One hundred and six years ago, what was then called “The Great War” ended with the capitulation of the German Army in a railway carriage in France. Over the previous four years, more than 650,000 Canadians and Newfoundlanders served in this war; at least 66,000 of them gave their lives and another 172,000 were wounded.
All across Canada, memorials were erected to the valour of both the living and the dead. Here in Sudbury, not only was a cenotaph erected at the corner of Elm and Lorne Streets, but our forebears also specifically memorialized 11 names (as 11 is that most special number of remembrance) who came from the city (which was a town at the time of the war) and gave the supreme sacrifice.
In the Gatchell neighbourhood, 11 streets are named after these men. Ten run perpendicular to Lorne Street (on the north side) heading westward from Martindale, with the eleventh crossing most of these streets one block North.
In honour of Remembrance Day, today we will share the wartime stories of those local men memorialized in local street names.
These men are: Captain John Donald Glover, Private William Adam Irving, Private Walter George Strudwick, Private John James (Jack) Gutcher, Private Frederick Wallace Morrison and Private Joseph Nelson Morrison (brothers killed within days of one another; one street named for both), Private Felix Clemow, Corporal Wesley Tuddenham, Private George Gordon Bulmer, Private Michael John Quinn, Second Lieutenant Maurice Alexander Rowat and Corporal Rinaldo Vernor Demorest.
Captain John Donald Glover
Captain John Donald Glover, 26, was the first member of the 97th Regiment (known as “The Algonquin Rifles”) to give up his life during active service.
He came to Sudbury in early 1914 to work as a receiving clerk for the Cochrane’s Hardware. Immediately after war was declared, he became impatient to be at the front, and was the very first to volunteer for active service. He left Sudbury for Valcartier (Québec) with the first contingent.
He was killed in the fighting at Langemarck on April 23, 1915, during the Second Battle of Ypres (Belgium). After the announcement of his death, the flag was flown at half-mast on the municipal building here in Sudbury.
He left behind a widow and two children, as well as two brothers (one also on active service, the other employed by the Canadian Copper Company in Copper Cliff).
A fellow soldier from Glover’s battalion wrote to his father, “We have lost the 'Idol of the Battalion’…he deserved the name of 'gentleman and soldier, too,' one of the finest fellows that ever wore a Canadian uniform.” While another wrote to his mother that “(Glover) left a great name behind him for his bravery, coolness under fire and good leadership. He was a great soldier and loved by all of us and so we will sure miss him.”
Private William Adam Irving
Only one day after the death of Captain Glover, it was reported that Private William Adam Irving, age 21, a member of the 15th Canadian Infantry Battalion, had died during the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915. He was born in Little Current but was living in Sudbury and working as deputy sheriff with his father, who was town sheriff at the time.
The circumstances of Irving’s death (which are confirmed by his “Circumstances of Death” record) were included in "The Official Story of the Canadian Expeditionary Force" by Sir Max Aitken.
“Now we come to the story of Private Irving … who went out to do as brave a deed as a man might endeavour, but never returned. Irving had been up for forty-eight hours helping to feed the wounded as they were brought into Brigade Headquarters, which had been turned into a temporary dressing station, when he heard that a huge poplar tree had fallen across the road and was holding up the ambulance wagons.
“Though utterly weary, he at once offered to go out and cut the tree in pieces and drag it from the path at the tail of an ambulance wagon. Irving set forth with the ambulance, but, on nearing the place of which he was in search, left it, and went forward on foot along the road, which was being swept by heavy artillery fire and a cross rifle fire. And then, even as, axe in hand, he tramped up this road, with shells bursting all around him and bullets whistling past him, he disappeared as completely as though the night had swallowed him up! … He is missing to this day—a strange and brave little mystery of this great war.”
Private Walter George Strudwick
Unfortunately, the tragedies to befall the Sudbury area that week were not over yet. On April 26, 1915, Private Walter George Strudwick, age 24, was killed during the same battle which took the lives of his fellow Sudburians.
Sadly, the circumstances of his death did not reach his family until six months later when a letter from a comrade of her brother’s was received by his sister.
As he wrote to her, “… on the night of April 22nd our battalion … drove the enemy out of a shallow trench… . The following morning we had many casualties in our company, as there was scant protection from the enemy's machine gun and rifle fire. About 11 a.m., Walter, who was quite close to me at the time, received the fatal wound while reaching for his water bottle.”
He also added with heartfelt sympathy that “Walter was one of the most popular boys in our battalion for his big-hearted, fearless ways, and his loss is keenly felt by those of us who were spared … but we are justly proud of the way he and our other comrades so bravely gave up their life….”
Private John James (Jack) Gutcher
On April 30, 1915, Private John James (Jack) Gutcher, age 23, “a well known Sudbury boy who enlisted with the first contingent” (and was one of the first to board the troop train), wrote a letter to his father to let him know that he was wounded and taken prisoner by the German army.
It read as follows: “Do not worry when you see my name in the missing list, for I am all right with the exception of my wounds which are very sore. I have four wounds and I am a prisoner in Germany. I was wounded on April 24th and lay three days on the battlefield before I was picked up … Will drop a line telling you all about it in a day or two.”
Sadly, that would not come to pass, as just under a month later, on May 21, 1915, Gutcher succumbed to his wounds in a German hospital. The information came to his family through the International Commission on the Welfare of Prisoners of War, which provided a death certificate sent by the German military authorities.
Most Sudburians of the day remembered him as a little street corner newsboy. He had previously worked at The Sudbury Star for five years learning the printing trade, which culminated in his purchase of the “Copper Cliff Courier” when he was barely 20.
