LEST WE FORGET 139 CURRIE, Alfred Cecil WWI Cecil was born on October 24, 1892, in Moosomin, to James Maxwell Currie and Isabella (Wilkinson née Merricks) Currie. He was a farmer and trained with the 16th Light Horse in Moosomin where his father was an instructor. Early on in World War I, Cecil and his father enlisted in the Army on September 22, 1914, in Valcartier, Quebec. Cecil gave Tantallon as his home address. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion Machine Gun Corp, with his father as Lieutenant, and embarked for France on February 15, 1915. He struggled with severe skin issues and was hospitalized several times. Following his father being killed in action on May 24, 1915, Cecil was granted a three-month compassionate leave to Canada. While in Canada visiting his mother, he accepted a Winnipeg Commission in 1916 until he was discharged on February 21, 1919. Cecil returned home and married Edna Barbara Twiss on June 25, 1920, in Tantallon. After working on the farm for a few years, Cecil and his family moved to Ontario. He had two sons and one daughter. Arthur Cecil Currie passed away on March 24, 1964, and is buried at MacKenzie Avenue Cemetery in Atikokan, Ontario. CURRIE, James Maxwell “Jack” WWI Jack was born on February 18, 1865, in Meerut, India. He was the fifth child, and third son born to Henry Octavius and Meliora (Gumbleton) Currie. His father was a military captain in India. As a young man, Jack played cricket and football and trained in the militia. He came from England to Moosomin (Coverdale area) and managed a syndicate farm. In 1889, he married Isabella (Merricks) Wilkinson. For a few years, the Curries moved to several farms in the Tantallon and Rocanville areas and they had five children. Jack joined the local militia in Moosomin in about 1908 and was an officer of the 16th Light Horse where he helped train recruits before World War I. Many of these young men went overseas with Lieutenant Currie with the 16th L.H., 5th Battalion, “B” Co., one of the first mounted units to be ready in 1914. Currie, and his son Cecil enlisted early on Camp Valcartier in Quebec on September 23, 1914, and sailed aboard the Lapland on October 3, 1914. Jack was 49 years old when he enlisted, but he put his birthdate as five years younger. Lieutenant Currie and his men embarked for France on February 9, 1915. On April 28, he was slightly wounded but was treated and returned to duty. On May 25, 1915, while part of a Canadian force which played a significant part in the second battle of Ypres, Lieutenant Currie received a fatal wound to the shoulder. There were 44 men killed (5 officers), 193 wounded, and 25 missing. He is buried at Le Touret Memorial in Pas-de-Calais, France. His wife moved to Wolseley around 1921 where her two daughters were living. The Echo (Rocanville History Book) states: “After the First World War two leaded windows were put in the sanctuary [of the Anglican Church] in memory of Capt. J.M. Currie killed in action in 1915.” He is also remembered on the Rocanville, Welwyn and Tantallon cenotaphs. Sergeant Harold Baldwin’s book “Holding the Line” 1918 included a dedication to James Maxwell Currie. He is also mentioned in “Shoestring Soldiers: The 1st Canadian Division at War 1914-1915”.
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