383 www.on.legion.ca ONTARIO COMMAND McCOLEMAN, Neil Stanley Neil was born in Spring Bay, Manitoulin Island, Ontario on July 25, 1914. He enlisted as a General Service Class TPR on July 16, 1942. His Army career was served as a member of the 8th Princess Louise (NB) Hussars – 5th Canadian Armoured Division, returning to civilian life March 11, 1946 with his wife, Selma (Mattinen) and his four year old daughter Connie. Having served as a Tank Gunnery in England, Holland, France, Germany and Italy, Stan progressed to the rank of L/CPL and achieved the credential of Gunnery Instructor Class III. He was awarded the Defence Medal, the 1939-45 Star, the 1939-45 War Medal and Bar, the King George Crown, Italy Star, France and Germany Star, and the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal. Notable as well, Stan was wounded in action on September 1, 1944, although not critically. He was discharged on March 11, 1946. In civilian life, Stan raised two additional children, Bob and Joey and settled into his career as a 1st Class maintenance electrician at INCO, until his death on March 21, 1975, as the result of being struck by an automobile near his home in Minnow Lake, Sudbury, Ontario. He was a member of Sudbury Legion Branch 76 for two years. McCRAE, John John was born in McCrae House, Guelph, Ontario on November 30, 1872 to LieutenantColonel David McCrea and Janet Simson Eckford, as the grandson of Scottish immigrants. He joined the Highland Cadet Corps in 1886, at the age of 14 and in 1889 enlisted in the Militia Field Battery aged 17. John McCrae served with the artillery in the second Boer War 1899 to 1901. He became Gunner with no. 2 Battery in 1890 and climbed the ranks, becoming Quarter-Master Sergeant in 1891, Second Lieutenant in 1893 and Lieutenant in 1896. John graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1894 and a Bachelor of Medicine degree in 1898. He resigned from Military Service with the rank of Major in 1904. At the start of the First World War in 1914 following his sense of duty to God, his Country and fellow man, he re-enlisted and went to Europe. He was given the rank of Major in 1915 and was appointed brigade-surgeon for the First Brigade of Canadian Forces Artillery at Ypres, Belgium. It was while still at the battlefront during the second battle of Ypres, on May 3, 1915, that he composed his famous poem “In Flanders Fields” which is now considered the most recognized and famous war poem. McCrae transferred to Boulogne, France in 1915 where he succumbed to meningitis and pneumonia at No. 14 General Hospital for Officers Boulogne, France on January 28, 1918. He was buried with full military honours in the cemetery at Wimereux, France (plot 4, row H, grave 3). McCOLL, Donald A. Donald was born in Plympton Township, Ontario on August 1, 1919. He enlisted in the Army on July 21, 1941 and served in the 42nd Battery out of Simcoe, Ontario. He served in England, Holland and Belgium during World War II. Gunner McColl drove a truck transporting men and equipment under cover of darkness during the war. He was discharged on December 3, 1945. Upon his return from the war, he hitched his horse to a walking plow and plowed a field and retuned to farming until semi-retiring in about 1980. He was a member of Forest Legion Branch 176 for 33 years. Donald passed away on November 7, 2000.
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