Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

JACKET

Date Range From

1914

Date Range To

1918

Materials

WOOL, COTTON

No. Pieces

3

Length

75.0

Width

43.0

Description

WOOL KHAKI. SIZE 38. BRITISH STYLE M1902 SERVICE JACKET. 5 BRASS BUTTONED FRONT (1 MISSING), EMBOSSED "CANADA" "HONI-SOIT-QUI-MAL-Y-PENSE" WITH CROWN & MAPLE LEAF, 4 FRONTAL BUTTONED POCKETS. SERGEANT'S STRIPES ON SLEEVE, 2 SERVICE STRIPES. 2 BRASS COLLAR BADGES "C" OVER "8". SERVICE STRIPES REMOVED FROM RIGHT SLEEVE. SERGEANT STRIPES ON BOTH SLEEVES. BRASS WOUND STRIPES ON LOWER LEFT SLEEVE. FIRST DIVISION RED PATCH ON UPPER SLEEVE, BOTH SIDES. MEDAL BAR LEFT BREAST. 4 RIBBONS L TO R: DISTINGUISHED CONDUCT MEDAL; BRITISH WAR MEDAL WWI; VICTORY MEDAL WWI; CANADIAN VOLUNTEER SERVICE MEDAL WWII. 2 SMALL CANADIAN BUTTONS FOUND INSIDE; ALSO EXTRA MEDAL RIBBONS. SERVICE NUMBER 118096 STAMPED IN BLACK INK ON INSIDE POCKET OF TUNIC.

