141 Born in Toronto on 8 June 1881, Norway Jackes—my Uncle Norway—married Alice Beatrice Bethune Crowdy—my Auntie Bea— who was technically not my aunt, but my maternal great-grandfather’s first cousin. Uncle Norway had represented Canada in the 1908 Olympics in London in rowing, winning a bronze medal as strokeman in the coxless pairs with Frederick Toms as bowman. The Olympic rowing events were held at Henley-on-Thames, July 28-31. After the Olympics, Uncle Norway joined the Argonaut Rowing Club, which lent its name to Toronto’s Canadian Football League franchise, competing for several years in rowing contests. In May 1915, at age 34, he enlisted in the Canadian army (Regimental Number 404588). On his Attestation Paper, Uncle Norway listed his occupation as “Journalist” and indicated that he was single at the time: In October 1915, Uncle Norway shipped to England as a member of the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary force. He arrived in France in March 1916 as a Private with the 2nd Canadian Division Motor Machine Gun Brigade which was posted to the Ypres salient. There, Uncle Norway was shot through the thigh while “leaving the trenches,” 23 June 1916. Fortunately, the bullet did not strike the thigh bone, and Uncle Norway fully recovered in hospital in Edinburgh, Scotland. He returned to active duty in France where he took part in the famous operations at Bourlon Wood. The Canadian Corps under Field Marshal Douglas Haig was assigned the task of taking Bourlon Wood ahead of an assault on Cambrai. On 27 September 1918, the Canadians attacked across the Canal du Nord and took Bourlon Wood and an adjacent hill, now the site of the Bourlon Wood Canadian Memorial. Uncle Norway suffered a fractured forearm on the 27th and returned to hospital in England. The Canadian Corps went The 1908 Canadian Olympic team.
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