The Irish Churches of Quebec - M is for Saint Michael the Archangel

The Church of St. Michael and St. Anthony is a Roman Catholic church located in Mile End, Montreal. It was originally built as the Church of St. Michael and frequented by Irish Catholics. Because of the growth of the Polish community in the area, in 1964 a Polish mission was inaugurated in the church and the church's name was expanded to "St. Michael and St. Anthony".

The church exemplifies cultural hybridity, being a Byzantine-styled church, built for Irish Catholics, in a multicultural neighbourhood, and being home today to mostly Poles and Italians. The church has also been noted for its Byzantine Revival architecture, complete with a dome and minaret-styled tower, making it "one of the more unique examples of church architecture in Montréal.

Construction on the Church of St. Michael the Archangel  began in 1914, for what would grow to become the largest anglophone parish in Montreal. After a brief delay following the commencement of World War I, the church was completed in 1915 at a cost of $232,000, with a capacity of 1,400 people.

Though Mile End was originally a predominately Irish neighbourhood, the Polish community grew such that the two communities "merged into one", and to reflect this change, St. Anthony was appended to the parish name, reflecting the "Conventual Franciscans' devotion to St. Anthony of Padua."

Today, the church is recognised as the focal point for the Polish Catholics of Montreal.

The church was built in the Neo-Byzantine style of architecture, accompanied by a large turquoise dome and minaret-style tower. It was designed by architect Aristide Beaugrand-Champagne [fr] (1876–1950), who was inspired by the Hagia Sophia (originally an Orthodox basilica) in Istanbul (formerly Constantinople). The church also features elements of Gothic and Roman architecture, as well as lombard bands and window tracery reminiscent of Middle Ages castles.

The church's dome features one of the first uses of reinforced concrete in Quebec.

The interior roof of the dome features a neo-Renaissance-style fresco of St. Michael watching the fall of the angels, painted by Italian Guido Nincheri, who painted other churches in Montreal.

Bertha Burns  1892 - 1955

My maternal grandmother, Bertha Burns Bernard had her funeral service at Saint Michael the Archangel in September of 1955 and then interred at Cote de Neige Cemetery.

Bertha was born in 1892 in Quebec City to George Burns and Elizabeth Williamson, the youngest of four children, the others being Albert, William, and Ethel. She and her mother, Elizabeth moved to Mile End in Montreal around 1920 after the death of her father George.

Bertha married Ovila Bernard in 1925 and they had four children, Norman, Pauline, George, and Lorne. 

Bertha only had two grandchildren as Norman and George died young and never married. She never knew her only grandson as he was born 9 years after her death.

She was able to enjoy her only grand-daughter for four years, it would have to be enough as fate took the child to the United States and Bertha would die under mysterious circumstances three years later.

A Teacher's Story by Joe Lonergan

A Teacher’s Ghost Story by Joe Lonergan

Thirty some years ago when I was teaching at St. Patrick’s High School I used to remark that the kids were gentler with each other than when I was in school. Now I feel we were all much the same over time and that not a lot has changed. One day at the end of September, I heard a commotion and stopped a group of Secondary I kids who had been chasing another one... or so I thought. I had not had a good look at whom they were chasing as I had come up on the situation quickly and just as suddenly it was over. Their quarry was long gone. It had seemed like an apprehended bullying which made me a little angry but I chose not to show this in front of the little ones. I hoped it was just a game of tag out of place. I was teaching mostly Secondary IIIs at the time. The following week when I was having lunch in my department room another teacher told me she had had a similar experience. “Where Anne?” I asked. “Down near the cafeteria” she said.

“Did you see who they were chasing?” 
 “Only a fleeting glimpse, not really,” she answered, “I was more concerned with the bunch after him; I called them up short.”

I asked the Secondary I teachers if any particular child seemed likely to be the victim but drew a blank. One teacher however was aware that six or seven kids hung around together in the cafeteria area.

“How are they?” I asked.
“Oh alright,” she said, “a little wild, you know Sec I boys, no worse than that.”
The next day heading back from the cafeteria to the teacher’s lounge I heard a commotion at the end of the hall from which I had been walking away. I turned and went down but all had returned to the normal bustle. I asked a student what had been up. 
“Dunno Sir, just Sec I kids havin’ fun!”

 “If I were to speak to a Sec I which one would you suggest Carol?” I asked a Sec I teacher. She suggested I talk to Joe Dolan as he was “a nice intelligent kid.” I asked the Director of Discipline if I could go ahead and he said sure; he had his hands full with the other four levels.

