Keeping company
Volunteers create database detailing Prince County’s C Company of 493 soldiers from the Great War
712213. It seems like just a number, but to Louise Morris, it’s much more.
“It’s my grandfather’s Regimental number from World War I,” she explained.
Her Grandfather, Coleman Haviland Rogers, was part of the A Company in the 105th Battalion from P.E.I.
Recently, Morris decided to take her interest in family genealogy further and volunteered to help MacNaught History Centre and Archives with their research project into Prince County’s C Company in the 105th Battalion.
“Researching into the soldiers’ personal background came out of our original C Company project that we were working on,” said Jean MacKay, the archives and curatorial assistant for Culture Summerside.
“Last year, 2016, marked 100 years since those soldiers would have embarked to the front, so we thought it would be neat to do something on it.
“Then we began digging into the background of every soldier from the C Company. That’s close to 500 men mainly from Prince County.”
Currently, the group is compiling a database of information and plans to put it together in a binder that will stay at MacNaught History Centre and Archives as well as other museums on the Island.
Prince County’s C Company was comprised of 493 men, that more than double the regular size of a company, said MacKay.
“We really wanted to let people know that Summerside was a military hub in 1916. And as a legacy I thought it would be interesting to learn about them and what happened to them.”
Something interesting that’s come out of the process is the discovery that there was a large number of Acadians in the company.
“It makes you wonder what was in it for them? At that time, they weren’t affiliated with England, and they weren’t particularly close with France either. So it makes you wonder why they would enlist. A logical reason would be the steady pay that came with enlisting. A lot of those men were farmers with big families,” said Morris.
However, finding the information wasn’t always easy, there were roadblocks along the way.
“Finding a photo of them could be hard most times. So in our information sheets, some of them don’t have a photo beside their name.
“Some also left the Island if and when they returned home, so tracking them down that way made it difficult as well. But for the most part it’s been an incredible experience. I didn’t realize how full circle it would feel as we were doing it.” Morris agreed. “I have to admit, I did lose some sleep over this project. Some of their stories are so horrendously sad and then others you could see how much dedication and determination they had for freedom.
“You can’t help but admire them. When some were getting ready to go over seas, war had already been raging on and news of the deaths from the front was coming in, but they still went and most of them saw the front.
“I used to try to push the wars from my mind because it destroyed so much , but as I got to lean more and more about those who served, I found a new respect for the sacrifice of those men.”