347 www.on.legion.ca ONTARIO COMMAND MARION, Napoléon Napoléon was born on June 28, 1886 in Montreal. He first trained and worked as a machinist before he joined the 65th Regiment Carabiniers Mont-Royal, a militia unit, in the early 1900’s. When Canada entered World War I, he enrolled in the 22nd Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and was appointed Company Sergeant Major early on due to his previous militia service. He served in France and Belgium from September 15, 1915 to August 24, 1916. After a year in or around the trenches, he was diagnosed as shell shocked repatriated to Canada on September 29, 1916 and released from the CEF on August 31, 1917. Back home in Montreal, he founded and cofounded several French-Canadian branches of early veterans’ associations, such as the Great War Veterans Association and the Canadian Legion of the British Empire Service league. In addition to his War Medals, he was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal in 1935 and the King George VI Coronation Medal in 1937 for his dedication to the Veterans cause and the Colonial Auxiliary Forces Long Service Medal for his years of service. Sergeant Major Napoléon Marion passed away on February 13, 1939. MARSHALL, Wilbert Herbert Wilbert was born on April 15, 1924 in Windsor, Ontario. He spent his life living and working inWindsor. As a teenager, he worked at the family business (Marshall Foundry) while attending W. D. Lowe Vocational School where his love for machine building began. He joined the Ford Motor Company after graduation and began studying in the tool and die trade. On February 21, 1945, he left the Fords to join the Canadian Army and serve his country. Wilbert completed his advance training and was transferred to the Canadian Provost Corps where he completed his tenure until war’s end. He was honourably discharged and returned to work at Ford for the next 38 years. Wilbert married his beautiful wife Ruth in 1948 and raised five children in their riverside home. Wilbert was a member of The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 255 for 45 years up until his death on March 2, 2019. Point of interest: Shortly after the war, Wilbert and his brother Bud built a 32ft hydroplane boat (Miss Judy) from scratch, powered by a V12 Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, the same engine that powered RAF fighters during World War II. Their adventures were chronicled in the Windsor Star Newspaper. MARR, Lavergne Osgoode Lavergne was born on September 8, 1899 in Strathroy, Ontario. He listed his occupation as a millhand when he enrolled in the Canadian Expeditionary Force on March 15, 1916. He needed his father’s written permission to enroll as he was just seventeen years of age. He arrived in England on April 7, 1917 aboard the SS Missanabie. Soon, he was a Sapper (military engineer) with the 9th Battalion, Canadian Railway Troops. He built and repaired railway lines to carry soldiers and supplies to and from the front lines. On February 21, 1918, Lavergne was scrounging for firewood when he entered a partly demolished German dugout. It collapsed while he was inside and, despite the best efforts of his comrades, he was dead before he could be dug out. He was eighteen years old. Sapper Marr is buried in Faubourg D’Amiens Cemetery, Arras, France on Plot VI, Row B, Grave 7, one of 2 650 casualties interred there. He was the son of Margaret and George Marr of Kitchener, Ontario. They received Lavergne’s $180 in back pay. The inscription on his headstone reads “God Is Our Refuge”.
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