Mystery explained: Canadian flags on war graves in England

By Lookout Production on Jan 20, 2023 with Comments 0

Holy Rood Church in Wool, England. Photo: englandexpected.wordpress.com

Peter Mallett,
Staff Writer

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A long-standing mystery of who has been placing Canadian flags on the graves of First World War soldiers in Southern England has been solved.

For the past ten years, tiny maple leaf flags have been appearing at the headstones of two 1^st Canadian Tank Battalion members at Holy Rood Church in Wool around Remembrance Day. Lance Corporal Vernon Ward and Private Ivan Tremayne Green were buried in the churchyard in Dorset, England, in October 1918.

The Canadian flags first caught the attention of Lieutenant-Commander (ret’d) Rick Wall of Campbell River, B.C.

“My brother-in-law and I were amazed that someone continues to care for and place small Canadian flags in front of the graves, even though these soldiers died over a hundred years ago and were buried five thousand kilometres from Canada,” Wall said.

He sent pictures of the flags on the graves to The Trumpeter, a Royal Canadian Hussars Association newsletter. Current and former members of the armoured reconnaissance regiment of the Canadian Army Reserves publish it. They issued a story in their December 2022 edition and asked their readers who were behind the good deed.

“We do not know who is following the tradition of placing flags on the graves in Wool churchyard but if we did, we would commend them for this act of remembrance,” wrote Master Corporal (ret’d) Louis Lamarre.

Canada Connections

The mystery has since unravelled. The flag placer is Rod Webb, a retired Royal Fleet Auxiliary Senior Radio Officer. He and his late wife Gill Webb started placing the flags on the Canadian soldiers’ graves in 2013.

“My wife had discovered her Canadian family and we both thought this would be a good thing to do for Remembrance Day,” Webb wrote via email.

Gill found out her father was a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and served in the Canadian Army in 1939 as an Intelligence Officer stationed in England. The couple researched Gill’s ancestry and found she had Canadian relatives in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

“No one from Canada has ever expressed their thanks [for the flags] until recently because no one knew about it,” he said.

The churchyard’s 72 graves for service members are maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). The family has no connection to Lance Corporal Ward and Private Green.

Rod has a personal connection to Canada and Vancouver Island. He previously served aboard the helicopter Training Ship Engadine of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. In 1974, he and his shipmates were stationed at Nanoose Bay, where they tested torpedoes.

“I still remember we were made to feel very welcome by the locals and that really stuck with me,” he said.

The stories of the soldiers

The mystery of the flags led The Trumpeter to find more information about the deceased soldiers.

The 1^st Canadian Tank Batallion was formed in 1918 by university students, Royal Northwest Mounted Police Cavalry members and mechanically-inclined volunteers from across Canada.

“The unit underwent initial training in Canada, and then in June 1918, was sent to England for training on tanks which were very new at the time,” Lamarre said. “The war was over on Nov. 11, 1918, before the battalion was deployed to France.”

Before enrolling, Lance Corporal Vernon Ward was a banker from Regina who had prior service in the Reserves with the 35 Alberta Horse and the 19^th Canadian Dragoons. He was 27 years old when he died on Oct. 29, 1918.

Private Ivan Tremayne Green was a teacher from Toronto with no prior military service. He was 20 years old when he died on Oct. 21, 1918.

Both soldiers died of pneumonia as the global flu pandemic (Spanish Flu) swept England. Pneumonia was also a leading cause of death before Penicillin was discovered in the 1940s.

The gravesite of Canadian First World War soldier Lance-corporal Vernon Ward. The soldier is buried at cemetery at Holy Rood, Church in Wool, England. Credit: Rick Wall.

COMMONWEALTH/MILITARY WAR GRAVES IN WOOL CHURCHYARD

The following is a list of military graves in Wool Churchyard:

