Remembering those who kept the home fires burning

In the course of my family research, I often come across people who served in various theatres of war. There are always a few moments of anxiety until I can find out if they survived, or if they made the ultimate sacrifice. Whether on land, in the air, or at sea, it is sad to learn of lives cut short by war. 

In past years I've written about the lives and service of some of those in my family tree who fought for their country. Recently, I've developed an additional appreciation for those who didn't see active battle, but stayed home, quietly holding things together on the home front. For families in North America and Australia, life was very different from what families experienced who lived with privation, under fire, threat of invasion, actual occupation, in England, Scotland, Europe and Asia. 

Some men, like my grandfather Stan Ticknor & great-grandfather Charlie Ticknor, worked in factories that were essential to the war effort, like General Steel Wares (GSW) here in London.  

Charles Ticknor I.D Badge

I wonder if they received any negative comments or "shade", for not heading off to war?  Others, like my great-uncle Brock Billings who was a mechanic, enlisted but were assigned to posts here in Canada and England to support and train the troops from behind the lines. And then there are the families themselves, sometimes wives and children, but more often parents. They proudly did without luxuries, did metal and rubber drives, ate rations, and took on new roles to provide what support they could. But they also must've lived with constant worry and anxiety, as they read and saw the news from the fronts, holding their breath for the whole time their loved ones were away.  

Silver Cross Memorial Medal

  Most of us are familiar with the premise of  the movie Saving   Private Ryan. It’s terrible to see more than one son in a family   lost. In my research I found one case where the youngest son   enlisted and sailed to Europe just before his older brother was   killed. The middle son was already serving in a different area and he eventually died as well. Their poor mother! Unfortunately I did not make note of their names at the time, to be able to recognize them now.

Most recently my heart went out to Catherine Sutherland of Scotland who lost her eldest son Joseph to his wounds in the years following the Boer war. Her husband died in April 1918, followed by her 2 remaining sons; Alexander of the Seaforth Highlanders on the battlefields near Calais, France in June, and John of the 8th Scottish Rifles at Ypres, Belgium in October of that same year. I can't even imagine how she bore the enormity of her losses.

I recently discovered the family of Donald & Molly MacKay of Brisbane Australia. They had 3 of their 6 sons serve in WWI, and 3 grandsons who served in WWII. Son Alexander was a Gunner who died in a car accident while on leave in Thessaloniki, Greece, and son Archie died in the horrific fighting with the ANZACS at Gallipoli, Turkey. Their son Ronald came home safely, but sadly lost his son Stuart Walter MacKay just after D-Day in Noord-Hollard as a Flying Officer with the RAAF. Ron's other son Jack MacKay seems to have served in the Pacific theatre, and was well decorated, based on photos I found, but records for surviving WWII veterans are not publicly available.

Donald & Molly's other  grandson, Graham Gordon MacKay, was a bomber pilot who was presumed dead following a crash in the jungle swamps of Sumatra, Indonesia in 1942. Heartbreakingly, his mother Nellie died before his remains were finally found 26 years later, so she never got any closure, or knew the truth of what became of him.

The largest military contribution that I’ve found in my tree (thus far) comes from the Steele family. My great-great grand-parents, John & Mary Ann Steele had 10 children who all survived to adulthood, which was no mean feat for 1850-1874 Ontario! They had 6 grandsons who served in WWI. 5 grandsons joined the Canadian Expeditionary Forces, and 3 came home: Philip C Westbrook, Elmer Westbrook, and Walter Steele (my grandfather). The two who did not were brothers, Alfred Steels with the 31st Batt Alberta Reg, Canadian Infantry who died in  Apr 1916 at Ypres Belgium, and Frederick Steels with the 47th Batt, Canadian Infantry in 1918 near Cambrai, France. The 6th grandson, Gordon “Mac” Steele, enlisted in the US army at age 38 with 2 small children at home, to fight in WWII and thankfully returned. I’d love to know what motivated that decision.

In the next generation, 9 great-grandsons served in WWII, and thankfully 8 returned home again. The one fatality for this family was Floyd A. Steels, a pilot with the RCAF 524 Squadron who was sadly killed in action -shot down over Dutch coast in Oct 1944. Leonard Westbrook was wounded in Italy and survived. Burton L Steele Jr served in the US Army, received a Purple Heart for getting gut-shot in battle, and lived to tell the tale. William E Steels of Port Colborne served and returned, but I’ve had no luck finding details. My favourite part of this story comes from Lobo in Middlesex County. All 5 of Horrace & Florence Westbrook’s sons signed up to serve King & Country, and all 5 returned, which was celebrated in local newspapers.

In more recent times, it is hard to know about any military contributions within this branch, due to privacy of information. I do know of one instance, as one of my first cousin's son and daughter-in-law are both active serving members. 

So this year, while we honour our brave soldiers, present and past, I will also be thinking about the sacrifices made by those who remained at home, who kept the home fires burning. While not fighting on a battleground, they were fighting a different fight on the home front, to keep the war effort going and support their troops in any way they could.

Please join me in saluting these brave, patriotic families who watched their sons march off to war, knowing some would not return.

National War Memorial, Ottawa. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier