LEST WE FORGET 153 HAYDEN, Alexander “Alex” WWI According to his attestation papers, Alexander’s birthdate was March 13, 1891 (family tree says 1893). He was born to Alexander Robillard Hayden Sr. and Elise (Eloise?) (Pritchard) in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His mother died in 1893 when he was still an infant. His father remarried Josephte Suzette (Desjarlais) Delorme, so Alex grew up in a large, blended Hayden-Delorme family. The family first lived six miles north of St. Lazare, Manitoba and then lived northeast of Rocanville (on the south side of the Qu’Appelle Valley). Like his father, Alex was a hunter and farmer (working on threshing crews). When conscription was introduced (1917), Alex presented himself at 1st Base Depot in Regina on November 20, 1917 to enlist and for the mandatory medical. His forms state he was 26 years old and in good health. Alex primarily spoke French. Conscripted recruits were often known as MSA Men (Military Service Act, 1917). Alex left fromMontreal aboard the HMT Cassandra and arrived in Liverpool on July 26, 1918. It was a 300 km journey south by rail to Bramshott where he was posted with the 15th Canadian Reserve Battalion on August 15, 1918. The fourteen-week course in basic infantry skills had been revised to nine weeks due to heavy demand in France for reinforcements. However, there were a number of 1st Depot (Sask Regiment) recruits aboard the Cassandra who became ill with influenza (and even deaths) soon after arriving at Bramshott. This influenced that training and caused the recruits to be sent to Frensham Pool Segregation Camp to avoid the spread. Alex was also at Ripon Camp where soldiers stayed in huts waiting to be repatriated home. He returned to Canada on June 14, 1919, aboard the RMS Aquitania and was discharged on June 26, 1919. He returned to Rocanville to farm with family members. Alex married Veronique Bellhumeur in February 1922 in St. Lazare, Manitoba. Their family with five children were living in Marquette, Manitoba on the 1931 census and they also lived at Victor, Manitoba in 1943. French-Metis culture, music, hunting and family were all important to Alex. He died in Birtle, Manitoba on November 20, 1983 and he and his wife are buried at St. Lazare Cemetery. His name is included on the Sask Based Metis Soldiers who served in World War I, World War II and the Korean War at the Gabriel Dumont Institute. HEA, Hartley WWI Private Hartley Hea was born on January 11, 1892, in Chatham, Ontario, to Edwin and Laurietta (Stover) Hea. He had seven siblings. When Hartley Hea enlisted in Elbow with the 128th Overseas Battalion on December 4, 1915, he was a 23-year-old bachelor and teacher. After training at Camp Hughes, he embarked on August 15, 1916, for Europe. He was hospitalized on January 21, 1917, when he was serving with the 22nd Casualty Clearing Station in France. Later that year, on June 24, he suffered a gunshot wound to his jaw. Seriously ill with endocarditis, Private Hea was returned to Canada where he received his discharge papers on June 17, 1919, in Regina. He married Edythe I. E. Moffatt on December 23, 1919. They had five children: Ryley (Flight Officer with the RCAF in WWII), Bruce, Dennis, Terrence and Lucille. Hartley Hea lived all his adult life in Western Canada, teaching in Elbow, Summerberry, Grand Coulee and Regina where he retired after 35 years. He and Edythe lived in Victoria, BC for nine years, then moved to Calgary where he became lifetime member of the Royal Canadian Legion. Hartley passed away in Calgary on February 7, 1980 and is buried in Field of Honour at Queen’s Park Cemetery in Calgary.
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