 Carol’s classroom was across the hall from mine and we could each see the front of each other’s room. Carol taught Joe during one of my few off periods. I asked her if she could send him in to see me. She agreed to send him the next day after he turned in his Math test; he always finished well before the others.
“Excuse me Sir, Miss said to come and see you.”
 “Yeah! Hi Joe. Is Mike Dolan you dad?”
 “Yes Sir,” he said smiling with the same lightly freckled face as his dad.
“I was in class with him when we were small Joe, tell him Joe Lonergan said Hello!”
 “OK, I will Sir.”
 “Joe, can you tell me who the Sec I kids have been chasing down around the cafeteria area?”

The smile on Joe’s face turned to one of looking perplexed. He shrugged and said, “Oh, wow, you know about that? I don’t know who the kid is. We all thought he was in another Sec I group but it turns out he’s not in any of them. He’s weird, we never get a real good look at him.”
 “Weird?” I asked.
“He dresses weird, old looking clothes, no body dresses like that... and he’s scrawny, he seems to be anyway, I never got close to him. He really runs fast.”
 “You chase him?” I asked.
 Joe was uncomfortable. “Yes Sir, but like, it started out we were just curious and went to see him, he looked so weird... but he took off like a scared rabbit.”
 “You still chase him?”
 “Well, yeah, we sort of want to see him up close Sir. He does not come often but if we spot him... well, like we’re curious.”
 “Do you think he’s a Sec II?” I asked
“I don’t think so, they’re in the old building like us and we never see him there, so nope, I don’t think so. And he’s too small to be Sec III, IV or V.”
 “OK, fine Joe.. Listen Joe if you see that kid just leave him be will you. He is obviously scared.”
 “OK Sir! ...Sir, talk to Jimmy McGrandle, he says he almost caught him.”
I started laughing, “Jimmy McGrandle? I was in school here with Jimmy McGrandle when I was a kid. What a village! It must be Jimmy’s boy. Jimmy was fast too,” I said, 
 Ok, thanks again Joe, I will. You had better get back to class.”

The following week I got to speak to Jimmy. He told me his dad was in fact James McGrandle and that he had been transferred this summer to Quebec City... and yeah, his dad went to school here when he was small. I asked him about the chasings and his involvement.
“Yeah,” he said, “I thought I’d catch him ‘cause he headed for the sports supply room across from the stairwell but when I went in he wasn’t there.”
 “Where do you think he went?” I asked.
“Well there’s a door and a short stairwell that goes down from there but it was locked. I don’t know what’s down there.”
 “OK thanks Jimmy, tell your Dad I’m teaching here!”
 “OK Sir. Hey Sir, it smelled real earthy there.”
 “Earthy?” I asked “What do you mean earthy?”
 “I mean it smelled like earth, like mud when I went in there. I’m just sayin’.”
Not knowing what to make of that I again said goodbye and sent him on his way.
 I didn’t teach last period so after prepping for the next day I went and asked the Principal Mr. McKenna if I could borrow his master key. He said fine but to please get it back to him before I left that day. I headed for the place Jimmy was describing. I knew vaguely the school repairmen kept some hardware on site and had a bit of a workshop down there. I went down into the workshop and noticed a door on its south wall. Opening the door I was hit by what was indeed an earthy smell. I found a light switch within and turned it on. What lights came on were of transparent glass but the wattage was poor. There was a staircase of only four or five stairs to a lower level with an earthen floor. I explored. There was a long passage that ran south under equipment rooms off the high school gymnasium above. The passage way was about 12 feet wide with the school’s foundation to the left. To the right the earth rose up to leave a crawl space under the gym floor of about three feet. I went to the southern end of the passage that revealed great pipes and valves. Along the way there was a trap to one of the supply rooms above and a couple of boarded up windows in the foundation wall. 

I headed back from where I came, up the little flight of stairs to the workroom and back up to the first floor. I brought Mr. McKenna back the key and headed home. That night after supper and helping to get the kids to bed I decided to drop in on my mother who only lived a block away. When I got there I was soon telling her about my visit to the school’s lower regions. “Oh Joe, don’t be going down there,” she said, “It’s the old cholera cemetery down there. It’s not safe”. 
I just laughed and said, “Aw mom!”
She was right about the school having been built over the old cholera cemetery. It was part of the old graveyard that had served as the first St. Patrick’s Cemetery. My mother would have been only six when they dug the excavation for the old school. But she was 45 by the time they dug for the new school. She had heard about all the bones uncovered in 1955. The same had happened when they excavated to join the new and the old school with a wing in 1968.

