Charles Stonham was born in Sussex, England, on February 7, 1872. He immigrated to Canada and lived in Winchester, where he worked as a miner. When he joined up on January 1, 1916, he was 47 years old, married, with five children. It was unusual for a man of his age, and with his family, to enlist as he did; but a large number of those who joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force had been born in the United Kingdom, and had been most affected by the Imperialist propaganda of the time. The war was seen as a great Imperial conflict, fighting against what was called an autocratic regime in Germany.

Charles arrived in France on May 20, 1916, as part of the 9th Field Company of the Canadian Engineers, but was taken seriously ill in January, 1917. The cause was Nephritis, an inflammation of the kidneys. He had suffered an attack previously, in 1906, but had recovered after two months. The medical report in 1916 noted that his condition was an old one “slightly aggravated by service” in the trenches. As a Sapper, Charles was probably engaged in digging trenches and tunnels, which led to him suffering from constant headaches and dizziness.

It was thought that recovery could take three months without further treatment, and he was returned to Canada in July, 1917, declared unfit for active service. His discharge from the army came in June, 1918. He and his family moved to Kingston, where Charles died in March, 1944.

Charles Stonham signed up as a 47 year-old husband and father of five. Eager to do his bit, as they called it, he left everything behind him to go to France and be part of the crusade for Empire. On his return from France, he was given a civic reception in Winchester, as the accompanying newspaper clipping describes.

In 1916, the fervent patriotism and sense of Imperial identity was already leading to ugly confrontations in the street and workplace, as those not in uniform were treated to insults and abuse over their supposed ‘cowardice”. The authorities even had to reprimand those who called munition workers cowards and “yellow”.

This Toronto streetcar was turned into a recruiting station in 1917, as the dreadful losses in France forced the Canadian Government to any way they could find new recruits. Later this year, the government would introduce Conscription and nearly tear the country apart.

Roy Cassidy was one of three brothers from RR#3, Chesterville, who signed up during WWI. Roy Austin Cassidy was born in Kemptville in 1895, and was a farmer on RR #3, Chesterville. Like many of his neighbours of the same age, he joined up on November 11, 1915, an ironic date, and was posted to the  87th Battalion, Canadian Grenadier Guards.

He arrived in England aboard the Empress of Britain, and then spent weeks in hospital there, for various problems. Hospitalized with Gastritis in February; with Mumps in March-April; and Measles in May, 1916, before, finally, he went to France on August 13, 1916. Roy didn’t survive for long. He was killed in action, September 8, 1916.

A notice appeared in the local newspaper on September 21, noting that: “Mr. And Mrs. Wm Cassidy are in receipt of very sympathetic letters of condolence from General Sir Sam Hughes and from the premier, Sir Robert Borden on the death of their son, Roy, in the recent fighting in France.”

Roy was remembered at a “very interesting service” in Trinity Methodist Church, when the congregation were encouraged to live up to “their responsibility in the matter of recruiting if Canada’s promise of half a million men is to be redeemed… Feeling reference was made by the pastor to the death in battle of Pte. Roy Cassidy and as a token of respect the congregation stood with bowed heads while ‘The Dead March in Saul,’ was rendered by the organist”.

In the same newspaper that reported the death of Roy Cassidy, there was a notice stating that “The name of Pte. R . E. Poidevin is among the wounded in this morning’s casualty list.” Robert Poidevin was a neighbour of Roy Cassidy in Chesterville, and the two young men had joined up on the same day, November 11, 1915, travelled to England on the same ship, the Empress of Britain, and shared the same experiences of soldiering.

But, whereas Roy Cassidy had lasted just a few weeks in France before being killed, Robert Poidevin would have a longer, but no less tragic life in the trenches. He was wounded by shrapnel in his foot and thigh in September, 1916, just three months after arriving in the trenches in France. After recuperating in Liverpool, he returned to the front. He spent another two months in hospital in 1917, for an infection, before again returning to the front.

In July, 1918, he was involved in an unusual accident, when digging trenches. A fellow soldier in the trench accidentally hit him on the hand with a pick, and Robert was back in hospital once again. An investigation concluded that the wound was accidental, and not an attempt to avoid time in the trenches, and, to underline this, Robert was appointed Acting Corporal on August 31, 1918. But time and luck was running out for Robert Poidevin, and he was fatally wounded in action on September 27, 1918.

Robert had listed his next of kin his sister, Hazel, who lived in Toronto, as did his brother. It may be that the family lived there at the time. As a result, the Toronto Star noted his death in November, 1918, and reported that his brother, Harold, had recently returned from the front suffering from shell shock.