Subjects

CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR

Historical Association

MILITARY

History

8TH BATTALION RAISED IN BRANDON & WINNIPEG, MANITOBA; PORT ARTHUR & KENORA, ONTARIO. BATTALION SAILED OCTOBER 3, 1914. SERVED IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM WITH 2ND INFANTRY BRIGADE, 1ST CANADIAN DIVISION. ***UPDATE: DURING THE FALL OF 2007, COLLECTIONS VOLUNTEER GAIL HOLLAND MADE A VALIANT ATTEMPT TO DETERMINE THE ORIGINS OF THIS UNIFORM. MOST SIGNIFICANTLY, SHE CROSS REFERENCED RECIPIENTS OF THE D.C.M. FROM THE 8TH BATTALION AGAINST ONLINE SERVICE RECORDS COURTESY OF THE CANADIAN NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND LOCAL ARCHIVAL SOURCES (LETHBRIDGE HERALD, ETC.) TO TRY AND FIND OUT WHO THE UNIFORM'S WEARER WAS. FROM AMONGST THE LIST OF D.C.M. MEDAL RECIPIENTS, SHE LOOKED FOR SOMEONE WHO WAS YOUNG ENOUGH TO HAVE SERVED OVERSEAS IN TWO WORLD WARS AS WELL AS A NAME WHICH, PERHAPS, WAS DOCUMENTED (HERALD) AS EXISTING IN LETHBRIDGE AT SOME POINT IN TIME. FINALLY, SHE RE-EXAMINED ALL OF THE GALT'S LEDGERS PREDATING 1973. FOR ALL HER WORK, HOWEVER, SHE FOUND NO RESULTS. WE CONTINUE, THEREFORE, TO QUESTION THE WEARER'S ASSOCIATION WITH LETHBRIDGE AND REGION. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE SEARCH AND THE 8TH BATTALION, PLEASE CONSULT THE PERMANENT FILE. **UPDATE: IN THE SUMMER OF 2016, COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT RUTHANN LABLANCE RE-EXAMINED THIS UNIFORM AND FOUND THE SERVICE NUMBER 118096 ON THE TUNIC'S INSIDE POCKET. A SEARCH OF THE 'SOLDIERS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR' DATABASE REVEALED THAT THAT SERVICE NUMBER CORRESPONDED TO JOHN SHIELD. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION WAS COMPILED USING ARTICLES FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD, THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, AND THE MACLEOD NEWS, FROM SHIELD’S SERVICE RECORDS, AND FROM HIS UNIT’S WAR DIARIES, AS WELL AS FROM INTERVIEWS WITH THE DONOR’S CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN. JOHN MARTIN “JACK” SHIELD, DCM WAS BORN ON MAY 18, 1896 IN WHITFIELD, ENGLAND, THE SON OF THOMAS WILLIAM SHIELD AND MARY JANE SHIELD (NEE LITTLE). IN 1912 THE FAMILY IMMIGRATED TO CANADA AND SETTLED ON A FARM NEAR MCBRIDE LAKE IN THE ARDENVILLE DISTRICT, SOUTH OF FORT MACLEOD, AB. JACK ENLISTED IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR ON FEBRUARY 6, 1915 IN PINCHER CREEK, AB. HIS YOUNGEST DAUGHTER EDITH MOYES (NEE SHIELD) RECOUNTS THE STORY THAT HER FATHER TOLD HER ABOUT SIGNING UP: “I CAN REMEMBER DAD TALKING ABOUT JOINING THE FIRST WORLD WAR. THEY LIVED ON A FARM OUT OF FORT MACLEOD, AND DAD SAID HE WAS JUST A YOUNG KID, AND HE WAS DOING IT FOR THE COUNTRY, AND HE GOT ON HIS HORSE, AND RODE TO PINCHER CREEK. AND WHEN HE GOT TO PINCHER CREEK, HE SLAPPED THE HORSE ON THE RUMP, AND TOLD IT TO GO HOME.” JACK WAS ASSIGNED THE SERVICE NUMBER 118096 AND ARRIVED IN ENGLAND IN AUGUST 1915. JACK SERVED OVERSEAS WITH THE 8TH BATTALION, ALSO KNOWN AS THE