The branch held its regular meeting in Newcastle, Ontario, on 2 April 2005.  There were fifteen members in attendance, including four new ones. We welcomed Dwight Esler, Byron Perry, Bruce Cane, and John Stephens to our group.
	Bruce Cane is the author of a recently published book, It made You Think of Home, The Haunting Journal of Deward Barnes, Canadian Expeditionary Force: 1916-1919. Bruce told us of the genesis of the book and commented on two sections of the story which he thought were of greatest importance. One was the description of the execution of Pte. Howard Lodge, 19th Battalion, for desertion. Barnes was one of the riflemen in the firing squad and he may be the only member of an execution squad to have left a description. The other significant event was the Battle of Iwuy on 10-11 October 1918 which saw the last charge by Canadian cavalry and the only time the Canadians had been attacked by German tanks.
	Member Floyd Low and Lt.Col. Brian Sutherland gave a Power Point presentation on 14th Battalion (Royal Montreal Regiment) trench raids in the Gavrelle Sector near Arras. Using maps, Operation Orders, and War Diaries of the infantry and artillery units involved, they illustrated the meticulous staff work that preceded these successful trench raids in which Lt. George Keane won the VC.
	Chairman Glenn Kerr gave an outline of the saga and controversy surrounding the grave of the supposedly fourteen year old John Condon at Poelkappel. Other members told of their interests and projects. The next meeting is on 18 June.

18 June 05

	Sixteen members and guests were present at the regular meeting held in the Village Community Hall in Newcastle, Ontario. Chairman Glen Kerr brought us up to date on the increase in membership.  Many of the new members live too far away from Newcastle to attend regular meetings. It is confidently expected that the continued excellence of the newsletter composed mainly of members’ original articles and the opportunity to profit from the areas of special expertise from all members will be worth the membership fee.
	Member Steven Dieter gave a presentation called “It Came up with the Rations.”  Steve is presently studying for his master’s degree at the Royal Military College, Kingston. Like so many veterans of the Great War, Roy Bradt of the ??? Battalion, would tell anyone who asked how he won the Military Medal, that it ‘came up with the rations.’ Bradt’s niece and great-niece tried without success to uncover the circumstances that led to the award. The granting of the MM is gazetted in the London Gazette but in almost every case no citation was issued. The battalion War Diaries rarely mention junior officers and almost never mention the other ranks by name. Using his own knowledge of the war and the archival records, Steve was able to discover the circumstances that resulted in Roy Bradt’s winning the Military Medal.
	Large numbers of Canadian soldiers and airmen who became casualties in the First World War are buried in Canada. All but two of these are men who died in Canada or the United Kingdom. Canadians who died of wounds or disease in the UK were treated the same as the dead of British units who died in the UK-the next of kin could decide on whether the burial would be in a local cemetery or in one of the few war cemeteries in Britain. Major Charles Sutcliffe, 77th Battalion CEF, attached to the Royal Flying Corps, was an exception. He disappeared while on a raid near a German airbase at Epinoy, ten kilometres north-west of Cambrai, on 6 June 1917. Two weeks later a German flyer dropped a message on an RFC base saying that Sutcliffe had died. After the war it was learned that Sutcliffe’s body was buried in the Epinoy civilian cemetery.  In 1925 Sutcliffe’s parents seem to have been able to convince French civil authorities that the body was that of an American even though the French had placed a plaque on the tomb noting that he was an “aviateur Canadien”. His body was removed from the cemetery, shipped to New York, and from there to Lindsay, Ontario, where it was reburied in Riverside Cemetery. Gord MacKinnon outlined the many mysteries about this case. Watch for a more complete story in a future Maple Leaf.
	After lunch new members and guests talked about their areas of interest in the First World War, and others told about their activities related to the Great War.