Tank Corps/Tank Regiments

30222 Private J R BADCOCK Tank Corps. October 1918
2684288 Lance Corporal V WARD First Canadian Tank Btn Oct 1918
2365804 Private IT Green First Canadian Tank Btn Oct 1918
Second Lieutenant G McCORMACK Tank Corps Oct 1918
320530 Private P S SHAW Tank Corps Dec 1920
Boy C H W SAMPSON Tank Corps 1921 (aged 16)
Private R E Ryder Tank Corps May 1923
Sergeant W G K MILNE Royal Tank Corps 1935
Major W S STYLES Royal Tank Regiment 1945
Second Lieutenant H R COOKE Royal Tank Regiment
Fredrick VINES Royal Tank Corps 1924
Private J INNES Royal Tank Corps 1925
Private J KERNAN Royal Tank Corps 1925
Sergeant H F KINGABY Royal Tank Corps 1927
786758 Private N ADAMS Royal Tank Corps 1926
Private T E FISHER Royal Tank Corps 1925
23891135 Trooper M DALEY Royal Tank Regiment 1964
7884474 WO1 (RSM) E WALL Royal Tank Regiment 1957
Private A E PARSON Royal Tank Corps 1927
Private H GATEHOUSE Royal Tank Corps 1928
Private G Horsley Royal Tank Corps 1929
7871245 WO11 (CSM) D BLACK Royal Tank Corps 1933
Lance/Corporal F D McFARLANE Royal Tank Corps 1929
Corporal C W WALLACE Royal Tank Corps
Corporal W SHARP Royal Tank Corps 1929
7884480 Sydney POLLEY Royal Tank Corps 1934
5495381 WO1 H W C GOWER Royal Tank Regiment 1954
Private H H J SIMKINS Royal Tank Corps 1934
Private T H GRAINGER Royal Tank Corps 1932
7877449 Bandsman J ANDREWS Royal Tank Corps 1932

Royal Armoured Corps and Mounted Regiments

318967 T/Sergeant John A S BARKBY 12^th Royal Lancers 1939
7942961 Trooper S C NORTHFIELD Royal Armoured Corps October 1941
7888714 Trooper I DOLMAN Royal Armoured Corps November 1939
Lieutenant L B E LLOYD First Canadian Mounted Rifles Oct 1918
Trooper J W CARTER Royal Armoured Corps 1941
7872216 L/Sergeant E H WELLER Royal Armoured Corps 1942
7871351 WO11 (QMS) A S G LOWE Royal Armoured Corps 1947
25662887 Junior Trooper J M S SAUNDER Royal Armoured Corps 1960
7887619 J L TAGG Royal Armoured Corps 1939
14278495 Trooper J S DAY Royal Armoured Corps 1943
5584354 Corporal A A LESTER Royal Armoured Corps 1945
Captain A A G ASHTON First Royal Dragoons 1956
7900351 Officer Cadet P A WADE Royal Armoured Corps 1940
Second Lieutenant M C NIVEN Eleventh Hussars Royal Armoured Corps 1940
14684269 Trooper T TELFORD Royal Armoured Corps 1944

Military Personnel of other Regiments but who presumably served at Bovington

(of note some of these date to World War One and may have been billeted there or in Wareham)

20966 Private RICHARDSON Ox and Bucks Light Infantry 1915
5970 Private LEONARD Lancashire Fusiliers 1915
4355 Private WATTERSON Manchester regiment 1914
16652 Private BROWN Royal Berkshire Regiment 1915
23706 Private AYERS Wiltshire Regiment 1916
23084 Private ROSE Ox and Bucks Light Infantry 1916
18755 Private CONIBERE Royal Warwickshire Regiment 1916
WR/337640 Pioneer ROUTLEDGE Royal Engineers 1918
91868 Gunner SOIZANO Machine Gun Corps 1917
25062 Private MERRYWEATHER Royal Berkshire Regiment 1916
10992 Lance/Corporal SLATER Ox and Bucks Light Infantry 1916
7014010 Rifleman BAXTER Royal Ulster Rifles 1939
5028 Private HAYES Sixteenth Royal Australian Infantry 1916
34757 Private H HAYWARD Royal Defence Corps (originally 3972 Gloucestershire Rgt) 1917
52130 Private WELLER Devonshire Regiment 1918
5725218 Private SIMMONDS Dorset Regiment 1939
13095403 Private Mc TAGGART Pioneer Corps 1942
6912978 Rifleman CAVE Rifle Brigade 1939
1401344 Bty Sergeant Major SIMMONDS Royal Garrison Artillery
7575160 Lance/Corporal LOWE RAOC 1924
527112 Private EAST
46641 Private ROOKE Dorset Regiment 1920
5731334 Gunner MARCANTONIO Royal Artillery 1942
Major C T WALLINGTON RAOC and REME 1943
Captainain GA STRACHAN RAPC 1971
7401074 Corporal JARRETT RAMC 1945
14637074 Driver G J WIDOWS Royal Signals 1944
Lieutenant A HURRELL RASC
JCA/193148 Craftsman CAMBELL REME 1947
1555545 Private BICKEMAS REME 1943
C BULL RAOC 1932

(Left) Retired Royal Navy Senior Radio Officer Rod Webb and Tony Smale attend the gravesites of Canadian First World War soldiers buried in a cemetery at Holy Rood Church in Wool, England. Webb says he has been placing Canadian flags at the gravesites each Remembrance Day but his identity was previously a mystery. Photo: Rod Webb.