HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2016-09-28, Page 1818 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, September 28, 2016
From furrows to the front lines
Lynda Hillman-Rapley
Postmedia Network
In her book From the Fur-
rows to the Front Lines, Exe-
ter's Yvonne Reynolds takes
the reader back to the 161st
Battalion of Huron County.
"2016 marks the 100th
anniversary of the mobiliza-
tion of the 161st Battalion of
Huron County. A century
ago men from farms, offices
and shops responded to
forceful appeals to their pat-
riotism and enlisted to serve
King and country in World
War 1, " she explains adding
there are events planned in
Goderich in October and
November to commemorate
this milestone.
"The Battalion, officially
mobilized in April, trained at
Clinton, Hillcrest Camp in
London, and Camp Borden.
Before going overseas, the
men were dispersed to their
hometowns on October 5 for
final goodbyes.
"On Sunday Oct. 8, Col.
Combe, accompanied by
some members of B com-
pany and the 161st Band,
marched up the steps of the
Goderich Courthouse to
hand over the Battalion's
Regimental Colours for safe-
keeping. They had been pur-
chased for $255 from the
Dominion Regalia Company
in Toronto by the Exeter
Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Com-
mittee, who had presented
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them to the Battalion at
Camp Borden in August.
Monday, May 24, 1920, the
Colours were deposited in
Exeter's Trivitt Memorial
Anglican Church. By 1970
the Colours had faded. The
originals, and replicas, were
framed and dedicated in a
special service on June 28.
They are still there," she says.
In her book, Reynolds
details that the Battalion
members enjoyed a dinner
at Goderich's Bedford Hotel
on Monday, Oct. 9, followed
by a dance in the Oddfellows
Hall.
"Next day the Battalion
paraded down East St. to the
Grand Trunk Railway sta-
tion. Twenty-eight officers
and 749 NCOs and enlisted
men boarded the train for
Halifax, then on to the SS
Lapland to disembark in Liv-
erpool, England. They were
soon shipped across the
channel for service in France
and Belgium."
Reynolds says the men
from Huron fought in the
bloodiest battles of the war -
Ypres, Vimy Ridge, Amiens,
Cambrai, Passchendaele and
Lens.
"British Prime Minister
Lloyd George wrote in his
memoirs "Whenever the
Germans found the Cana-
dian corps coming into line,
they prepared for the worst."
Twenty-eight medals were
awarded for bravery, and
Clinton's Harry Miner was
posthumously awarded the
Victoria Cross. Six officers
and 111 men from the Bat-
talion were killed during the
war, and 15 succumbed to
their wounds later.
"By 1917, more Canadians
were dying in Europe than
were enlisting at home. By
the end of that year mem-
bers of the 161st had been
sent to other units of the
Canadian Corps. The 161st
was officially disbanded
Sept. 15, 1920. A reunion was
held in Clinton in 1935, and
another in Exeter in 1966."
The booklet "Lest We For-
get'; a history of the 161st Bat-
talion commissioned by Bill
Rowcliffe in 1996, has been
updated and reprinted. It is
for sale at Fincher's, Huron
County Museum, and Bay-
field Archives and Heritage
CASSEROLE
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St. Thomas Anglican Church,
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Wednesday, October 5
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Friends & family
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Sat. Oct. 1, 2016
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• Age of Majority
• Lunch Provided •
* For info call
519-440-6975, 519-440-2789
PLEASE
RECYCLE
Postmedia Network
Yvonne Reynolds with her book From the Furrows to the Front
Lines
Centre. Listed is every man
who joined up, and if he was
wounded or killed.
In the original, widows
Elizabeth Fingland and Gla-
dys Sims were interviewed,
and stories and pictures
On May 28, 2016, Missy Teatero was
awarded a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology
from Lakehead University. She previously
completed an honours B.A. in psychology
and sociology at Western University
and a doctoral residency with the
Northern Ontario Psychology Internship
Consortium. Missy currently works
at St. Joseph's Care Group — Mental
Health Outpatient Programs in Thunder
Bay, where she does assessment,
consultation, as well as individual and
group therapy.
Conzpattle4Aems /7l/ Ieetteto!
We are so proud of you and
all you have achieved.
Love, Mom, Matt and Kenzie
•
taken by Pte. Vic Hogarth
were featured. Now, 100
years later, Catherine (Fing-
land) McKnight, Audrey
(Sims) Bentley and Bonnie
(Hogarth) Sitter were ques-
tioned about what they
remember after their fathers
returned home.
CONTINUED > PAGE 19
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