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The RCR, The First World War Book of Remembrance - and thanks to Zoomie

Michael OLeary

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As I have been continuing my research on The Royal Canadian Regiment in the First World War, I have been compiling a nominal roll of the Regiment for the Great War.  At this time, I am working with a nominal roll of over 4800 entries, though some soldiers have double entries to cover name changes (e.g., "has declared his true name to be ...").

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 history 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 a review of the CEF Part II Daily Orders for the Regiment, I compared my nominal roll 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

From this latest research, I have submitted nine names to the Canadian Virtual War memorial for review to determine if they are missing from the national Roll of Honour, or incorrectly commemorated by unit.  One of these is:

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.

Additionally, thanks to Zoomie's diligence in visiting the Portage la Prairie (Hillside) Cemetery and tracking down Carmichael's grave, I was also able to provide these photos to the CVWM.

rcr_gw_cem182_carmichael.jpg
 
rcr_gw_cem182_carmichael2.jpg


Today, I received confirmation from the CVWM that Private Carmichael will be added to the Books of Remembrance.

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
 
That's impressive.
It looks like the bottom of his headstone reads, "The wages of sin is death, but the gift from God is eternal life".

Gone, but not forgotten. 

He will not be included in the CWGC database as, "The applicable periods of consideration are 4 August 1914 to 31 August 1921 for the First World War."
 
And one more can now be added to the regimental Roll of Honour of The RCR:

While visiting the Hamilton Cemetery to take photos of the grave of a regimental soldier, I happened to discover the grave of 2381580 Pte John J. Omand.  In my ongoing research into RCR casualties of the First World War, I had not previously identified Pte Omand in any of my collected data.

rcr_gw_cem058_omand.jpg

The date of death on Omand's gravestone, plus the inscription "RCR, CEF" provided sufficient reason to dig deeper (no pun intended).  I reached out to my contact with the Canadian Virtual War Memorial for assistance:

I was in the Hamilton Cemetery (Hamilton, ON) yesterday pursuing photos of graves of soldiers of The RCR.  I came across a gravestone commemorating a man who I cannot place in my various records.  I have attached a photo of the headstone, which is in the soldiers' section of the cemetery, and my related notes follow.

John Omand - Date of death 4 Aug 1920, age 20, buried Hamilton Cemetery, Hamilton, ON.  Omand has a gravestone in the CWGC style, the inscription reading "RCR, CEF."

Of the seven soldiers named Omand in the LAC CEF soldiers database, the closest match appears to be 2381580 John Omand. His MSA Attestation Paper, dated 2 April 1918, can be seen at:  http://data2.archives.ca/cef/gpc018/690018a.gif

Trying to find him in any of the available data only serves to deepen the mystery:

    * Not found in Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
    * Not listed in Wigney's CEF Roll of Honour.
    * Not listed in Part II Orders for overseas battalion of The RCR.
    * No listing in Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Thank you for your attention to these soldiers and their commemoration.

Today, I received confirmation from the CVWM staff:

Good morning Michael:

I received a photocopy of the 'death card' for Pte Omand.  Reg# 12324, that and with the copy of the attestation paper you located (strange that Archives didn't find it), I've enough to satisfy entitlement to commemoration in the Book of Remembrance.

It shows that he was Permanent Force, RCR died 4 August 1921 at Mountain Sanatorium, Hamilton.  Pulmonary TB.  The attestation paper confirms his enlistment in 1918.  I will use the regimental number from the attestation paper, 2381580.

Thanks again for helping find another deserving Canadian.

Catherine

Catherine Tremblay (Mrs./Mme)
Senior  Officer/Agente principale
Canada Remembers Ottawa
Le Canada se Souvient, Ottawa

And another Royal Canadian can be added to the Regiment's Roll of Honour for the First World War.

Pro Patria
 
Let me echo what Moe said, Mr. O'Leary.
That was a wonderful post.  :salute:
 
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