131 The Royal Canadian Legion www.mbnwo.legion.ca MacKENZIE, Don WWI Don was born in Presque Isle, Ontario on December 18, 1882. He took his schooling in Owen Sound commander Cadet Corps. He joined the Canadian Officer’s Training Corps in Infantry at Queen’s University in Kingston in 1914. In March 1915, he joined the Queen’s University Hospital Unit and went overseas with the #5 Stationary Hospital Unit, a 200-bed hospital with 94 men with doctors and 35 nursing sisters. The unit was sent to Cairo to tend to Gallipoli casualties and in 1916, the hospital moved to France. After Don and Bert returned to Canada, they both settled in the Prairies; most of their family were already there. After his return to Canada and discharge in July 1919, Don took his London doctor’s advice and along with several other veterans went to spend the summer and the fall as hired hands on farms in Saskatchewan. He recalled working for a time with a bachelor farmer near Prince Albert.When they ate breakfast in the morning, they would just leave the dishes and everything on the table, and when they came back in the evening after work, the cats would have licked them clean, all ready for supper. That winter, the group invested what money they had in livestock and farm equipment on a farm in Alberta, but were wiped out financially by an unusually severe winter. In March 1921, he married Wilma Robertson whom he had known in Port Arthur before the war. Later that year, he returned to teaching in rural Manitoba, commencing at Sand Hill School (near Beauséjour) in 1921. In December 1921, their only child, Donald, was born. In 1922, the family moved to Winnipeg where Don was principal of Deer Lodge School (at that time outside the city). Don regained his health during these years, although he was never really free from colitis. In 1924, he took advantage of the Soldiers’ Land Settlement plan (a soldier could apply for a free land grant after the war, as well as a loan to get started) and moved to a ½ section of farmland in the Rackham, Manitoba area. In 1925, he became the first teacher of the newly opened Rackham School, commuting the five miles on weekdays by horseback, buggy or sleigh, and doing the farmwork and chores before and after commuting. After a while, he got a hired man. In 1927, Don moved to Winnipeg and took his Normal School training; he then took the Principalship of Teulon School. In 1931, he became the principal of Neepawa Collegiate. He continued his keen interest in sports by coaching various school teams and produced a number of outstanding track and field athletes, as well as coaching the Collegiate hockey team to the Provincial Championship. The move to Neepawa also brought him and Bert back together again, since Bert was the Principal of nearby Fraklin School – ten miles west of Neepawa. Together, at Queen’s, and during the bulk of the war, this Neepawa/Franklin was mutually satisfying for them both and allowed many pleasant times together for the two families. In 1935, Don ran for Parliament and was elected to the House of Commons as Liberal member for the Neepawa constituency. He retained his seat in the 1940 election, but in 1945 he was defeated by the late Hon. John Bracken, Leader of the Federal Progressive Conservative Party, and former Premier of Manitoba. As a member, Don served his constituents and his country with his characteristic integrity. Following his service in Parliament, he continued to live in Ottawa, and was appointed to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs as Manitoba member on the parliamentary Committee. Late in life, he had a leg amputated, as had Bert many years before. Don died in Ottawa on October 13, 1970, at the age of 87. He is buried in Owen Sound.
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