# The RCR, The First World War Book of Remembrance - and thanks to Zoomie



## Michael OLeary (27 Apr 2010)

As I have been continuing my research on The Royal Canadian Regiment in the First World War, I have been compiling a nominal roll of the Regiment for the Great War.  At this time, I am working with a nominal roll of over 4800 entries, though some soldiers have double entries to cover name changes (e.g., _"has declared his true name to be ..."_).

When the first volume of the regimental history (Fetherstonaugh) was published in 1936, it included a regimental Roll of Honour for the First World War.  This roll listed *774* Royal Canadians who were killed in action, died of wounds, sickness or disease, or otherwise paid the ultimate sacrifice and were recognized as the Regiment's war dead.

During my time as Regimental Adjutant, as I researched individual soldiers of the Regiment, I realized that the list in the regimental history was not complete.  Using newly available online sources such as the Canadian Virtual War Memorial, the Canadian Books of Remembrance, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Debt of Honour Register and other sources, I reviewed and added names to the Regiment's Roll of Honour for the First World War.

The result of this research, which has been the roll used on the regimental website since I created the Roll of Honour pages, and has been placed in the Quiet Room in the regimental museum, included *818* names.

Following a review of the CEF Part II Daily Orders for the Regiment, I compared my nominal roll of Royal Canadians who served in the Regiment (1914-19) to the premiere reference on Canada's fallen for the Great War: _The CEF Roll of Honour_ (Compiled and edited by Edward H. Wigney, pub. 1996). This volume lists over 67,000 Canadians who died in the Great War. 

From this review of Wigney's work, I now have a CEF Roll of Honour for the Regiment that stands at *827* names.  This roll can be seen here on my own website.  

From this latest research, I have submitted nine names to the Canadian Virtual War memorial for review to determine if they are missing from the national Roll of Honour, or incorrectly commemorated by unit.  One of these is: 

*261612 Private Gavin Alston Carmichael*



> CARMICHAEL is not listed in either the CVWM or the CWGC database. He is identified in Wigney's Roll of Honour. He served overseas with The Royal Canadian Regiment from Oct 1916 to Aug 1918 and was again on the strength of The RCR from Sep 1918 until he was evacuated (sick) on 14 Jan 1919.



Additionally, thanks to Zoomie's diligence in visiting the Portage la Prairie (Hillside) Cemetery and tracking down Carmichael's grave, I was also able to provide these photos to the CVWM.







  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Today, I received confirmation from the CVWM that Private Carmichael will be added to the Books of Remembrance.



> Good morning Michael!
> 
> *Private Carmichael's death was ruled attributable to his service.  He died of TB.*
> 
> ...


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## mariomike (27 Apr 2010)

That's impressive.
It looks like the bottom of his headstone reads, "The wages of sin is death, but the gift from God is eternal life".

Gone, but not forgotten.  

He will not be included in the CWGC database as, "The applicable periods of consideration are 4 August 1914 to 31 August 1921 for the First World War."


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## Michael OLeary (8 May 2010)

And one more can now be added to the regimental Roll of Honour of The RCR:

While visiting the Hamilton Cemetery to take photos of the grave of a regimental soldier, I happened to discover the grave of *2381580 Pte John J. Omand*.  In my ongoing research into RCR casualties of the First World War, I had not previously identified Pte Omand in any of my collected data.




The date of death on Omand's gravestone, plus the inscription "RCR, CEF" provided sufficient reason to dig deeper (no pun intended).  I reached out to my contact with the Canadian Virtual War Memorial for assistance:



> I was in the Hamilton Cemetery (Hamilton, ON) yesterday pursuing photos of graves of soldiers of The RCR.  I came across a gravestone commemorating a man who I cannot place in my various records.  I have attached a photo of the headstone, which is in the soldiers' section of the cemetery, and my related notes follow.
> 
> John Omand - Date of death 4 Aug 1920, age 20, buried Hamilton Cemetery, Hamilton, ON.  Omand has a gravestone in the CWGC style, the inscription reading "RCR, CEF."
> 
> ...



Today, I received confirmation from the CVWM staff:



> Good morning Michael:
> 
> *I received a photocopy of the 'death card' for Pte Omand.  Reg# 12324, that and with the copy of the attestation paper you located (strange that Archives didn't find it), I've enough to satisfy entitlement to commemoration in the Book of Remembrance.*
> 
> ...



And another Royal Canadian can be added to the Regiment's Roll of Honour for the First World War.

_Pro Patria_


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## PMedMoe (8 May 2010)

Excellent work, Mr. O'Leary.


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## mariomike (10 May 2010)

Let me echo what Moe said, Mr. O'Leary. 
That was a wonderful post.


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## vonGarvin (10 May 2010)

Amazing work!  

Pro Patria!


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