a doubt, Alderville has one of the most unique war memorials I have seen. 

Alderville War Memorial. Credit: M. Ferguson June 2012

                                                      The Alderville Cenotaph reads:

The cenotaph was constructed in 1927 by Alf McKeel and Son of Campbellford who supplied the design and donated the materials for the project while the hard physical labour was supplied by many local volunteers. The native Indian men of Alderville used hand shovels and a lot muscle power to stir the cement which makes up the cenotaph. The women spent hours cooking and supplying meals for these hardworking volunteers.

                                                                    Significance

The cube on top symbolizes the four corners of the earth. The three globes beneath the cube symbolize the holy trinity. The three large pillars supporting the above symbolize the three holy virtues of faith, hope and charity. The square base on which the cenotaph stands, symbolizes the four freedoms – freedom of speech; freedom of religion; freedom from fear and freedom of the press.

The nine large cubes situated around the cenotaph represent the 9 men who were killed in World War I. The chain that comprised of 35 links the encircles the cenotaph and is attached to the 9 cubes represent the 35 residents that served in the war and at the same time represents eternity.  

Want to learn more about this monument? Visit the Alderville First Nation Cenotaph website. 

In the next entry I will be looking local Peterborough and surrounding area Aboriginal contributions to the First World War. Also, in the near future look for the launch of Peterborough and the First World War Map - a digital map that shows where over a thousand local soldiers lived before enlistment.

Book Review: For Love and Courage: the Letters of Lieutenant Colonel E.W.Hermon, From the Western Front 1914 – 1917.

As the centenary for the First World War approaches, first-person accounts have started to populate the shelves of book stores.  Anne Nason’s grandfather, Edward W. Hermon, left a collection of hundreds of letters that were sent to his wife, Ethel, before his untimely death during the Second Battle of Arras on 9 April 1917. This book gives historians and the casual reader a glimpse into the life of a Yeomanry cavalry officer in France and Belgium: from mobilization, training, and the inner squabbling between commissioned officers.  

Edward H. Hermon’s life does not reflect the typical life experience of many ‘Tommys’ of the Western Front.  Hermon was educated at Eton, served in South Africa with the 7^th Hussars, and by all accounts was independently wealthy gentleman. His wife and four children, affectionately nicknamed ‘chugs,’ lived in a country estate that included servants. The family engaged in many idyllic activities such as sailing, leisurely drives, and horseback riding. After serving in South Africa Hermon transferred his commission to the Territorial Army to avoid further deployments to India or the Near East. As a reserve cavalry officer, Hermon was mobilized in July 1914 and landed in France with his personal batman (servant) and horses from the family estate in the spring of 1915.

The correspondence between Hermon and his wife in 1914 - 1915 reflects the personal impact that separation due to war can have on a couple. The reader quickly builds a great deal of sympathy. A husband at the front and a pregnant wife at home looking after four young children. Hermon’s correspondence quickly settles into a pattern of asking for jams, cakes, meats, and cigarettes, and requests for socks and jackets. Reading the repeated pleas for more comforts of home may cause reader’s eyes to glaze over; but these letters embody life in divisional reserve on the Western Front.

As the 2IC (Second in Command) for the King Edward Horse Cavalry Regiment, Colonel Hermon sent home letters of that described witnessing battles like Loos and Festubert from reserve. In a conflict of primarily of barbed wire, machine gun emplacements, and trenches; horses became less relevant as weapons of war.  King Edward Horse Cavalry would only be ordered into the battle once the enemy line was breached. Hermon spent much of his time complaining to his wife about being sidelined while the infantry were in the thick of combat. The early letters (1915 - 1916) capture the dire situation on the front lines. The British were struggling to meet the changing technological demands of modern war.  Hermon wrote home retelling his wife that soldiers were using lacrosse sticks to scoop and throw back German grenades, and noting how his men were receiving homemade gas masks  in June 1915. Not to mention the Shell Shortage of 1915, when British artillery batterys were only allowed to fire 6 shells a day due to the shortage.

As the war progressed, Hermon tired of waiting for orders to charge on horse into battle. His letters denote a growing hostility to many commanding officers, mainly the regiment’s Commanding Officer, and General Haig. Luckily, Col. Hermon was afforded the opportunity to advance in rank after organizing and commanding the divisional Grenade School.  After a failed bid to become the next regimental commander, , Hermon begged his superiors to transfer him to an infantry battalion. The popular 37 year old officer was transferred to the 27^th Battalion, replacing the Commanding Officer, whom Hermon calls "the commercial traveller with diamond rings."

Arras in 1919: Lt. Col. Hermon spent many weeks in Arras in 1917
Credit: Wiki Commons

 On 9 April 1917, the newly promoted Lt. Col. Hermon took part in his first over the top assault. The 27^th Battalion along with support from tanks took their objective. Hermon and his adjutant and was walking forward to his newly captured position when a German machine gun opened up. Eyewitness describe  the German machine gun raking an abandoned British tank with fire, before  taking aim at Hermon and his entourage. The enemy gun crew sprayed the officers with gun fire, and the newly promoted battalion commander  was hit in the chest. Days after his death, Hermon's wife received a grief stricken letter from the batman. In the letter, Ethel Hermon was told how in her husband's last moments the mortally wounded officer told his men to 'Go On' and showed remarkable stoicism. 

Ethel Hermon kept the hundreds of letters her late husband sent to her. They were stored in a dusty dresser for years. Granddaughter and editor Anne Nason provided a valiant effort in organizing the letters, and providing the basic background information and adding context to Hermon’s letters. There are very few footnotes in the book, but Nason’s work provides great contribution into the life of a mid-war cavalry officer. A highly readable book, and a valuable source of personal documents for any Military Historian interested in the BEF battles of 1915 - 1917.

15th Battalion, 48th Highlanders Demobilization

Here is a 13 minute video clip of the homecoming of the 15th Battalion in 1919. The 15th Battalion (48th Highlanders) was a unique Scottish kilted battalion in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. The 15th Battalion was apart of the 1st Division, and served in the 3rd Brigade (nicknamed the Highland Bde). They served with distinction throughout the war from 1915 - 1918 and took part in almost every major Canadian operation in France in Belgium. As a battalion, their most famous action was at 2nd Ypres in 1915, where they were gassed and overrun by the enemy, yet fought vigilantly until the bitter end.

The 48th Highlanders had a special connection to Peterborough. In researching Peterborough's contribution to the war, I have been able to find that over 40 young men travelled by train for 2 hours to Toronto to enlist in the 48th Highlanders. For many recruits, there was an attraction to joining a Highland battalion; the skirl of bagpipes, the regimental links to Scotland, wearing a kilt as part as battle dress, and having the unique identity as a Highlander - and not just another Poor Bloody Infantryman would be enticing to any enlisting man.

Video from almost a 93 years ago shows these veterans before heading to 'civvie street.'

Highlights 
- 15, 38, 58, 73, 92, 134 Battalions Marching

- Train pulling into Union Station shows lots of chalk writing, indication where the men had served (France, Rhineland) or where they were from (Hamilton, Toronto) 

- Mayor of Toronto Meeting Tom Longboat, native soldier, long distance runner, and war hero.

- March down University Avenue and Queens Park.

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Video Credit: http://wwww.15thbattalioncef.ca

Please check out the newly launched 15th Battalion website, run by former members of the Red Watch/Kilted Ladies. 

-  I must apologize for not updating very often. I have been working on several projects and trying to enjoy the most of summer. In the next few months I will release a geo-map of all locations of where all Peterborough Soldiers lived prior to enlisting in the Great War. - M.