By Sam McBride
What do you do with memorabilia of relatives who died in the wars of yesteryear? This is a common problem for many Canadian families, particularly when heirlooms are passed from one generation to the next.
You find yourself with photographs, letters, newspaper clippings, military documents and all manner of odds and ends, like medals, ribbons and articles of clothing of the deceased ancestor. What often happens, over time, is that this material just gets thrown out with the trash -- which is understandable from a housekeeping perspective but a real shame because the stories associated with the memorabilia disappear.
Even if you are settled in a home where you can comfortably store the memorabilia over time, you worry that the relics of relations who died fighting for Canada will not be kept safe. Who knows what will happen to the material if there is fire or theft, or when passed on to future generations. In some cases, museums and archives may be interested in displaying and preserving this type of material, but they tend to get overwhelmed with donations of similar memorabilia from other sources.
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| Capt. Fritz Peters, VC |
In the case of my greatuncle Capt. Frederic Thornton “Fritz” Peters, VC, DSO, DSC and bar, DSC (U.S.), RN who won the Victoria Cross and four other major medals for valour through two world wars, his letters and associated material were so valuable and his story so fascinating that I used it as the basis for a biography of him, titled The Bravest Canadian, which comes out in 2012. Peters, who died in a flying boat crash November 13, 1942, five days after the action in Algeria for which he won the Victoria Cross and the U.S. Distinguished Service Cross, was my maternal grandmother Helen Dewdney`s brother.
In most cases, the descendant does not have sufficient material or the inclination to write a comprehensive biography on a relative who died in battle. However, one thing you can do to ensure the memorabilia associated with your dead ancestor is not lost to history is to participate in the Virtual War Memorial which is part of the Veterans Affairs Canada web site. I have contributed scans and digital photographs of a variety of heirlooms to the Virtual Memorial over the last decade.
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| Lieut. Gerald Peters |
In addition to the page of images on the Virtual Memorial dedicated to Fritz Peters, there are pages for his brother Private John Francklyn Peters, who died at the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915, and another brother Lieutenant Gerald Hamilton Peters, who died in the Battle of Mount Sorrel in May 1916. Both brothers were serving with the 7th B.C. Duke of Connaught battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force when they died.
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| Private Jack Peters |
My late father Major Leigh McBride`s side of the family also has relatives with pages on the Virtual Memorial. His brother and only sibling, Capt. Kenneth Gilbert McBride, died in September 1944 when his vehicle struck a mine on a road near Rimini in central Italy. Like his brother Leigh, Ken served with the Seaforth Highlander regiment of the Canadian Army in the invasions of Sicily and Italy. Also, Leigh`s first cousin, Sergeant Flight Engineer Richard Alan Rollins, serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force, died in December 1942 when he was a crew member of a plane on anti-submarine patrol which crashed on takeoff. I have uploaded more than a dozen items for Ken`s page on the Virtual Memorial, but in Richard`s case the only item I had to post was a newspaper clipping with the announcement of his death, which his aunt (my paternal grandmother) kept in her scrapbook. Still, it was better than nothing, and has led to others (either Veterans Affairs staff or persons outside the family who contribute out of interest and appreciation) posting photographs of Richard`s tombstone and cemetery.
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| Leigh McBride (left) and brother Ken in 1935 |
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| death of Richard Rollins reported |
The link to the Virtual War Memorial is below. If you have a Canadian relative who died in battle, you should check to see if there are images on the person`s page. There is an online procedure you need to go through online for submitting images, but it is quite simple and straightforward. Veterans Affairs does not guarantee they will accept and display all material submitted, but I have never encountered problems in making several dozen submissions over the years.
It is great to think that images that help tell the stories of the deceased heroes will be available for future generations to see. It is the least we can do in appreciation of their sacrifice.
