LEST WE FORGET 243 McLEOD, Allan WWI Allan was born on March 22, 1895, in Sydney, Cape Breton, to Murdock and Isabella (McIntyre) McLeod. He was the fourth youngest of fourteen children and came west with his older brothers who settled in the Welwyn-Moosomin districts. Allan was farming when he enlisted with the 217th Overseas Battalion in Moosomin on December 29, 1915. While training, he was hospitalized at the Grey Nun’s hospital in Regina, on November 2, 1916 for appendicitis. He sailed from Halifax aboard the Olympic on June 2, 1917 and arrived in England on June 10. While practicing trench warfare on night maneuvers at Longmoor on August 16, 1917, Allan was severely injured when a mine exploded throwing him into the air and burying him up to the hips in a crater. He suffered a fractured and broken right femur and tibia and was critically ill. He was hospitalized in England and put in splints for several months. Allan was returned to Canada on December 29, 1917 and convalesced in Halifax until August 5, 1919 when he was finally discharged. He went west to Calgary and married Phoebe Elsie (Hope) Graham who was widowed and had two young sons, Carl and Harold. Her first husband Harry Graham was killed in World War I in 1918. In 1921, Allan was living and working at Rosedale Mining Camp (near Kneehill, Alta) and was a “tool boss”. Two more children, Phoebe and Donald, were born. The entire family moved to Michigan in 1924 and Allan became a Motorman (trolley-car driver). Allan died suddenly of a brain tumour on February 2, 1938, at the age of 43, in Detroit, Wayne Michigan. He had many nieces and nephews in the Welwyn, Saskatchewan area. McPHERSON, Ernest Roy WWI Private Ernest Roy McPherson of the 128th Overseas Battalion was born in Hunter River, PEI, on May 20, 1884. His parents were John Alexander and Bethia McPherson. Ernest McPherson and Eliza Lydia Johnstone “Lidy” McDuff, also from PEI, were married on June 1, 1911. Their son John Kitchener McPherson was born in 1914. When Ernest enlisted in Moose Jaw on April 12, 1916, he and his family were living on their homestead north of Glenside. He was 32 years old. Like so many of his comrades from the 128th Overseas Battalion, he was reassigned to the 46th Battalion for service in France. On August 21, 1917, he suffered a gunshot wound to his hip. The 46th Battalion was engaged in conflict with the enemy when the order came for the battalion to exchange camps with the 19th Battalion.While under fire, Private Ernest Roy McPherson suffered a mortal stomach wound. He died on April 22, 1918, at No. 57 Casualty Clearing Station. He is buried at Aubigny Communal Cemetery near Arras. Sadly, his wife Lidy died 198 days later on November 6. They are remembered by a cenotaph in the Outlook Cemetery.
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