I decided to go back a week later after hearing another teacher complaining about “a chase”. I went down, switching on the light and again noticed the earthy smell. I sat on an old wooden classroom chair that had ended up there and took the place in. I was thinking about the cholera epidemics that had struck Quebec as far back as 1832. They recurred five times including in 1854. Now talk about whistling in a graveyard, I had been half whistling Johnny’s Gone For a Soldier. All at once I thought I saw some slight movement in the dark area that shrank to a crawl space and the hair literally rose on my neck. The smell of earth was over-whelming and, believe it or not, I somehow saw a scrawny child in the gloom.
“Who are you?” I asked. 
 A little boy’s voice answered in a half-whisper, “Níl Béarla agam.” I knew this was Irish though I have very little Irish. It means I have no English. I was gasping.
 He repeated nil Béarla agam and added, “Siúil a Rún” or Shule Aroon, the old air behind Johnny’s Gone for a Soldier. My mind was spinning. My whistling the melody had brought him to me. He was only a wispy wraith in the gloom but the odor of earth was choking strong. I was amazed to find my teacher instinct greater than my fear. “Cad é do thrioblóid mo mhac?” I asked him. What is your trouble my son?
“Ba mhaith liom mo mháthair agus mo athair,” he answered. I want my mother and my father.
 I thought and then promised him, “Amárach.” Tomorrow.
 I knew he had to be a cholera victim. I imagined his parents had survived the epidemic. Their remains probably had been transferred to the mass grave in the new St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Sillery. I left quickly and yelled back from the top of the stairs, “Amárach, mo mhac, as grá duit,” Tomorrow my son, for love of you. 

My mother phoned that night and asked me if I was OK. She told me she had dreamt that I was a little boy again and it had frightened her.

The next day I went down with a shovel and plastic gloves to where the wraith had stood and in a little time I had uncovered the skeleton of a child and a few other bones for good measure. I put them in a plastic bag, took them out to St. Patrick’s Cemetery and buried them in the mass grave area. I made the sign of the cross and spoke it aloud in Irish.

“In ainm an Athar agus an Mhic agus an spioraid Naoimh. Amen.”

I have never told anyone this story before. Days after I re-buried the remains, I awoke one night from a dream. I can’t remember the dream other than hearing the air to Shule Aroon and a child saying, “ Go raibh maith agat. Tá síocháin agam anois. Mo ghrá thú.” Thank you. I have peace now. I love you.

Happy Halloween! Irish Heritage Quebec

Written by Joe Lonergan - administrator of Facebook site Irish Heritage Quebec
-reprinted here with permission

I posted a ghost story on my own Facebook page for Halloween. You may or may not want to read it. While is only a story, it carries a lot of factual of our local Irish heritage.

There was a great fear of contagion during the cholera epidemics that struck Quebec City in 1832, 1834,1849, 1851, 1852 and 1854. These carried off 8373 victims of all classes, creeds and ethnicity. A great many were Irish and those who were Catholic were mostly buried in St. Louis Cemetery illustrated here. It became St. Patrick’s Cemetery in 1856. In 1879 St. Patrick’s Cemetery between Grande Allée and what is now the north side of Maisonneuve was closed. There was an exhumation order to move human remains to 
the new cemetery in Sillery. My experience at St. Patrick’s School forces me to believe that at least in the case of the cholera section the order was not applied. In 1918 when the school and later extensions were built there were repeated disturbances of remains and some re-interment in the new cemetery. Inevitably some separation of family remains would have occurred when remains were transferred to the new St. Patrick’s Cemetery.

For the interested, one Irish superstition was that a spirit could not cross water. The old St. Denis stream and Belle Bourne Creek on the way and just before the new cemetery would have constituted obstacles. 

They are now only dry or damp ravines. If I could talk to Mary Lonergan, my great grandfather's aunt who died of cholera in July of 1854, I would say, “Ah there now Mary, sure isn’t there a bit of a bridge?” Her remains may actually still be in the schoolyard. Note the chol. for cholera in the margin of her interment entry. Note as well the John Fitzpatrick and Francois Nadeau who were present for the burial. I am not certain but looking at the 1852 and 1861 Census makes me assume that Fitzpatrick is the graveyard attendant and gravedigger while Nadeau made rough coffins. They are present at all the burials at St. Louis Cemetery in 1854.

May they all rest in peace wherever they are.

The mysteries of Michigan's Cemetery Island

 

ISLE ROYALE, MI - More than a few kayakers who've skirted the shoreline of Isle Royale have had this experience: You're paddling through a light mist around one of Michigan's most remote places only to see the nearby Cemetery Island rise out of the water, just off the mainland.