LITTLE BLACK DEVILS. JACK WAS PROMOTED THROUGHOUT THE WAR, FIRST TO LANCE CORPORAL IN OCTOBER 1917, THEN TO CORPORAL IN NOVEMBER 1917, AND FINALLY TO SERGEANT IN JANUARY 1918. JACK’S YOUNGER BROTHER JOSEPH ALSO SERVED IN THE 8TH BATTALION AND WAS KILLED IN JANUARY 1918, JUST DAYS AFTER HIS 20TH BIRTHDAY. JOSEPH WAS BORN JANUARY 22, 1898 AND DIED ON JANUARY 24, 1918. ACCORDING TO THE UNIT’S WAR DIARY, JOSEPH WAS ON PATROL WITH LIEUTENANT HOWARD ALLEN ARCHER AND ANOTHER UNNAMED MAN. THE THREE “RECEIVED A DIRECT HIT FROM AN ENEMY ‘PINEAPPLE’ [GRENADE], BEING KILLED INSTANTLY.” JACK WAS WOUNDED TWICE IN THE WAR: IN NOVEMBER 1916 HE RECEIVED WOUNDS TO HIS HANDS FROM BARBED WIRE; IN AUGUST 1918, HE SUFFERED A GUNSHOT WOUND TO HIS RIGHT LEG. HE WAS ALSO HOSPITALIZED FOR A BAD CASE OF TRENCH FEVER IN MAY-JUNE 1917. JACK’S BATTALION PARTICIPATED IN THE BATTLE OF VIMY RIDGE IN APRIL 1917. ACCORDING TO THE BATTALION’S WAR DIARIES, THE 8TH BATTALION WAS USED AS A “SUPPORT BATTALION [AND] ITS VALUE LIES IN THE COMPANIES REMAINING CONCENTRATED.” IT WAS KEPT IN RESERVE AND RE-ENFORCED THE LINE FOLLOWING THE INITIAL ATTACK. BY APRIL 8, 1917, THE BATTALION WAS MOVED INTO THE ASSEMBLY TRENCHES AT LILLE POST AND BY 830AM ON APRIL 9, THE ATTACK WAS LABELED AS “AN UNQUALIFIED SUCCESS”. NO PRISONERS OF WAR WERE TAKEN BY THE BATTALION IN THIS OFFENSIVE, BUT THE BATTALION DID CAPTURE 3 MACHINE GUNS, 1 TRENCH MORTAR GUN, A 5.9 NAVAL GUN, AND MISCELLANEOUS TELEPHONE AND SIGNALING EQUIPMENT. THEY REMAINED ON THE FRONT LINE UNTIL APRIL 15 AND WERE IN THE REAR IMPROVING ROADS TO THE FRONT BY APRIL 17, 1917. THE 8TH BATTALION ALSO PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN THE BATTLE OF AMIENS IN AUGUST 1918. IT WAS DURING THIS OFFENSIVE, IN THE ADVANCE ON PICARDY, THAT JACK RECEIVED THE GUNSHOT WOUND TO HIS RIGHT LEG, AS WELL AS THE DISTINGUISHED CONDUCT MEDAL. AN ARTICLE FROM THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, PUBLISHED ON FEBRUARY 23, 1943 RELAYS HOW JACK RECEIVED THE WOUND AND THE MEDAL: “SERGEANT SHIELD, THEN A PLATOON SERGEANT IN THE 8TH BATTALION (LITTLE BLACK DEVILS), TOOK CHARGE OF D COMPANY DURING THE BATTLE OF AMIENS, WHEN THE OFFICERS OF THE COMPANY WERE KNOCKED OUT AND THE COMPANY WAS ENCIRCLED BY THE ENEMY. DESPITE BEING SEVERELY WOUNDED IN THE RIGHT LEG, HE LED THE COMPANY AS IT CUT ITS WAY THROUGH THE ENEMY, WITH THE AID OF TWO CAPTURED GERMAN MACHINE-GUNS AND REJOINED THE UNIT.” IN A SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, PUBLISHED ON NOVEMBER 15, 1918, A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT SEQUENCE OF EVENTS IS RECOUNTED: “118096 SJT. J.M. SHIELDS [SIC], INFY. WHEN ABOUT EIGHTY OF THE ENEMY WERE CUT OFF BY HIS PLATOON AND ATTEMPTED TO BREAK THROUGH HE STRENUOUSLY OPPOSED THEM, KILLING FOUR BEFORE HE WAS WOUNDED. HE CONTINUED IN THE ATTACK UNTIL THE OBJECTIVE WAS REACHED. HE SHOWED ABSOLUTE DISREGARD OF DANGER, AND SET A FINE EXAMPLE TO HIS MEN.” THE GUNSHOT WOUND TO HIS RIGHT LEG ENDED JACK’S WAR. HE REMAINED IN HOSPITAL UNTIL JUST BEFORE HIS