17 Sep 05

	The Fall meeting of COBWFA was held in the Newcastle Community Hall on a beautiful day. There were fifteen members in attendance to hear our guest speaker, Professor Lubomyr Luciuk of the Royal Military College, Kingston. Professor Luciuk has a special interest in the history of Ukrainian Canadians in the First World War. Their story is a complicated one because Ukraine did not exist as an independent country in 1914. The land inhabited by Ukrainians was divided into two main regions: the western part was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the eastern part was part of the Russian Empire. This presented a major dilemma for Ukrainians in Canada because Russia and Austria were enemies in the war. Large numbers of Ukrainians had immigrated to Canada after 1896 from both regions. Those from the Russian administered part were encouraged to join the CEF; those from the Austrian administered area were considered to be enemy aliens. Many of the latter including women and children were interned in concentration camps under very difficult conditions and if they were naturalized they lost the right to vote by the Wartime Elections Act.
	Filip Konowal arrived in Canada from Ukraine early in the twentieth century. He joined the 77th Battalion in Ottawa and when it was broken up in the UK, was posted to the 47th Battalion (New Westminster). Wounded twice and promoted corporal, he won the Victoria Cross for exceptional valour at Hill 70, Lens, in August 1917.
	After the war he served with the Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force and did not return to Canada until June 1919. His years after the war were not very prosperous. During the Great Depression of the 1930’s, he got a job as a janitor at the Canadian Parliament, and eventually became the special janitor of the prime minister’s office. He died in 1959 and was buried in Notre Dame Cemetery in Ottawa. His Victoria Cross was acquired by the Canadian War Museum.
	His VC went ‘missing’ from the War Museum in the 1960’s. Officially, it had been ‘misplaced’. In 2004 it came up for auction in London, Ontario. Prof. Luciuk learned about this in time to alert the RCMP and have the stolen medal recovered. It now has a place of honour in the new war museum.
	Branch 360 of the Royal Canadian Legion in Toronto was named after Konowal and was a meeting place for veterans of Ukrainian ancestry. In 2005 the Legion headquarters closed down Branch 360 and Prof. Luciuk has been active in attempts to have this decision reversed.
	After lunch Glen Kerr announced that the membership had climbed to nearly 50 members. Kevin Shackleton spoke about the trip he had taken recently to visit places associated with the 18th Battalion CEF and the Essex-Kent Scottish which perpetuates it. He is in the final stages of his book on the history of the units that formed part of the militia in Essex and Kent counties in Western Ontario from the War of 1812 to the present.
	Two members reported on research they were doing on CEF winners of the DCM. New member Dave Vose is researching the military career of his father Sgt. J. Ernest Vose DCM. Mark Giroux is working on the record of Sgt. Percy Halloway Mitchell DCM. 469536, 26th Battalion. Other members brought us up to date with the projects they are pursuing.

Gord MacKinnon

18 Dec 05

	The AGM of the Central Ontario Branch was held in the Town Hall, Newcastle, Ontario. on Saturday 3 December 2005. The chairman, Glenn Kerr, welcomed two new members. Peter Warren and Jim Leishman who had driven from Cambridge, Ontario, on a snowy wintry morning. Peter and Jim are originally from Glasgow, Scotland, and both have a long time interest in the Great War.
	David Vose who had joined the branch at the last meeting, told us the interesting story of his father, John Ernest Vose, DCM, who had served in two armies in two wars. Always called Ernest, he was born in Bolton, Lancashire, England in 1892. He was a member of the Loyal North Lancashire TF. In 1910 he immigrated to Canada and settled in Swan River, Manitoba. When the Great War broke out he, like thousands of other ex-patriate Brits, joined the CEF. He joined the 10th Battalion in Winnipeg. He was promoted to sergeant in the signals section of the battalion, wounded at Caix at the Battle of Amiens and won the DCM for bravery under fire while repairing signal wires in the last days of the war. He was then promoted to lieutenant.
	After the war, Lieutenant Vose returned to the Canadian West and married. He moved to California where he operated a painting and decorating business in Beverley Hills. Here he had several movie stars as customers but the Great Depression of the Dirty Thirties wiped him out financially, so he returned to England. When the Second World War broke out he rejoined the British army and rose to the rank of major, ending up in charge of a POW Camp at Purfleet. In 1947 he returned to Canada and settled in British Columbia. Dave Vose showed us many mementos of his father’s military career in two world wars.
	After lunch, the chairman conducted the AGM. He reported that the branch now has about 50 members. There is about $577.00 in the branch bank account but the financial situation has been complicated by the retirement of the treasurer and the need to appoint another because two signatures are required on cheques. The chairman pointed out that since some of the banking has to be done at the bank branch in Bowmanville, it would be preferable if a member living within easy driving distance would take on the responsibility. After some discussion, Diane Johnson, who lives in nearby Cobourg, agreed to assume the position and the members agreed unanimously. The chairman and Diane will arrange with the bank the necessary paper work to enable the branch to use the account.
	The chairman then brought up the question of the branch website. Benjamin Keevil inaugurated the site and has been running it since its inception. He desires to step down, Floyd Low has volunteered to reorganize and operate the site at a cost of $15.00 a month to the service provider. It was agreed by the members that this should be done.
	Our excellent and highly regarded Maple Leaf newsletter is the work of many members who contribute articles but especially of Glenn Kerr who edits, publishes, and prints the Maple Leaf on his home computer. He also packages and mails the 65 copies that are sent out four times a year. This is taking a lot of his time, absorbing a big part of our budget, and making it difficult to meet deadlines. He would prefer to have each issue come out just before a meeting so as to save some mailing costs. Several members suggested that the Maple Leaf be put on line and mailed only to those who preferred it that way. All members commended Glenn for the excellence of the publication and the time he devotes to it. Glenn is hoping that some member with more expertise in this kind of publication can offer suggestions and help.
	A suggestion was made that next year a meeting be scheduled in Ottawa to visit the new War Museum or in some other city such as Guelph or Brantford where members could visit sites holding interest for students of the First World War. It was agreed that the suggestion should be explored.
	Glenn Kerr agreed to serve as Chairman of the branch for one more year. The members present were unanimous in their praise for the work that Glenn had done in the past year.  COBWFA Executive December 2005-December 2006. Chairman: Glenn Kerr Vice-chairman: position vacant Treasurer: Diane Johnson Secretary: Gordon MacKinnon Website: Floyd Low Historical Officer: Mark Giroux Sergeant-at Arms: Larry Levett
	After the AGM, members discussed various matters of interest and concern. Peter Warren and Dave Vose showed rich collections of artefacts from the wars. The meeting broke up at 3:30

