LEST WE FORGET 255 Wartime Service of Gervaise LaMarche and nephew Ed LaMarche Doug Bone - February 21, 2019 From a conversation with Elaine LaMarche, November 9, 2017. Elaine was married to Ed LaMarche (named after his grandfather Edward LaMarche). Gervaise was Ed’s uncle and brother of Ed’s father Lanceon. Gervaise and Lanceon had another brother Glenn. Gervaise LaMarche was born on February 6, 1897 in Wheatley, Ontario to Edward and Brinthia LaMarche (‘Brinthia’ is the way Gervaise spelled his mother’s name in his Military Will, although ‘Brintha’ is another spelling seen elsewhere). After his service in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) in World War I, he married Frances M. Burry (Faye) and they had four children, all born in Woodstock, Ontario: Marie June, born on June 1, 1924; James, born in 1925; Robert, born in 1936 and Wayne Wesley, born in 1938 or 1939. According to Elaine, Gervaise had been gassed in World War I and spent time in a Saskatchewan Tuberculosis sanatorium after he returned to Anglia, Saskatchewan from overseas. Following treatment Gervaise moved back to Ontario, and he and his wife had a house on their property in Woodstock. Because of his wartime injuries, eventually Gervaise could not tolerate being in the house so he moved into a smallunheated shed at the back of the property on the edge of a ravine. Elaine said he needed fresh air and also solitude - although he enjoyed people’s company and was a great storyteller. He and his wife both continued to live on the property - she in the house - he in the shed. Gervaise worked for Standard Steel in Woodstock and gave Elaine and Ed a tour of the plant in the late 1940’s or early 50’s. Elaine remembers Gervaise dressed in a three-piece suit for the occasion - much to the surprise of his co-workers. She said he was still living in the shed at the time, and that even in the winter it was unheated. Gervaise died on December 19, 1970, but his wife lived for some time after. Gervaise is buried in Oxford Memorial Park, Woodstock, Ontario. Ed LaMarche’s World War lI Service Elaine went on to say that her husband Ed LaMarche also served in the Canadian military. He enlisted in the RCAF during World War II and served in Newfoundland and later in Nova Scotia. She said that because Ed served in Newfoundland, which was not a part of Canada at the time, he was awarded a medal for overseas service. Ed, however, chose not to wear the medal since he had not served in Europe or Italy. Part of Ed’s job with the RCAF was with the tractor section in Gander, Newfoundland - mainly clearing runways with V-plows. Elaine said they would plow three abreast ahead of an airplane taking off, with the hope it would clear the end of the runway. Ed was later stationed in Nova Scotia where one of his section’s jobs was to cut the grass around the base. Being wartime, nothing was wasted, and the grass was gathered and sold to local farmers for livestock feed. The threat of attacks by German submarines was very real in the area. One ferry was sunk with no survivors en-route between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia the day after Ed had been on it. Elaine has donated Gervaise’s World War I army helmet to Elrose Legion Branch, along with a World War II gasmask and a binder with some family details and a picture of Gervaise in uniform. The Brodie pattern helmet Elaine donated has the typical non-reflective pebbled paint of World War I- unlike the dull but smooth finish of the World War II helmets. It also has a leather strap. Most soldiers chose to wear it at the back of the head rather than under their chins to prevent broken jaws caused by the concussion of shell explosions tearing the helmet off. The World War II helmets had a webbing strap with elastic inserts that were not as hazardous to the jaw of a wearer.
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