RETURN TO CANADA. HE WAS SHIPPED HOME ON THE S.S. BELGIC ON APRIL 16, 1919 AND DISEMBARKED AT HALIFAX, NS ON APRIL 23, 1919. JACK WAS FINALLY DISCHARGED FROM SERVICE ON APRIL 28, 1919 IN CALGARY. DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR, JACK DECIDED TO ENLIST AGAIN. INITIALLY HE JOINED THE 14TH ARMY TANK BATTALION, CALGARY REGIMENT OF THE CANADIAN ARMOURED CORPS. HE SERVED IN THIS UNIT FROM MARCH 6, 1941 TO JULY 3, 1941 AND WAS ASSIGNED THE SERVICE NUMBER M-27176. IN JULY 1941, HE WAS DISCHARGED FROM SERVICE DUE TO HIS FLAT FEET AND BECAUSE HE WAS OVERAGE. UNDETERRED AND DETERMINED TO SERVE, JACK JOINED THE VETERAN’S GUARD OF CANADA. HE SERVED IN #11 D COMPANY OF THE VETERAN’S GUARD IN CALGARY, AB, BEGINNING ON NOVEMBER 28, 1941. HE SERVED AS A STORE MAN IN THE VETERAN’S GUARD AT THE RANK OF STAFF SERGEANT. JACK’S SECOND WORLD WAR DISCHARGE PAPERS INDICATE THAT HE WAS DISCHARGED ON SEPTEMBER 15, 1945, FOLLOWING 46 MONTHS OF SERVICE IN CANADA, AT THE AGE OF 49, AND THAT HE HAD A CIRCULAR SCAR ON HIS RIGHT SHIN. THE PAPERS ALSO INDICATE JACK’S POST WAR PLANS: “SHIELD IS [AN] AVERAGED SIZED MAN WITH A PLEASING PERSONALITY. HE HAS BEEN OFFERED A JOB AS [A] TIME KEEPER WITH A RAILROAD CONSTRUCTION COMPANY AND IS VERY HAPPY ABOUT IT. HE HAS HAD PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE IN THIS WORK AND IS QUITE CONFIDENT HE CAN HANDLE IT. THE WORK IS PROMISED TO BE PERMANENT AND SHIELD FEELS THAT HIS FUTURE IS WELL TAKEN CARE OF. IT IS FELT THAT THIS IS THE TYPE OF WORK SHIELD CAN DO AND HE SHOULD HAVE NO TROUBLE MASTERING IT.” EDITH MOYES HAD THE FOLLOWING TO SAY ABOUT HER FATHER: “MY DAD WAS ALWAYS A GENTLEMAN, AND HE ALWAYS HAD, IN THE BACK OF HIM, THE MILITARY. THAT WAS PART OF HIS LIFE. IT ISN’T SOMETHING DAD EVER TALKED ABOUT TO US – THE WAR PART OF IT – BUT I ALWAYS KNEW THAT MY DAD WAS IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR AND THAT HE GOT A MEDAL, WHICH HIS MOTHER WOULDN’T LET HIM GET, AND HE GOT IT AT A LATER TIME. … I HAVE ALWAYS RESPECTED THE MILITARY, THE QUEEN. MY DAD ALWAYS CELEBRATED REMEMBRANCE DAY. HE ALWAYS TOOK US TO THE CENOTAPH. MY DAD WAS NOT A DRINKER. DAD HAD HAD MALARIA IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR THEN. AND HE ALWAYS GOT SICK FROM THE MALARIA. AND WE’D ALWAYS NURSE HIM, AND KNOW THAT WAS PART OF THE WAR … I CAN REMEMBER THE SECOND WORLD WAR, DAD WOULD HAVE BEEN DOWN IN BRITISH GUINEA, AND HE SENT ME BACK A COCONUT AND IT WAS IN THE SHELL.” WHEN ASKED IF HIS DCM EARNED HIM ADDITIONAL RESPECT IN THE COMMUNITY, EDITH REPLIED: “I DIDN’T NOTICE DAD RESPECTED ANY MORE, EXCEPT AT THE CENOTAPH, THERE WAS A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT CAME OVER AND SHOOK HIS HAND. BUT DAD WAS SUCH A PERSONAL MAN. HE DID NOT BRAG ABOUT IT OR TELL US. I DON’T THINK ANY OF US REALIZED WHAT AN HONOUR IT WAS TO HAVE THAT MEDAL, TO BE HONEST WITH YOU.” EDITH’S HUSBAND GORDON “SAM” MOYES ADDED: “HE USED TO TELL ME – I ALWAYS WENT FISHING WITH HIM – AND OUT THERE, HE’D START TALKING ABOUT THE FIRST WORLD WAR – THE