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Ancestry Daily News
4/9/2003 - Archive
Last of the Foot Soldiers
The last surviving infantryman to fight at the battle of Vimy Ridge
died recently in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Charles Reaper joined the Canadian army
at the age of 15 (he lied about his age) on the assumption that military service
could be no worse than the farm labor he was doing.
Vimy Ridge was a German strong point, a bulge into the Allied lines on the Western
Front near Arras in France. Earlier attempts to take it, especially by the French
army in 1915, had failed. After the battle of the Somme, the Canadian Corps
was sent to the Vimy area. When plans developed for a general offensive by the
British Army, the Canadian Corps was assigned the task of taking the ridge.
The carefully planned attack, which began early on Easter Monday, 9 April 1917,
was a success. Most of Vimy Ridge was taken and held on the first day and by
14 April it was entirely in Canadian hands; 3,598 soldiers were killed and more
than 7,000 were wounded.
At the time the victory was regarded as a great Canadian achievement; the reputation
of the Canadian Corps was made. Today, the site is marked by a monument, not
only to the soldiers who fought and died at Vimy Ridge, but to all Canadians
who died in World War I; it was unveiled by Edward VIII in 1936.
The article about Charles Reaper led me to think about what I know of World
War I veterans in my family tree and--being a teacher, about access to records.
My paternal grandfather was in the army reserve. He was forty when war broke
out and served most of the war in Canada in intelligence; he went overseas in
the Canadian Expeditionary Force to Russia in 1919. My mother's uncle died on
the Western Front in 1917. I know quite a lot about these two and therefore
decided to test what military information could be found online to launch a
search into a Scottish teenager.
Charles Reaper, the article said, was born in 1899 and came to Canada an orphan.
This told me there was no point in searching Canadian census or vital records,
but the growing index to Home Children, a project of the British Isles Family
History Society of Greater Ottawa, was worth investigating. Here I found the
entry. Reaper came to Canada at age twelve on the SS Scotian. More could be
followed up on this. You can find the database at the website of the National
Archives of Canada.
The National Archives website also has a finding aid to the records of those
who fought in units of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in World War I. This
resource includes images of "attestation papers," documents attesting
to certain biographical facts and stating the individual was willing to be posted
overseas. Images are still being added, not necessarily in alphabetical order.
The papers are slightly different for officers and enlisted men, but all of
them give full name, address, place of birth, next of kin, present occupation
and any previous military service. Some include a physical description. There
are no documents available online for Charles Reaper. For everyone, whether
or not there are images of attestation papers, an order can be placed for service
documents; details about costs are explained.
Either the online image or the service record provides enough data to access
vital records and census information. For Scotland there are several starting
points. The Scottish census returns for 1881, 1891 and 1901, and civil registration
indexes and images are here.
The 1881 census index is also in Family History Centers and on CD-ROM, available
in the "products" area of the FamilySearch site.
The FHL holds indexes to civil registration and the census returns for six
enumerations, 1841 to 1891 inclusive. Some Family History Centers have their
own extensive collections of civil registration indexes.
For soldiers that died in World War One and who are commemorated in a cemetery
or on a memorial, there is another online source. This is the website of the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
The search tool to the Register of the Debt of Honour works well. You will
need some supplementary information if the name is common, such as birthplace,
occupation, and regimental number. Results are in three parts: (1) a table of
core facts; (2) an expanded entry including cemetery name, grave reference,
cemetery location and description, and history of the site on which the cemetery
sits; and (3) a transcript of the entry on the soldier's grave. The last two
parts state the next of kin, and this may include the names of the father and
mother.
This is only the beginning. There are many other types of records as well as
innumerable books and websites devoted to World War I. The CWGC website includes
a selection of links and the websites of the British Army or particular regiments
may be useful resources.
You are reading this on the anniversary of Vimy Ridge, at a time when another
conflict is underway. It is appropriate to reflect upon the service and sacrifice
of the men and women who have served in the past and who serve today in the
armed forces of their country.
Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA(Scot) is an author, teacher, and lecturer specializing
in English and Scottish family history. She is the author of Your English
Ancestry (2nd ed, 1998) and Your Scottish Ancestry (1997) and a regular
contributor to several journals including Genealogical Computing. Since
1996, she has been a study tour leader, course coordinator, and instructor for
the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, Samford University. She
teaches online for the family history program of Vermont College and has lectured
at conferences in Canada, the United States, and Australia. She is president
of the Association of Professional Genealogists.
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