Oct. 4, 2002 The 2002 Algonquin Veterans' Reunion and a Snapshot from the Past

The Algonquin Regiment Veteran's Association held its 37th reunion Sept. 6-8th in North Bay. I was out of town until the evening of the 7th when I read about the reunion in the Nugget. Having researched and written about the Algonquin book The Sons of the Pioneers by John Macfie and having written a profile of my neighbour Pte. Elmer Allard, I decided to attend the final reunion ceremony at the Cenotaph on Sunday. By coincidence, while checking my e-mail I found a fascinating letter about the Algonquin Regiment from Jean de Barsy, a thirty-seven year old Belgian man. De Barsy told me that his grandmother had died recently and that he had found several photos of the Algonquin Regiment in her photo album, taken during the Algonquin passage through Brasschaat in Belgium on October 23rd, 1944 while driving the Germans out of the country. He included some photos and briefly told the story of the event.

His father remembers that there were about twenty Algonquins who rested briefly at their farmhouse. Jean's grandmother made scrambled eggs for the men, while his father played with their helmets and belts in the garden and brought the men some food. Jean's final comment in the e-mail was, "I think the hardest part for them was yet to come," a statement that proved correct. Some of the men in the photo probably did not come home.

The book Warpath-The Story of the Algonquin Regiment: 1939-1945 by G. L. Cassidy describes in great detail how the Algonquins landed in Normandy in July 1944, and fought their way through France, Belgium, the Netherlands and into Germany. Of the original 4000 Algonquins, 341 died and 959 were wounded.

One of Cassidy's chapters, "North From Brasschaat," describes the struggle of the Algonquins through the area described in the e-mail. The book states that "on the night of October 22/23 1944, and all day on the 23rd [the day the photo was taken] patrols were out patrolling the north and east." Two men were killed by mortars while checking a bridge, and two other men were wounded and captured on another sortie. On the night of the 23rd the Algonquins went out to lay some mines and, as some British reinforcements arrived, a battle broke out and "the enemy shelling reached a fiery crescendo." As the Germans withdrew or were captured, the allied forces proceeded towards Bergen op Zoom, the largest centre of population in the area, and on to Antwerp.  

Members of the Algonquin Regiment are pictured parading through Belgium during the Liberation.

One can imagine a brief respite from battle in the de Barsy garden, and the battles that lay ahead. The end of the chapter in the Cassidy book lists the casualties of that 16-day campaign: two officers and thirty-seven men killed; four officers and thirty-five men missing; and six officers and 118 men wounded.

About 20 members of the Algonquin Regiment passed through Brasschaat in Belgium Oct 23, 1944. They rested at the de Barsy farm and the photos taken that day were e-mailed to Doug Mackey.

Detail of bottom right photo. Do you recognize any one?

The number of veterans at the Cenotaph on Sunday Sept. 8th was small, and the ceremony was kept short. The photo shows the pipers leading the men away at the end of the ceremony, possibly for the last time, a very touching moment in the life of a remarkable group of Canadians. The Nugget, cable TV, and others recorded the event.  

Pipers leading the men away at the end of the 37th reunion ceremony.

The Algonquin Regiment Veteran's Association's Ceremony at the Cenotaph Sep. 7.

The Cenotaph was built in 1931 to honour the Algonquins, and led to a later change of the street name to Algonquin Avenue, and the name of the North Bay Collegiate opposite to Algonquin Composite School (now Algonquin Ecole Secondaire). It should also be remembered that the regiment is named after the Algonquin First Nations people, who are such an important part of our history.  

Judge Mike Boland, Honorary Col. with the Algonquin Regiment, Ernie Livis and Doug MacDonald Honorary President of the Algonquin Association take part in the final reunion of the association.

After the Cenotaph ceremony I went to the M.L Troy Armouries to talk to some of the veterans and show my e-mail photos. No one recognize the men in the photo after all these years, but thought it a fascinating piece of history.  I later spent two interesting hours at the Legion talking to 90-year old retired Colonel Doug McDonald, who has a long history of leadership in the Algonquins. In the same month as the photo above, an enemy bullet shattered Doug's rifle and saved his life. On another occasion he was in one of two jeeps that were hit with shrapnel, with one man killed and one man wounded. In the book, Tug of War-The Allied Victory that Opened Antwerp, the author records how there many more Germans than expected, and how on one occasion there was "unmitigated hell for the Algonquins" and " a minor battle had to be fought to extricate Lt. Doug McDonald and Sgt. Marshall."

As with many other Algonquins, a book could be written on Doug McDonald alone. Another column may be forthcoming! By the way, author Gary McCauley will publish a novel this fall based on the Algonquins called Soldier Boys.  The Algonquin Regiment will remain in our hearts and minds as an important part of our local history for a long time to come.