Contained inside this small island are at least nine marked or partially-marked graves that hark back to the 1850s - an era when the nation's copper rush stretched past the northern reaches of the Upper Peninsula.

Many of the graves likely are associated with the area's copper mines. At least one was dug for an infant. And there is island lore that perhaps ties others to the 1885 loss of the steamer Algoma, the deadliest shipwreck in Lake Superior's maritime history.

"It's special because it definitely captures the interest of island visitors. You can see the mystique," said Seth DePasqual, an archeologist and cultural resources manager for the National Park Service, who has looked at some of Cemetery Island's archived material….more

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan – Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved

They Were So Young: Montrealers Remembering WWII

These gripping stories of young men and women who served in the army, navy, and air force during World War II are a testament to the raw courage, youthful bravado, camaraderie, and sacrifice needed to defeat a powerful enemy. Many who returned from the theatre of war were never the same again. Moving accounts by family members relate the impact the war had on their lives - the pain of losing a son, father, brother, or husband, and the welcoming of war brides into the family.

This is history that must never be forgotten.


©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved

Sgt. Eric Frederick Wright

 

Eric was born 22/Dec/1920 to Ernest and Elsie Wright, one of 8 children. Siblings were Howard, John, Joseph, Audrey, Joyce, Dorothy and Mrs. Small. He was a member of the Church of England. Eric worked at Steinbergs Grocery Store.

He enlisted with the Three Rivers Regiment 12th Army Tank on 12/Aug/1940, trained at Camp Borden, ON and was sent to Europe.

Sgt. Wright was Killed In Action on 23/May/1944 in Italy, and is interred at Cassino Military Cemetery.

 

Sgt. Wright was awarded:

1939-1945 Star

Italy Star

Defence Medal

War Medal 1939-1945

CVSM & clasp

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson
All Rights Reserved

Lance Seargeant William Henry Webb

 

L. Sgt. Webb was born 15/Sept/1920 in Montreal to William Henry and Mary Jane Webb, one of 5 children that included John, Robert, Mary, Emily, and Marjorie.

He married Martha and they had two children, Bernard and Beverly. He attended St. George’s church.

He enlisted 8/4/1942 in The Galgary Highlanders, 79th Field Artillery and was KIA (killed in action) 26/Apr/1945 in Germany.

 

L. Sgt. Webb is interred at Holten Canadian Military Cemetery, Netherlands.

The Netherlands fell to the Germans in May 1940 and was not re-entered by Allied forces until September 1944.

The great majority of those buried in Holten Canadian War Cemetery died during the last stages of the war in Holland, during the advance of the Canadian 2nd Corps into northern Germany, and across the Ems in April and the first days of May 1945. After the end of hostilities their remains were brought together into this cemetery.

 

Holten Canadian War Cemetery contains 1,393 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War.

L. Sgt. Webb was awarded:

1939-1945 Medal

France-Germany star

Defence Medal

War Medal

CVSM w/clasp

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson
All Rights Reserved

 

 

Sgt. Charles. F. Stankus

Charles was born 12/16/1916 in Victoriatown to Kasimiri and Anastasia Stankus, he had one brother, Alphonse. He worked at the Montreal Drydocks doing various jobs, one being a ships riveter.

He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Artillery as a bombadier (gunner) and was sent to the Mediterranan Theatre.



Sgt. Stankus was listed as Missing At Sea on 5/Jul/1943, he left behind a wife, Sophia and son, Charles Joseph.

He was awarded:

1939-1945 Star
Italy Star
Defence Medal
War Medal
CVSM & clasp

Sgt. Stankus is interred at Cassino War Cemetery in the Commune of Cassino, Province of Frosinone, 139 kilometres south-east of Rome. Panel 14.

The site for Cassino War Cemetery was originally selected in January 1944, but the development of the battle during the first five months of that year made it impossible to use it until after the Germans had withdrawn from Cassino.

During these early months of 1944, Cassino saw some of the fiercest fighting of the Italian campaign, the town itself and the dominating Monastery Hill proving the most stubborn obstacles encountered in the advance towards Rome.

The majority of those buried in the war cemetery died in the battles during these months.


There are now 4,266 Commonwealth servicemen of the Second World War buried or commemorated at Cassino War Cemetery. 284 of the burials are unidentified.

Within the cemetery stands the CASSINO MEMORIAL which commemorates over 4,000 Commonwealth servicemen who took part in the Italian campaign and whose graves are not known. The Memorial was designed by Louis de Soissons and unveiled by Field Marshal The Rt. Hon. The Earl Alexander of Tunis on 30 September 1956.