1 Apr 06

	The first meeting of 2006 was held at the Newcastle Town Hall with twenty members in attendance. After an animated half hour in which old friends met and new ones were made, the Branch Chairman, Glenn Kerr, called the meeting to order at 11:00 o’clock. He was happy to call on Captain (Ret’d) John Haslam CD, the Honorary President and founder of the Branch, to open the meeting with the two minutes silence. John has been absent from meetings over a considerable period because of serious personal health problems and the need to look after his sick wife. John’s wife passed away and the members offered him their condolences.
	The chairman called on our special guest, Brigadier General (Ret’d) A.J. ‘Butch” Waldrum, OMM, MSC, CD, to address the group. Butch (as he prefers to be called) began with a little personal military history. He is the third of a line of soldiers named Alexander Waldrum who served in the Canadian forces. His grandfather was born in Dundee, Scotland, and he and five of his brothers immigrated to Canada before 1914. Five of the six brothers served in the CEF. Of these brothers, Daniel was killed in action and William won the MC and Bar. Alexander served in the Machine Gun Corps. Butch’s own father served in the Canadian army in the Korean War. Butch served 32 years in the Canadian Forces and retired in 1993 with the rank of brigadier general. During his time in uniform, he served in Canada, Germany, the Golan Heights, Damascus and the United States. In the first year of retirement, he served as Director of Logistics for the UN Peacekeeping Directorate at the Secretariat in New York City. Since leaving the UN he has been involved in running and working for his own company as a consultant for companies wishing to do business in the defence and humanitarian sectors. BGen Waldrum had chosen to speak about two topics in which he was greatly interested: the repatriation of the Canada’s Unknown Soldier and the effects of IEDs on battlefield mobility.
	The Repatriation of the Canadian Unknown Soldier
	BGen Waldrum was still serving in the Canadian Armed Forces when the idea of repatriating an unknown Canadian soldier from France or Flanders was beginning to be contemplated seriously. There are 28,000 Canadian soldiers who have no known grave and Butch and a number of other officers and retired personnel were concerned that Canada had no official unknown soldier. By agreement among the First World War allies, the remins of all British Empire soldiers who died in France or Belgium in the First World War came under the jurisdiction of the Imperial (later renamed Commonwealth) War Graves Commission. Canada has no independent right to repatriate any bodies of Canadian soldiers which come under the control of the CWGC. The CWGC has a policy of not allowing repatriation of war dead from ‘overseas’. This word was used from a British perspective and meant outside of the shores of the United Kingdom. The CWGC did not have the same control over the remains of the wounded who died in hospitals in the UK; however, none of these would be unknown men. The CWGC was reluctant to allow the repatriation of any remains because it saw the eventual identification of these remains as an essential part of its mandate. The Canadian government of the day showed little interest in the proposed repatriation. It was not until the Royal Canadian Legion, working with a number of veterans’ organizations, took up the cause in 1997 that sufficient popular pressure was exerted on the Canadian government to use its considerable influence with the CWGC to bring the project to a successful conclusion. Butch Waldrum worked as one of the volunteers to achieve this goal. Nevertheless, three more years were required before the remains of  Canadian soldier “known unto God” was returned to Canada for burial in a national shrine in Ottawa on 28 May 2000. The whole project took ten years from beginning to end.
	The committee preferred a soldier who had been killed in the Vimy Ridge area. Although bodies of CEF men are still occasionally unearthed in France, it was decided to exhume the remains of an unknown Canadian soldier buried in the Vimy area and one was chosen from the Cabaret Rouge British Cemetery, ten kilometres north of Arras on the road to Béthune. BGen Waldrum was in the party present at the exhumation along with Paul Métivier, a 99 year old CEF veteran of the Battle of Vimy Ridge and also the father of a soldier of the Second World War who has no known grave.  It was essential to confirm that no mistake had been made at the time of the original burial, and Paul Métivier was able to state positively that the gas cape and boots on the remains were uniquely Canadian in design. A group including BGen Waldrum, Sergeant Ernest “Smokey” Smith VC, Canada’s only surviving VC winner at the time, Paul Métivier, a veteran of the First World War, Mr Gordon Strathy, the Korean war witness, Sergeant Rejeanne Bélanger representing Peacekeepers, two young Canadians, and two French youths, received the remains from the CWGC on behalf of the government and people of Canada. A few days later, on 24 May 2000, the group was present at the burial of a CEF soldier named David John Carlson 100731 whose body had been found by a tourist near Courcelette and identified by his dog tag. Private Carlson had enlisted in the 8th Battalion CEF and went missing on 8 September 1916. He is now buried in the military cemetery at Pozières.
	The re-interment of the Unknown Soldier directly in front of the National War Memorial was an event of great solemnity and emotion. Veterans had been invited to pay their respects before the dedication. The huge numbers of Canadians who attended the ceremony, especially when compared to the few who attended the dedication in Ottawa of the Peacekeeping Memorial on 8 October 1992, indicated the deep and widespread respect of Canadians for their armed forces and the sacrifices these men and women had made. The dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier has undoubtedly resulted in increased public support for the Canadian Armed Forces, in the opinion of our speaker.
