VOLUME 25, NUMBER 7, NOVEMBER 2016
Published by Oncore Seniors Society: A non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of seniors. Visit: connectornews.ca
REMEMBRANCE DAY NOVEMBER 11
In Flanders Fields Wreath to remember history By Jessica Messerer-Trosin
Poem by John McCrae
In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row,
Loved and were loved: and now we lie In Flanders fields!
That mark our place: and in the sky
Take up our quarrel with the foe
The larks still bravely singing fly
To you, from failing hands, we throw
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
The torch: be yours to hold it high
We are the dead: Short days ago,
If ye break faith with us who die,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields
When Lee Kenney’s grandfather passed away in 1971, Lee inherited a silver bugle. Lee would have never imagined the things he would find out about his grandfather, William Kenney, thereafter. As Lee found out, the bugle actually belonged to a completely different regiment than the one William was a part of in the First World War. So in 2014 Lee embarked on a trip to England during which time he wanted to accomplish several things including returning the bugle. Bringing the bugle back shifted the search for information about his grandfather. “Once we gave the bugle back, things started happening,” Lee said. Using Ancestry.ca, Lee and his cousin, who he calls “Vira” because of detective-like skills set used to find out about their grandfather.
They found William Kenney was a British Home Child, one of close to 120,000 girls and boys who came from Britain between 1869 and 1948, according to the British Home Children Advocacy and Research Association (BHCARA). According to BHCARA, British Home Children were emigrated to Canada and other countries like Australia and New Zealand by charitable organizations like Barnardo’s, Quarrier’s and The Salvation Army, for example. William, a Barnardo Boy as they were called, came to Canada in 1905 at the age of 15. He travelled as a steerage passenger along with 264 other boys. Once they arrived in Canada, various organizations were supposed to track and monitor the children, but many children weren’t, including William. He was taken to several farms to work, as most of
the children were, but he eventually ran away. Many, especially in Canada, believed British home children to be orphans, but few of them were. Most of them worked on farms or as servants. According to BHCARA, the Canadians saw the British Home Children as inferior and the children were ashamed of their backgrounds. William returned to England in 1910. What happened in those five years is unknown, but Lee knows his grandfather travelled first class from Montreal to Liverpool. He then joined the British Army, for which he served eight years, 230 days. In 1921, William returned to Canada with his wife and their son, Lee’s father. The original customs declaration is one document Lee has had the chance to see. It was interesting for him to be able to recognize both of
Lee Kenney
A silver bugle led Lee Kenny on a mission to find out more about his grandfather, a British Home Child. his grandparents’ handwriting on the document. He was also able to see his grandfather’s original discharge papers. During the Second World War, William was a reserve instructor on the Prairie and he became a lifetime member of the Royal Canadian Legion.
See "No idea" page 14
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