In reporting Gutcher’s death, his newspaper colleagues wrote: “Jack is a genuine Sudbury boy and so long as men of his calibre volunteer for service, Sudbury may well be proud of her representatives on the firing line, who by their actions are shedding lustre on the town and on their regiment.“
Private Frederick Wallace Morrison and Private Joseph Nelson Morrison
In early September 1916, two of the three sons of the Morrison family, both members of the 51st (Edmonton) Battalion, were killed within a week of each other. Private Frederick Wallace Morrison, age 24, formerly a chauffeur, was reported killed in action in the area of the Somme on September 7, 1916. His brother, Private Joseph Nelson Morrison, age 20, a former engineer, died September 12, 1916, succumbing to wounds received in the battle of the Somme.
A third brother, Private William Morrison, fought in the same battle, survived and came home on a three months leave of absence to comfort his bereaved mother. He was met at the train station by the 97th Regiment’s band and many previously returned soldiers of the area, who escorted him home to Copper Cliff.
Private Felix Clemow
As November 1916 dawned, another Sudbury-born boy fell on the field of battle. Private Felix Clemow, age 23, died at No. 13 Field Ambulance, most likely while being conveyed from the field of battle.
This news came as a blow to his family, in view of the fact that only a few days prior, a letter had been received from Felix, dated Oct. 22, stating that he was well and admonishing his parents not to worry about him.
Clemow was born and raised in Sudbury, and for some years prior to his enlistment worked with his father up north at Ruel. He had enlisted one year before, with the 77th Battalion of Ottawa, following in the footsteps of his grandfather who had taken part in the Nile expedition of 1883-84.
Corporal Wesley Tuddenham
Corporal Wesley Tuddenham, age 22, a member of the 4th Battalion, was killed in action on the second day of the Battle of Vimy Ridge (April 10, 1917), the most important battle in Canadian history.
Another local boy, and close friend to Tuddenham, Sgt.-Major Robert Horne, in a letter home dated April 12, 1917, stated that “before leaving France, I advised (Wesley) to make application for leave to take a course in England as he was highly thought of at headquarters.” Since he makes reference to Tuddenham being well when Horne left France, he was not aware of the death of his friend, but “when he does learn of his brave chum’s sacrifice … it will come as a severe blow to him, as both have been together almost since the time they enlisted.”
Private George Gordon Bulmer
Private George Gordon Bulmer, age 18, was killed in action on Aug. 15, 1917 (the second anniversary of his enlistment). He had come to Sudbury from Quebec with his parents four years prior. His father was the yardmaster for the CPR in Sudbury.
Bulmer was the first boy to enlist from the Sudbury Public School, and had just passed his high school examinations. He went overseas with the 37th Battalion along with other Sudbury boys in November 1915. During the fighting around Sanctuary Wood (Belgium) in 1916, he received a gunshot wound in the head and eight shrapnel wounds in the back.
After several months in hospital, and although he had an opportunity to come home, he declined, being eager to get back to the fighting. He returned to the front in March 1917, and most likely fell during heavy fighting around the city of Lens.
Bulmer had two other brothers and one uncle in the trenches, as well as an aunt working as a nurse with the American forces.
Private Michael John Quinn
Only nine days later, Private Michael John Quinn, age 27, was killed in action in the trenches north of Lens. Two weeks before, he had written his mother to say that he was out of hospital and almost recovered from wounds received on Aug. 10, and hoping to be discharged soon.
He had gone over with the first contingent and had spent almost four years in France, during which he sustained eight wounds, none of which were deemed serious. Quinn had two brothers on active service at the time of his death. Patrick Quinn was with the South African forces in France while Joseph Quinn, over the course of three years, had been wounded in battle four times, gassed and still returned to France to continue fighting.
Prior to his death, the local newspaper published an account of his experience at the Battle of Vimy Ridge with the 159th battalion.
Quinn wrote: “Many of us were on the ridge and went over the parapet … . It would take too much space to record the individual feats performed by the boys from Sudbury, but the district may well feel proud that it was represented on almost every part of the front by boys from Sudbury, Copper Cliff, etc." He concluded: "I hear we are winning and that it won't take many more cords of wood to keep the home fires burning till the boys come home, as they say the end is in sight…“
Second Lieutenant Maurice Alexander Rowat
Second Lieutenant Maurice Alexander Rowat, age 22, was killed in action while serving with the British Royal Flying Corps at the Italian Front on Feb. 12, 1918. Rowat first enlisted with the signalling corps of the 159th battalion and trained in North Bay.
He was the first scout in his corps to win his stripes and was known to have “put his heart and soul into soldiering.” When his battalion was broken up in England, he joined the Royal Flying Corps along with some other Sudbury men and after only a few months' training (not much considering aviation was still very new and dangerous) was chosen to go to Italy following that country's partial collapse. In several letters that were received by his family prior to his death, he spoke of the wonder of flying over Venice and the enemy lines.
Corporal Rinaldo Vernor Demorest
On Sept. 27, 1918, Corporal Rinaldo Vernor Demorest was wounded in action with his battery in France. He had trained with the 50th Queens Battery and had been there for just over a year. Just a short time before, his two brothers, Harrison and Karl, were also severely wounded in action.
An interesting fact in regard to their injuries is that all three brothers were wounded in the thigh. Tragically, DeMorest succumbed to pneumonia while still at the front, two days after the Armistice was signed, bringing an end to the fighting.
Well, dear readers, we turn to you now, in this time of remembrance, to put the spotlight on some of our veterans and share their stories for everyone to read.
Share your memories and/or photos by emailing them to Jason Marcon at [email protected] or the editor at [email protected].
Jason Marcon is a writer and history enthusiast in Greater Sudbury. He runs the Coniston Historical Group and the Sudbury Then and Now Facebook page. Memory Lane is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.