	BGen Waldrum digressed in response to a question to state that real soldiers have not changed over the years in their devotion to duty, their country, and to the welfare of their fellow soldiers. This is particularly true of the NCOs and other ranks. What has changed is the requirement that promotion to senior officer rank of major general and above has meant that the soldier becomes aware of the necessity of being politically astute. To get to any senior officer rank has the potential of compromising the officer’s leadership role for “political” considerations. The present Chief of the Defence Staff, General Rick Hillier, is attempting to change this tendency. Butch told some anecdotes from his own experience in Rwanda that show even soldiers from Third World countries have a similar ethos to soldiers from the industrialized countries.
	Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and their impact on mobility on the battlefield.
	BGen Waldrum drew parallels between trench warfare of the First World War and the effect of IEDs on the modern battlefield. By 1914 the industrialization of warfare by the introduction of machine guns, quick-firing field guns, and barbed wire had caused the war of movement of August 1914 to freeze into the stalemate of trench warfare. It took three years of slaughter for tactics to be evolved to restore mobility, although still at a heavy cost in soldiers’ lives. The IEDs planted by non-traditional forces not operating by international codes of war have reduced mobility on the contemporary battlefield.  Today’s “terrorists”, “resistance fighters”, “guerrillas”’ “militants” use tactics that require regular forces to use non-conventional methods to protect themselves. People whose actions follow a pattern that gives a reasonable apprehension that they are suicide bombers must be killed to protect the troops. Mistakes are made but this “collateral damage” has to be accepted by the military.
	Progress has been made in countering some methods of detonating IEDs.  Those set off by electronic means using cell phones can be prevented by electronic jamming. This also results in taking out all cell phone use in the area. Bombers use cell phone frequency because they think the other side will not sacrifice the cell phone network and the network is widely available. Wire detonated IEDs are somewhat easier to deal with using a tactic known as “speculative fire”.  If someone appears to be a potential bomber, troops fire near him. If he returns fire, troops shoot to kill before he can detonate the device. Mistakes are made, but the leader has to accept the collateral damage in the interest of protecting his soldiers.
	It was now 12:20 and by this time we had run out of time but not questions or interest. Chairman Glenn Kerr thanked BGen Waldrum for his very interesting and insightful remarks and hoped he could return to Newcastle to increase our understanding of the modern Canadian military. After further discussion, the meeting broke for lunch at 1:15.   Afternoon Branch Business Meeting
	The group re-assembled in smaller numbers at 2:00.
	New Website
	The creation of a new website is still on-going. Attempts are being made to find the most cost-effective way of doing this.
	The Maple Leaf
	Glenn announced that the current issue was available for distribution. As announced at last meeting, he planned to have each of the four issues available at each meeting primarily to reduce high postage costs. This issue is the result of collaboration between Glenn and Bruce Cane. Bruce will be taking on the editing of future issues. This is the first issue to be printed by a professional printer instead of laboriously on Glenn’s computer printer.  Some glitches occurred but this is still a high quality mini-magazine consisting largely of articles written by our own members.
	Financial Report
	Treasurer Diane Johnson reported that signing authority and control of the Branch’s account was now transferred to her. As of 25 March there was $18.00 in petty cash and $598.00 in the account. A brief discussion took place as to whether the annual dues should be increased to relieve the pressure on the Chairman to economize on the mailing costs etc. Glenn thought the low fee and high standard of the Maple Leaf was an important inducement to get people to join even if they could not always get to meetings.
	Future Meetings
	Glenn reported that he had explored the possibility of having a meeting at the National War Museum as part of a visit to the museum and other places of interest to military historians in Ottawa. He was not encouraged because the National War Museum charged $1000.00 for a meeting room and did not show any inclination to give special consideration to our group.
	Membership
	As of 1 April there are 59 members of COBWFA
	Members’ Reports
	Peter Warren said that he had talked to someone at the Canadian Military Heritage Museum in Brantford who would be happy to welcome our group to a visit of the museum. Peter also showed a Ghurka knife and a cavalry sword from the First World War. Kevin Shackleton announced that his Official History of the Essex-Kent Scottish regiment was now at the printers. Diane Johnson spoke of her continuing research into her family’s military history. Steve Nichol displayed a German pickelhaube from his collection and described its features. Gord MacKinnon gave the members some insight into the continuous service the branch members, particularly Gord, Glenn, and Mark Giroux, provide to people who find our website and ask for help in locating information about their ancestors  who served in the CEF. John Haslam outlined at length his hope to organize a pilgrimage and historical tour to France and Flanders in the future.

