Volume 20 www.legionnl.com 13 continued.... Bartholomew, Naval Reserve number 540x, soon received his notice from the Registrar General and was ordered to report to H.M.S. “Calypso” at 9 AM on Saturday, 31 October 1914. Following training he served on H.M.S. “Amsterdam” for the duration of the war. Upon completion of further training in England, Horatius landed with the 1st Battalion of the Newfoundland Regiment at Sulva Bay, Gallipoli, Turkey, on the night of 19/20 September, 1915, where they fought as part of the British Expeditionary Forces. He was evacuated from Sulva on 24 November, 1915, and invalided to England to recover from severe fever. He would spend most of 1916 in England recovering and on furlough. While Horatius was in England, his brother Joseph joined the Newfoundland Regiment, his regimental number of 1644 would indicate May or June of 1916, and he was posted to guard duty on Grey Island, near the top of the northern peninsula in Newfoundland. A small number of men from the Regiment were stationed there in case of attack from enemy ships. Joseph would have been 17 years old in August of that year, but it was not uncommon for young men to lie about their age to join the Newfoundland Regiment, and most recruiters didn’t check too closely. The Seawards now had three sons fighting the war in Europe and on the high seas, and one who was doing his duty at home. Following his recovery in England, Private Horatius Seaward was sent to France in December 1916 and joined the 1st Battalion, Newfoundland Regiment. From January to April 17th 1917 the Battalion was involved in Front line action at such well known battles as Le Transloy, Sailly-Sallisel and Monchy-le-Preux, but on April 18th Horatius was again hospitalized for fever for approximately one month before being discharged to Rest Camp at Boulogne. He returned to the Front in June of 1917, and on August 16th was serving with “A” Company, No. 4 Platoon, 1st Battalion, of the Newfoundland Regiment at the Battle of Langemarck, (the Steenbeek), Passchendaele, Belgium, when he was killed instantly. His name is listed on the Beaumont Hamel Memorial to all those with no known grave. On 27 August 1917, a telegram was received by Adam Seaward and Reverend Butler in Clarenville informing them of the death of Horatius. There is no way of knowing whether Joseph’s next move was as a result of this, but it was around this time that he went to St. John’s to volunteer for overseas duty with the Regiment. Upon learning of his plan, his mother contacted Reverend Cater Winsor, a Methodist Church Minister who had been serving the Clarenville area when Horatius enlisted in 1914, but who had since moved. She convinced him to travel to St. John’s with her to petition the Governor not to send Joseph overseas as she needed him for manual work at home. She felt her family had done their fair share in the war effort. continued....
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