Monday, July 25, 2016

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


Saturday, July 23, 2016

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.

jmcarter

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

Friday, July 22, 2016

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.

 

boyle

 

He was awarded postumusly:

1939-1945 Star

Italy Star

Defence Medal

War Medal

CVSM & clasp

 

st.gabriels

The family were members of St. Gabriel’s Church

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Saint Ann’s Church


MP-1978.186.1.4774-P1













Organized about 1848 as a Mission – The church opened in 1854.
This church was the soul and inspiration of the Irish Community. 


100      100(2)

Although, it has been closed and demolished for years, Saint Ann is still referred to in numerous writings about the Irish of South Central Montréal – In 1884, a portion of the congregation of the Parish of Saint Ann were asked to join the ranks of Saint Gabriel. It appears that a fair number of Irish families agreed to the move  In 1982, the parish of St Ann would close its doors.


1970
The demolition of St. Ann's



©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

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.

Ste. Anne's 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.


.J.P. Andreoli


©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Victoriatown


One of the last traces of old Victoriatown is a stone monument dedicated to the men and women who served in World War II. It sits behind a fence, neglected. It reads:

Victoriatown_Historical_Marker
 In grateful tribute to the men and women of this community who served in WWII 1939 – 1945 and dedicated to the glory of those who died in this great cause.

Killed In Action: 

Sgt. J. P. Andreoli

Pte. H. J. Boyle

Pte. J. M. Carter

Sgt. J. Chapatis

Gnc. W. E. Gearey

Pvt. C. E. Laurent

Cpl. G. E. Latour 

Pte. J. L. Learmouth

Cpl. W. R. Mathers

Sgt. R. M. Pitts

Pte. J. Somma

Sgt. C. F. Stankus

Sgt. W. H. Webb

Sgt. E. Wright

Died On Active Service:

Spr. E. L. Hill, Pte. C. Ranalli

“We shall remember them”

erected by The citizens of Victoriatown

Victoriatown was once known as Windmill Point and later became Goose Village.

©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson

Monday, July 18, 2016

Windmill Point


Windmill Point was a quarantine area where between 3,500 and 6,000 Irish immigrants died of typhus or "ship fever" in 1847 and 1848. The immigrants had been transferred from quarantine in Grosse Isle, Quebec.

Due to a lack of suitable preparations, typhus soon reached epidemic proportions in Montreal. Three fever sheds were initially constructed, 150 feet (46 m) long by 40 to 50 feet (15 m) wide. As thousands more sick immigrants landed, more sheds had to be erected.

The number of sheds would grow to 22, with troops cordoning off the area so the sick couldn't escape. Grey Nuns cared for the sick, carrying women and children in their arms from ships to the ambulances.

According to Montreal journalist and historian Edgar Andrew Collard, thirty of 40 nuns who went to help became ill, with seven dying. Other nuns took over, but once the surviving Grey Nuns had convalesced, they returned. Priests also helped, many falling ill after hearing the last confessions of the dying.

When a mob threatened to throw the fever sheds into the river, Montreal mayor John Easton Mills quelled the riot and provided care, giving patients water and changing bedding. He died in November, having served less than a year in office. 


The Roman Catholic Bishop of Montreal urged French Quebecers to help their fellow Catholics. Many travelled to Montreal from the countryside to adopt children, in some cases passing their land on to them.

During the mid-19th century, workers constructing the Victoria Bridge across the St. Lawrence River discovered a mass grave in Windmill Pointwhere victims of typhus epidemic of 1847 had been quarantined in fever sheds. The workers, many of whom were of Irish descent, were unsettled by the discovery and wanted to create a memorial to ensure the grave, which held the coffins of 6,000 Irish immigrants, would not be forgotten.

Erected on December 1, 1859, the stone was the first Canadian monument to represent the famine. The inscription on the stone reads:
"To Preserve from Desecration the Remains of 6000 Immigrants Who died of Ship Fever A.D. 1847-48
This Stone is erected by the Workmen of Messrs. Peto, Brassey and Betts Employed in the Construction of the Victoria Bridge A.D. 1859"
 
450px-Victoriatown_Big_Black_Rock


©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson