FIVE LOCAL BROTHERS FOUGHT IN GREAT WAR
The First World War ended 99 years ago, on Nov. 11, 1918.
But a year earlier, the fighting was still raging. Every day, Vancouver’s newspapers carried lists of Canadian soldiers that had been killed, gassed, wounded or were missing.
Sometimes there were photos of the dead, along with small stories. On Nov. 10, 1917, the Province carried a composite photo of five brothers. “Of Five Campbell Brothers, Two Have Been Killed, One Wounded, And Two Still Serve,” said a headline.
“Colin Campbell, who died on Oct. 21, aged 27, of wounds received in action in France, is the second son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Campbell, 4506 Inverness, to give his life for the Empire in the present war, and is one of five sons who went to the front.
“He was a native of Glasgow, Scotland, and had lived in Vancouver for 10 years. The other brother who was killed was Pte. James Campbell, a former grocery clerk, who fell in action on April 13 at Vimy Ridge.
“A third brother, L-Cpl. Peter Campbell, formerly with Wood, Vallance & Leggat, was recently wounded but has recovered, and is an instructor to Canadian troops in Seaford, England.”
You can find all sorts of information on Canadians who fought in the First World War online. The Canada At War website has a list of 63,322 Canadians who died during or just after the war, and can be searched by name, date, and regiment.
James Campbell was with the B.C. Regiment when he was killed at Vimy Ridge on April 13, 1917. Twenty of his regimental comrades fell the same day; 134 Canadians died overall. But that was a fraction of the 2,407 Canadians who died on April 9, the first day of the battle.
British Columbians served in other regiments, as well. Colin Campbell was with the Western Ontario regiment when he died on Oct. 21, 1917.
Library and Archives Canada has put the service records of Canada’s soldiers from the First World War on its website. Colin Campbell’s record has 43 pages, including the Attestation Paper from when he signed up on Sept. 28, 1915.
Campbell was five foot five, single, had brown hair and blue eyes, and was a sheet metal worker when he joined. He had been wounded earlier in the war, recovered, and sent back.
His medical record says he suffered a “gun shot wound (in the) spine, severe” at Vimy Ridge on Jan. 13, 1917. He was released from hospital in England on April 16, only to be killed after being shot in the right arm, leg and abdomen Oct. 21.
One of the saddest parts of his file is a handwritten note of his Military Will. “In the event of my death,” he wrote in pencil, “I give the whole of my property and effects to my mother, Mrs. Agnes Campbell, 4506 Inverness Street, South Vancouver, B.C., Canada.”
James Tait Campbell named his mother the beneficiary in his will, as well. He was 40 years old and single, but the details of his death are scant — it just says he was “killed in action” on April 13, 1917.
It could take days or weeks for families to get the news their loved one had died. To be told someone was “missing ” must have been hard — you really had no idea whether they were dead or alive. Many missing soldiers were never found because they’d been blown to bits.
Sometimes the reports got mixed up, as well. At the bottom of the casualty list for Nov. 10, 1917 is a small story with the headline “Men Are Not Missing.”
“Through an error in the transmitting of the casualties from Ottawa, the following list appeared yesterday under the heading of ‘Missing, Believed Killed.’ This should have read ‘Wounded.’”
The item then lists 21 men from B.C. Some of the names aren’t on the list of the dead on the Canada At War website, but some are, like R.L. Radford of New Westminster.
Ralph Lancelot Radford lived at 305-6th Avenue in New West. He was born in Nottingham, England on March 20, 1895, and died of wounds on Oct. 30, 1917. He was 22 years old.
Every day, Vancouver’s newspapers carried lists of Canadian soldiers that had been killed, gassed, wounded or were missing.