©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson
All Rights Reserved

Sgt. Robert Michael Pitts

 

Robert was born 7/May/1923 to Robert Pitts and Margaret French, the eldest of 5 children in Pte. St. Charles. He attended St. Ann’s Boy’s School and was active in many sports including swimming, skating, bowling, and baseball. He worked in the assessor’s office for the City of Montreal. He also took 3 years of technical school.

Robert enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force as a wireless operator and served in England.

 

Sgt. Pitts aircraft disappeared somewhere over England while on a night training mission. None of the crew nor the plane were ever found.

 

Sgt. Robert Michael Pitts
Missing On Active Service

Sgt. Pitts is memorialized at Runnymede Memorial – Panel 256

This Memorial overlooks the River Thames on Cooper's Hill at Englefield Green between Windsor and Egham on the A308, 4 miles from Windsor.

The Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede commemorates by name over 20,000 airmen who were lost in the Second World War during operations from bases in the United Kingdom and North and Western Europe, and who have no known graves.

They served in Bomber, Fighter, Coastal, Transport, Flying Training and Maintenance Commands, and came from all parts of the Commonwealth.

Some were from countries in continental Europe which had been overrun but whose airmen continued to fight in the ranks of the Royal Air Force.

The memorial was designed by Sir Edward Maufe with sculpture by Vernon Hill. The engraved glass and painted ceilings were designed by John Hutton and the poem engraved on the gallery window was written by Paul H Scott.

The Memorial was unveiled by The Queen on 17 October 1953.

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson
All Rights Reserved

Lance Corporal W. Ralph Mathers

W.R. Mathers was born 12/Oct/1922 to Thomas and Isabella Mathers, the eldest of 4 children that included Edward, Mary, and Rita.

He was an electrician by trade and in high school played the clarinet with the Kiwanis Band for 2 years.

Mathers enlisted with the 4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards R.C.A.C. and fought in the Mediterranean Theatre. He was grievously wounded, lying in the hospital for day before succumbing to his wounds on 16/Dec/1944.

He was interred in the Coriano Ridge British Empire Cemetery now called the Coriano Ridge War Cemetery, 2 miles north of Coriano, Italy.

Coriano Ridge was the last important ridge in the way of the Allied advance in the Adriatic sector in the autumn of 1944. Its capture was the key to Rimini and eventually to the River Po. German parachute and panzer troops, aided by bad weather, resisted all attacks on their positions between 4 and 12 September 1944.

On the night of 12 September the Eighth Army reopened its attack on the Ridge, with the 1st British and 5th Canadian Armoured Divisions. This attack was successful in taking the Ridge, but marked the beginning of a week of the heaviest fighting experienced since Cassino in May, with daily losses for the Eighth Army of some 150 killed.






The site for the cemetery was selected in April 1945 and was created from graves brought in from the surrounding battlefields.
Coriano Ridge War Cemetery contains 1,939 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War.

L. Cpl. W, Ralph Mathers was awarded the:

1939-1945 Star

Italy star

Defence Medal

War Medal 1939-1945

CVSM with clasp

There is no headstone photo available at this time.

©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson
All Rights Reserved

Pte. John Laird Learmonth

John was born in Montreal to Walter and Jane Learmonth on 8/July/1921. He was a fresh water/great lakes sailor, worked for the Canada Steamship Lines and was a member of the Canada’s Seamans Union.

He enlisted at Camp Niagra with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada R.C.I.C.

John’s was first stationed in Kingston, Jamaica as a guard then later went to France as a wireless operator.

Pte. Learmonth was Killed In Action on 9/Aug/1944 in France and is interred at Bretteville-Sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery in Calvados, France.



Historical note:

The Allied offensive in north-western Europe began with the Normandy landings of 6 June 1944.


For the most part, those buried at Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery died during the later stages of the battle of Normandy, the capture of Caen and the thrust southwards - led initially by the 4th Canadian and 1st Polish Armoured Divisions - to close the Falaise Gap.

Almost every unit of Canadian 2nd Corps is represented in the cemetery.

The cemetery contains 2,958 Second World War burials, the majority Canadian, and 87 of them unidentified.
Pte. Learmonth was awarded:

Good Conduct Badge
CVSM with clasp
France-Germany Star
Defence Medal
War Medal 1939-1945

There is no headstone photograph available at this time.

He was survived by his mother Jane and two sisters, his father Walter preceded him in death on 26/Nov/1940.

