135 The Royal Canadian Legion www.mbnwo.legion.ca MARTIN, George Harold WWI George was born on April 30, 1897, to George and Hannah (Walkey) Martin in Newdale, Manitoba. He enlisted with the 45th Battalion in the early days of the war and went overseas in March 1916. After but a few weeks in England, he went to France, joining the 31st Battalion in June while the Canadians were in theYpres salient.With this battalion, Private Martin went through the heavy actions at the Somme, Vimy Ridge, Fresnoy and Passchendaele without injury until the time of his death on November 6, 1917, after he, with his unit, had reached their objective beyond the village of Passchendaele.While with two comrades taking shelter in a steel sniping post captured from the enemy during an attack west of Passchendaele, he was instantly killed when an enemy shell made a direct hit on the post. To have seen such service at the age of nineteen was indeed an achievement. The war called out the best in this young life. The principles of the war gripped his thoughts. In campaigning, he proved himself to be an excellent soldier, and his career in the army displayed an idealism and devotion to the best which, amid the squalor of war, appealed to all who knew him. Canada lost not only a gallant soldier, but one who, even in the sterner test of peace, must surely have proven himself a citizen of no mean order. Private George Martin was memorialized at the Menin Gate Memorial. MARTIN, William “Bill” WWII Bill was born in Gateshead, England on April 5, 1907, to George and Hannah Martin. He attended school until the age of thirteen when he began an apprenticeship as a butcher. In 1928, when he turned 21, he was laid off and soon signed up to go to the harvest fields of western Canada. He arrived in Alberta in August 1928. From 1928 to 1934, he worked in western Canada doing whatever work he could find. He came back to Manitoba in 1934 and worked around Mentmore, Brookdale and Cordova areas until 1940 when he volunteered for military duty. Bill enlisted on July 6, 1940. He was shipped to England in 1943 and in June 1944, he went to Normandy, Belgium, Holland and Germany with the Lake Superior Regiment. He was in Oldenburg, Germany when war ended on May 25, 1945, and discharged in October 1945. After his discharge, he bought a farm in the Osprey District and farmed until 1957, at which time he started with Williams Tomboy in Neepawa as a butcher. After retiring from there in 1969, he started a mobile butchering businesses and travelled the rural area during which time he made many friends. He married Irene McLaughlin in 1935 and raised two sons, Ron and Robert. He was a member of The Royal Canadian Legion Neepawa Branch 23 for 48 years. Willim passed away on August 15, 2000, and is buried in the Riverside Cemetery.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM0NTk1OA==