Norman Bush was born in South Mountain on March 4, 1897, son of Theodore Bush. Norman was a labourer who joined up in Merrickville on January 21, 1916 when he was 18 years old. There was no height requirement at the time, as Norman stood just 5 ft. 2½ inches tall. The link with Merrickville was through his grandmother, Melissa Briggs, who had been his foster mother growing up. Norman named her as his beneficiary in his will, drawn up before he was sent to France on May 1, 1917.

There were usually some small details recorded in the files that give some personal insight into these young men. Norman is described as having feet that were “slightly flat”, and with ringworm scars on his face between his ear and eye.

Norman arrived in France on May 24, 1917 and was transferred to the 2nd Battalion of the Canadian Infantry Regiment, arriving in the trenches on June 27. Just less than three months later, Norman was killed in action near Rouen. His battalion was due to be relieved that night, but somehow, Norman died before he could leave the front. He is buried at Aix-Noulette Communal Cemetery Extension, Pas de Calais.

Jason Wells shares the story of his grandfather, Arthur Greer, who lies in an unmarked grave in the Maple Ridge Cemetery between Winchester and Chesterville. He wishes to highlight the great work of the Last Post Fund organization through their Unmarked Grave Program, through which he hopes to have a military marker installed for his lost relative. “I have been in touch with the Last Post Fund organization and his application is now in a queue of over 1,200 before a military veteran marker can be installed,” said Jason.

Arthur Stanley Greer (1920-1974)

Arthur Stanley Greer was born on May 27th, 1920 in Brockville, ON to Stanley Greer and Ethel Durant (whose family has deep roots in both Winchester and Chesterville) and grew up in both Merrickville and Prescott.

He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy in Ottawa at the age of 20 on January 2, 1941 and quickly rose in rank from Able Seaman to Leading Seaman.

During the Battle of the St Lawrence, in which German U-boats sank over 20 merchant ships and four Canadian warships in the lower St. Lawrence River and the entire Gulf of Saint Lawrence, Strait of Belle Isle, Anticosti Island and Cabot Strait, Arthur sailed on the HMCS Medicine Hat that played a vital role escorting shipping along the St. Lawrence River, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and between Newfoundland and the mainland of Canada.

During the Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, Arthur then sailed on the HMCS Esquimalt, a Bangor-class minesweeper between December, 1942 and August, 1944.

In August of 1944, he then joined the crew of HMCS St Thomas and in December of that same year, the HMCS St Thomas attacked the German submarine U-877 in the North Atlantic forcing it to surface and then sank it with squid mortar. They then rescued the entire German crew including the Captain, four officers and 50 men.

He was then given an honourable discharge on September 5, 1945.

A paragraph in the Recorder on September 21, 1916 reported that two friends from Chesterville had been wounded in France. Frank Merkley and Bismarck Fulton were well known in the area, and the report stated that Frank was seriously injured, while Bismarck had been wounded in three or four places, though it was not known how bad his injuries were. The Service Records of the two men throw more light on their stories.

Private Frank Merkley, 177343

Frank Merkley worked as a barber in Chesterville, and was married to Ethel. Born in 1881, Frank joined up October 27, 1915, when he was already 34 and a half years old. After training, he arrived in France on June 18, 1916. His time at the front was not long, but it had a devastating impact on him.

Frank was wounded in the arm by shrapnel on September 2, 1916. The medical report on his injuries showed that they were, as the newspaper report had said, serious. He had been shot in the right arm, between the shoulder and elbow, resulting in a loss of function to his elbow and partial paralysis of his right hand. The medical report was blunt: “Hand useless”. Frank sailed back to Canada on February 25, 1917, and was declared unfit for military service in Quebec.

Frank Merkley was discharged from the army on July 31, 1917. He died on October 17, 1966.

Bismarck Earl Fulton

Born in Chesterville, 1895, Bismarck Fulton was a farmer who joined up on November 17, 1915. Originally assigned to the Canadian Grenadier Guards, he was later transferred to the Canadian Engineers after being wounded in the head and side by shrapnel on the Somme, September 5, 1916.  He spent four weeks recuperating in hospital in England.

He was wounded again in 1917, and after recovering from that, was transferred to the Canadian Light Railway Operating Company in November. After being appointed Lance Corporal in June, 1918, Bismarck was gassed the following month and was again hospitalised. But the effects of the mustard gas were still impacting him and in December, 1918, he was transferred to Seaford, England, where he remained for the rest of the war. Bismarck was discharged, January, 1919.

Bismarck was a strange name to carry into battle against the German Empire, and his experiences in France left him permanently affected by the wounds and the effects of mustard gas. Records show Bismarck Earl Fulton marrying Ada Keen in Drumheller, Alberta, in 1923, and dying in Vancouver in 1970.