©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson
All Rights Reserved

Gerald Edmund Leo Laurent

The 5th name on the memorial stone in Victoriatown is Gerald Edmund Leo Laurent, born 19/Jan/1926 in Pt. St. Charles to James and Luella Laurent. Gerald lived with his grandfather, Edward Laurent as both of his parents were deceased by the time Edmund was 10 years old.

Before enlistment he worked on the shipyard for 3 years as a riveter.

Edmund enlisted in the Renfrew and Lanark Scottish Regiment and was killed in action on 4/Oct/1944 and is buried at Cesena War Cemetery in the Commune of Cesena in the Province of Forli, Italy.



Historical Information:

On 3 September 1943 the Allies invaded the Italian mainland, the invasion coinciding with an armistice made with the Italians who then re-entered the war on the Allied side.


Following the fall of Rome to the Allies in June 1944, the German retreat became ordered and successive stands were made on a series of defensive lines. In the northern Appenine mountains the last of these, the Gothic Line, was breached by the Allies during the Autumn campaign and the front inched forward as far as Ravenna in the Adratic sector, but with divisions transferred to support the new offensive in France, and the Germans dug in to a number of key defensive positions, the advance stalled as winter set in.

Most of those buried in this cemetery died during the advance from Rimini to Forli and beyond in September-November 1944, an advance across one flooded river after another in atrocious autumn weather.

The cemetery site was selected in November 1944 and burials were brought in from the surrounding battlefields.

Cesena War Cemetery contains 775 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War.

Private Laurent was awarded:

1939-1945 Star

Italy Star

War Medal

CVSM & clasp

Inscription on marker: Rest in peace and all the souls of the faithful departed. – Gramma

No photo of headstone available at this time.

©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson
All Rights Reserved

William Edmund Gearey

The 5th name on the memorial at Victoriatown is William Edmund Gearey born 24/Apr/1920 in Bristol Bay, England to Edgar and Rose Gearey, arriving at the Port of Quebec in 1920 on the ship Minnedosa, the oldest of 3 children.
William was Roman Catholic and he and his family were members of Siant Gabriels church. He was a truck driver in civilian life.

He enlisted on 29/2/1940 into the 2nd Canadian Field Regiment as a gunner and served in the Mediterranean Theatre. He was killed in an automobile accident on 27/Sep/1944 and is interred in Arezzo War Cemetery in Tuscany, Italy

Historical Information

On 3 September 1943 the Allies invaded the Italian mainland, the invasion coinciding with an armistice made with the Italians who then re-entered the war on the Allied side.


Progress through southern Italy was rapid despite stiff resistance, but the advance was checked for some months at the German winter defensive position known as the Gustav Line. The line eventually fell in May 1944 and as the Germans withdrew, Rome was taken by the Allies on 3 June.

The Germans made a stand in front of Arezzo early in July 1944 and there was fierce fighting before the town was taken on 16 July by the 6th Armoured Division with the aid of the 2nd New Zealand Division.

The site for this cemetery was selected in November 1944, and graves were brought into it from the surrounding area. Both the 4th and the 8th Indian Divisions were involved in the fighting in this region, and Plots VII-IX in the cemetery contain Indian graves.

Arezzo War Cemetery contains 1,266 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War.




The entire cemetery has not yet been photographed so there is no photo of William’s headstone.

He was awarded posthumously:

1939-1945 Star
Italy Star
Defence Medal
War Medal
C.V.S.M. with clasp

His survivors included his wife Patricia, son Kevin Edmund born 21/10/1943, one brother, Ronald, one sister Lilian Rose and his parents, Wallace Edgar and Rose Gearey.


©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson

Lance Seargeant Joseph Chapatis

The 4th name on the memorial stone in Victoriatown belongs to Lance Sergeant Joseph Chapatis born 27/Oct/1919 in Montreal to John and Madelaine Chapatis, one of 7 children.

Joseph was of English/Lithuanian descent and worked at Montreal Drydock Company as a foundry worker.

He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Artillery, 27th Field Artillery as a gunner and fought in the Mediterranean Theatre.

He married Olive Clark of Edinburgh, Scotland on 27/Sep/1941, they had one son, Joseph Chapatis, Jr., who was born only months before his fathers death. Joseph left a handwritten will leaving everything to his wife and son.

Joseph died of his wounds on 27/Dec/1943 and is interred in Moro River Canadian Military Cemetery in Abruzzo, Italy.