WET, THE RAIN, THE MUD – AND THEN IT GOT SO MANY, LIKE HE SAID, ‘YOU DON’T MAKE REAL HARD BUDDIES WHEN YOU’RE UP ON THE FRONT LINE BECAUSE YOU’RE JUST GOING TO SEE THEM SHOT OR KILLED’ … YOU DIDN’T GET TOO FRIENDLY WITH YOUR COMRADES. YOU RESPECTED THEM, BUT YOU DIDN’T REALLY BUDDY-UP, BECAUSE IF THEY GOT KILLED, IT COULD BE A DISASTER.” JACK’S GRANDSON GERRY ELLERMAN ADDED: “THE LAST NUMBER OF YEARS, I SPENT MORE TIME THERE THAN ANYBODY AND ONE THING HE TALKED ABOUT THE FIRST WORLD WAR WAS THE TRENCHES, AND HOW IT WAS WET AND THEN DRY, WET AND THEN DRY, WET AND THEN DRY. AND HIS FEET TOOK A LOT OF HURT OVER THE YEARS. AND HE SPOKE A COUPLE OF TIMES ABOUT THE GAS, AND HOW, WHEN THAT WAS COMING, THEY HAD TO SCRAMBLE. THAT’S THE ONLY THING HE SAID ABOUT THE WAR. AND EVERY SINGLE REMEMBRANCE DAY, WE’D ALWAYS GO DOWN TO THE CENOTAPH AND WHEN IT WAS ALL OVER, WE’D ALWAYS GO TO THE LEGION FOR LUNCH. … AND WE’D GO INTO THE LEGION, AND THERE’D BE LOTS OF WAR VETS THERE, REALLY TALKING IT UP. AND HE’S ALWAYS SAY, ‘WELL, THOSE ARE THE ONES THAT DIDN’T EVEN GO OVER, OR DO ANYTHING. THE ONES THAT ARE SITTING THERE QUIET ARE THE ONES THAT – “ EDITH FINISHED THE SENTENCE: “I CAN REMEMBER DAD SAYING THAT – THAT THE ONES THAT DIDN’T HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY WERE THE ONES WHO WERE ON THE LINE SUFFERING.” RUTH CADICK, ONE OF JACK’S OLDER DAUGHTERS, HAD THE FOLLOWING TO SAY ABOUT HER FATHER: “HE WAS A GREAT FATHER, A GREAT MAN, AND HE WAS KNOWN BY MANY PEOPLE. … WHEN WORLD WAR TWO BROKE OUT, MY FATHER WENT TO CALGARY AND ENLISTED IN THE CALGARY TANKS. HE HAS A NUMBER THERE, AND THAT’S M27176. DAD WAS NOT ABLE TO STAY. HE WAS DISCHARGED BECAUSE HE COULD NOT MEET THE MEDICAL OR PHYSICAL NEEDS, BECAUSE OF HIS INJURIES DURING WORLD WAR ONE. SO FROM THEM, HE WENT TO THE VETERAN’S GUARD AND WITH THE VETERAN’S GUARD HE SERVED AREAS IN WESTERN CANADA AND BRITISH GUINEA. IN BRITISH GUINEA, THAT IS WHERE HE CONTRACTED MALARIA. … [BEING GASSED] BOTHERED HIM FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE. EVEN AS A CHILD, I REMEMBER WHEN HE WOULD COME IN FROM WORK, HE WOULD GO TO BED IMMEDIATELY. MY MOTHER WOULD PUT PLASTERS ON HIS CHEST SO HE COULD BREATHE, AND SHE WOULD FEED HIM, AND THEN HE COULD GET UP AND GO TO WORK THE NEXT DAY. … AFTER RETURNING – WHEN HE GOT HOME – AND THEN HE MET MY MOTHER, AND THEY GOT MARRIED, I THINK IT SAID IN 1923, AND WHEN HE CAME OUT, BECAUSE HE’D COME OUT FROM ENGLAND. HE WAS BORN IN ENGLAND AND THE FAMILY CAME OUT. HE TOOK UP VIOLLAR FARM, RETURNING FROM THE WAR, AND HIM AND MY MOTHER HOMESTEADED WEST OF FORT MACLEOD AND THEY WERE RAISING WORK HORSES.” JACK WAS MARRIED IN 1923 TO BEATRICE EMILY ALLUM. THE COUPLE HAD SEVERAL CHILDREN: ARTHUR SHIELD, LADY EMILY STONHOUSE (NEE SHIELD), RUTH CADICK (NEE SHIELD), SHIRLEY ELLERMAN (NEE SHIELD), AND EDITH MOYES (NEE SHIELD). JACK DONATED THIS UNIFORM TO THE GALT IN 1965 AND HE PASSED AWAY AT THE AGE OF 79 ON JULY 7, 1975.

Catalogue Number

P19739409000

Acquisition Date

1973-09

Collection

Museum

Less detail