10 Jun 06

The June 2006 meeting of the Central Ontario Branch met in the Newcastle Town Hall on a beautiful spring morning with 18 members in attendance. After the opening ceremony and brief remarks by the Chairman, Michel Gravel, author of Tough As Nails, (CEF Books), gave a Power Point presentation of how Lt. George Burdon McKean, VC, 14th Battalion, won an MC for his bravery at Cagnicourt on 2 September 1918. The CEF had broken through the Drocourt-Quéant Line and McKean, although wounded twice, followed the barrage closely and was in the village before the German defenders had time to man their defences. Michel followed McKean’s advance through the village almost step by step. He used postcards showing Cagnicourt in the immediate post-war period and pictures he took himself to show that the rebuilt village of today has the same roads and many of the same buildings. The fall of Cagnicourt caused the German high command to evacuate the Vis-en-Artois Salient and withdraw behind the Sensée River and the Canal du Nord. Michel has spent a lot of time in the village and has come to know many of the villagers. He learned the remarkable fact from them that the Germans imported plants from their colonies in German East Africa to use as camouflage for their gun emplacements. These plants grow three metres high and still flourish in the neighbourhood of the village. The villagers have named the area in front of the church in honour of Lt. George Burdon McKean, VC, MC, MM. Lt. McKean survived the war but was killed in an industrial accident when a saw blade shattered in a sawmill he owned and wounded him fatally in 1926.

Another of our members, Terry Daisley, whose special interest is Canadians who served in the RFC, told the story of the almost incredible bravery shown by Lt. Alan Arnett McLeod that resulted in his winning the VC in the last year of the war. The pilot of a slow FK8 bomber/reconnaissance plane, he was attacked by eight German triplanes near Albert at Bray-sur-Somme. He and his observer shot down three of the much faster and more agile German planes. A bullet punctured the gas tank and the spilled gas set the plane alight. McLeod climbed out on the wing to escape the flames and was able to control the plane by leaning into the cockpit. He managed to crash land the burning wreck and to rescue his wounded observer, Lt. Hammond. McLeod himself had been wounded and burned but the plane had landed in No Man’s Land and the two men couldn’t be rescued until after dark. Miraculously, both men survived. McLeod was able to attend his VC investiture at Buckingham Palace on 4 September 1918. He was repatriated back to Winnipeg but sadly this brave young man caught the Spanish Flu and died 6 November 1918.

NEW WEBSITE

	After lunch, our new Webmaster Floyd Low, told us something about the new site www.cobwfa.ca  which is now online. Additions are still being made which will make this site of increasing value to our members and to visitors.
	FINANCIALS Some membership fees were received during the day and some bills for the website were presented for payment. The branch financial situation is strong. A more detailed update will be presented later.
	NEXT MEETING The next meeting will be held on 30 September. www.cobwfa.ca will have the agenda when it is finalized.

30 Sep 06