He was awarded posthumously:

1939-1945 Star

Italy Star

Defence Medal

War Medal

CVSM & clasp

(c)2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson

Trooper John McDowell Carter

The 3rd name on the memorial stone that stands in Victoriatown is Trooper John McDowell Carter. Born to Alexinia Carter Walsh in Pt. St. Charles 20/Aug/1921, the oldest of seven children. Before enlisting in the Army he was employed by Birks Jewelry where he worked in the office. He was to marry Betty Cowans of St. John’s, NB

John enlisted at Sherbrooke, PQ into The Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment, A.C.A as a gunner. He saw action in the Western European Theater and was Killed In Action in Belgium on 25/10/1944.



He is interred at Bergen Op Zoom Canadian Military Cemetery in the Netherlands.

Most of the soldiers buried at Bergen-op-Zoom Canadian War Cemetery lost their lives in the fighting north of Antwerp during the Battle of the Scheldt, as the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, with support from the 4th Canadian Armoured Division, worked to clear the right (north) bank of the Scheldt estuary of German forces. Bergen-op-Zoom Canadian War Cemetery contains 1,118 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, 31 of which are unidentified.

He was awarded posthumously:
CVSM with clasp
1939-1945 Star
Defence Medal
War Medal

©Linda Sullivan-Simpson

Private Harold Joseph Boyle

 

The second name on the memorial at Victoriatown is Harold Joseph Boyle, born 26/September/1920 to Terrance and Francis Boyle in Pt. St. Charles.

He worked for the Canadian National Railroad as a truck (helper).

He enlisted in the Black Watch, Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment (C.A.) Private Boyle was killed in action in Italy on 8/February/1944 and interred in the Moro River Canadian Cemetery in Abruzzo, Italy.

 

 

He was awarded postumusly:

1939-1945 Star

Italy Star

Defence Medal

War Medal

CVSM & clasp

 

The family were members of St. Gabriel’s Church

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson

Lance Seargeant Joseph Piernino Andreoli

Is the first name listed on the memorial stone that sits neglected behind a fence in old Victoriatown, I was intrigued, who were these brave men?

L.Sgt. J. P. Andreoli was born in Montreal, the youngest child of Pasquale and Lucia Andreoli. He worked as a shoemaker at the Montreal Drydocks and was baptized at Ste. Anne Church.



Joseph enlisted in the Army and was placed with the Royal Canadian Artillery as a gunner. He shipped to the Mediterranean and saw battle at Ortona, Italy and Moro River, Italy.

He was killed in action at the Battle of Moro River and interred in the Moro River Canadian War Cemetery in Abruzzo, Italy. He was 22 years old.

He was awarded posthumously:

1939-1945 StarItaly Star
Defence Medal
War Medal
C.V.S.M. medal and clasp

The awards never reached his family, they were marked undeliverable, and went back into stock.





©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson

St. Columban Plaque

This plaque was made possible through a generous grant from the Irish Government, Dublin, Ireland - Department of Foreign Affairs Emigrant Support Program (2010). 

After 1821 the Irish immigrants settled on the territory of what is not called Saint-Columban. During subsequent years, despite inhospitable conditions, an Irish community thrived and grew under the auspices of Father Richard Jackson. After his departure in 1825, he was replaced by Father Patrick Phelan. Father Phelan was responsible for the Irish communities of both St. Columban and Montreal. He later rose to prominence in the Church as Curate for Bytown (the future city of Ottawa) and as Bishop of the Kingston diocese.

In 1830, a public meeting was held to decide on the best location for the construction of a chapel which would serve the growing Irish Catholic population of the area. Mgr. Jean-Jacques Lartigue named the new chapel St. Columban after the celebrated 7th Century Irish monk who was the founder of many monasteries throughout Europe.

A simple chapel was built in 1831 on a portion of land that is now part of the Church parking lot. On October 14, 1835, St. Columban acquired its autonomy from Ste-Scholastique and held its first meetings and elections as the self sustaining Parish of St. Columban.

On December 28, 1836, John Plelan donated a section of his land to the Church wardens which is now part of the cemetery.

The story of the St. Columban Irish is part of a larger heritge, that of the Irish in Quebec. Gradually the families in St. Columban left their farms and settled elsewhere, but their Celtic mark remains in the village their ancestors had built.

In the spring of 2010, three monument walls were constructed. Mounted onto these walls were the broken headstones (some dating back to the early 1800's) that were found in the area. These monument walls are dedicated to over 700 Irish immigrants and their descendants who were laid to rest in the St. Columban cemetery.

Over the years their burial markers disappeared. On July 3rd a procession was held from the church to the cemetery. It was led by Father Mike McKenna. The walls were then consecrated in an emotional and heart-lifting ceremony.

St. Bartholomew Anglican Cemetery in Bourg Louis

Church of St. Bartholomew

The Church of St. Bartholomew was built in 1840 during the ministry of the Rev. William Wait,  who was a travelling missionary at that time.  It was consecrated by Bishop Mountain in1852. At one time this historic church and cemetery stood seemingly divorced from civilization in wooded surroundings.  It has served the early settlers of this district and their descendants for the last 140 years.  Many names which appeared in the Church registers in the 1840's are still to be found on the parish list in 1985, for example, Gray,Edgley, Smith, Pyle, Livingstone and many others.

 

        The original church, which still stands, is in a very good state of repair due to the continued effort of the members of the congregation and a Ladies Guild, though the number is decreasing, but at the present time we have approximately 25 families contributing to the church. Only a small part of the congregation of slightly over five souls live in the immediate vicinity of the Church. The larger portion now resides in Chute Panet, St. Raymond, St. Basile and Cap Sante.  

     

        Of special interest within the Church are the Memorial windows above the altar and the fireplace at the back of the church beside the organ.  The window was given by St. Augustine's College, Canterbury, in memory of two priests, the Rev. C. Roberts and the Rev. F. J. Cookesley, who were sent from the College to minister to the settlers in the new land. You will see their names on the windows above the altar. The first came to Bourg Louis, and Rev. Cookesley went to Labrador, and later succeeded Mr. Roberts here.  The presence of the fireplace at the back of the church is probably unique in our Diocese. We assume that the English settlers were not aware of the severity of the Canadian winters when they hoped to heat the building in this manner. Today, it is heated with an oil furnace.

 

         If one looks very carefully, the crumbling foundation of the old rectory can be found on the opposite side of the highway. For some years, here, in the midst of a thriving farming community, a school was attached to the rectory and classes were conducted by the resident clergyman. Students from the district, as well as from the Quebec City area were in attendance, and many are still surviving who remember coming out here to the rectory for a vacation and enjoy the country.

 

        More than 45 years ago, this church and congregation ceased to have a resident clergyman due to the decreasing English population. Many years ago, regular ministrations were conducted by the clergyman of Portneuf, but at the present time this Church is being ministered by a clergyman from Valcartier.

From a Historic Sketch written by Freda Gray Roberge 1985

    Transcribed 1995, by D. Clark McIntosh

Many of my Irish ancestors are buried at St. Barts along with the families of the wives and husbands they married into such as the Smith's, Livingston's, Mooney's, Henderson's, Morrow's, etc...

Albert Pyle 1904-1992 m. Florence Garvin

Robert john Pyle 1890-1956 m. Priscilla Morrow

Henry Pyle 1858-1943 m. Mary Proctor

James Hubert Pyle 1898-1980 m. Gladys Smith

Franklin Hubert Pyle 1902-1990 m. Amy Henderson

The above Pyle names are my 2nd cousins 2X removed

See the complete list of names at The Past Whispers

M is for Mount Royal

Tobogganing on Mount Royal in the 1940's was a highlight for my uncles and mother, they would sled until exhaustion and walk home to hot chocolate and a cozy fire.


Mount Royal (French: mont Royal) is a large hill or small mountain in the city of Montreal, immediately west of downtown Montreal, Quebec (in Canada), the city to which it gave its name.

The hill is part of the Monteregian Hills situated between the Laurentians and the Appalachian Mountains. It gave its Latin name, Mons Regius, to the Monteregian chain.
The hill consists of three peaks: Colline de la Croix (or Mont Royal proper) at 233 m (764 ft), Colline d'Outremont (or Mount Murray, in the borough of Outremont) at 211 m (692 ft), and Westmount Summit at 201 m (659 ft) elevation above mean sea level.

History of Mount Royal

The Cross on Mount Royal

Mount Royal Funicular Railway - 1900

There are two cemeteries in the area: Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery (Catholic) and Mount Royal Cemetery (non-denominational but primarily Protestant, and including several small Jewish cemeteries) — both of which are now running out of space. In 2008, the refusal of the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery to cede land that it uses as a depot blocked a planned expansion of the park


Outside the park, Mount Royal's slopes are also home to such Montreal landmarks as St. Joseph's Oratory, Canada's largest church; McGill University and its teaching hospitals, including the Royal Victoria Hospital and Montreal General Hospital; McGill's Molson Stadium, home to the CFL's Montreal Alouettes; the McTavish reservoir; Université de Montréal; the École Polytechnique de Montréal; the Îlot-Trafalgar-Gleneagles historic block; and some well-off residential neighbourhoods such as Upper Westmount and Upper Outremont.

Mount Royal is 59 km (56 min.) from St. Hyacinthe and 254 km (2 hrs. 48 min.) from Quebec City.