Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

“2 C. H. B. OLD BOYS” WWI VETERANS ASSOCIATION

Date Range From

1918

Date Range To

1930

Materials

BRASS, COPPER PLATE, ENAMEL

No. Pieces

2

Height

1

Length

1.5

Width

1.25

Description

SHIELD-SHAPED COPPER-PLATED BRASS PIN WITH ROUND, SCREW-ON BACK. FACE HAS CENTRAL THREE CHEVRON DESIGN IN RED AND BLUE ENAMEL AND IS EMBOSSED WITH TEXT READING “2 C. H. B. OLD BOYS”. METAL IS TARNISHED; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION.

Subjects

PERSONAL SYMBOL

Historical Association

MILITARY

History

THIS WWI VETERAN’S PIN BELONGED TO LIEUTENANT D.A. MCKILLOP. ACCORDING TO HIS DEMOBILIZATION PAPERS, MCKILLOP SERVED WITH THE 2ND CANADIAN HEAVY BATTERY, AS REPRESENTED ON THE PIN BY THE INITIALS “2 C. H. B.” THIS PIN AND THE FOUR OTHER MEDALS COMPRISING THIS DONATION (P20150003001-005) WERE RECEIVED BY GALT COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN THROUGH THE MAIL IN JANUARY 2015, IN A PACKAGE THAT INCLUDED A LETTER FROM THE DONOR, JUNE MCKILLOP, THE WIFE OF D.A. MCKILLOP’S SON DONALD. JUNE WROTE: “I HAVE HAD IN MY POSSESSION FOR MANY YEARS THE ENCLOSED ARTICLES GIVEN TO DON’S FATHER FOR HIS SERVICE DURING THE 1ST WORLD WAR… I HAVE LONG THOUGHT THEY BELONGED IN LETHBRIDGE RATHER THAN IN A CUPBOARD IN TORONTO…” ON JANUARY 29, 2015, MACLEAN INTERVIEWED THE DONOR VIA PHONE CALL ABOUT THE MEDALS. SHE SAID: “[MY HUSBAND AND I] FOUND THEM IN HIS MOTHER’S HOUSE AFTER SHE WENT TO A NURSING HOME IN CALGARY, WHERE SHE DIED [IN 1986]… WE WENT OUT TO SEE IF THERE WAS ANYTHING WE WANTED TO BRING BACK HERE IN MEMORY OF HER… [THE MEDALS] WERE GIVEN TO HER HUSBAND WHO WAS IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR… HE WAS VERY SLIGHTLY GASSED [IN COMBAT] AND TAKEN TO A HOSPITAL IN ENGLAND… [THEN] HE WAS HOME FOR QUITE A NUMBER OF YEARS BEFORE HE DIED, BUT THEY FIGURED IT WAS A RESULT OF THE GASSING, BECAUSE HE WAS NEVER REALLY 100% HEALTHY AFTER THAT… [THE MEDALS] MUST HAVE HAD MEANING TO [MY HUSBAND] BECAUSE HE DIDN’T WANT THEM TO BE SOLD WITH THE REST OF THE THINGS IN THE HOUSEHOLD… [D.A. MCKILLOP] HAD DIED WHEN MY HUSBAND [WAS FIVE], SO DON DIDN’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT HIM AT ALL… MAYBE [HIS MOTHER] SHOWED THE MEDALS TO DON WHEN HE WAS A CHILD [BUT] HE HAD NO MEMORY OF THEM.” THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHY OF DONALD ALEXANDER MCKILLOP WAS DEVELOPED WITH INFORMATION FROM A TRIBUTE ARTICLE FROM THE NOVEMBER 18, 1930 ISSUE OF THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD, MCKILLOP’S ATTESTATION PAPERS AND GALT ARCHIVES RECORD 19981061004. D.A. MCKILLOP WAS BORN IN ADMASTON, ONTARIO IN 1882 TO REVEREND CHARLES AND ELIZABETH MCKILLOP. THE FAMILY MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE IN 1886 WHEN REV. MCKILLOP ASSUMED THE POSITION OF PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER IN THE CITY. DONALD WAS EMPLOYED WITH THE CPR BEFORE ENLISTING IN THE CANADIAN OVERSEAS EXPEDITIONARY FORCE IN NOVEMBER 1914. HE FOUGHT OVERSEAS WITH THE 20TH BATTERY AS A GUNNER AND SAW ACTION AT YPRES AND THE SOMME. ON HIS CERTIFICATE OF MILITARY SERVICE, MCKILLOP IS LISTED AS BEING WOUNDED ON OCTOBER 27, 1916, BUT HE RECOVERED TO BE PROMOTED TO THE RANK OF LIEUTENANT AND GIVEN A SPECIAL COURSE OF INSTRUCTION IN ENGLAND. HE RETURNED TO THE FRONT FOR THE TAKING OF MONS, AND WAS AGAIN PROMOTED TO THE RANK OF CAPTAIN, BECOMING SECOND IN COMMAND OF THE BATTERY FOR THEIR ADVANCE INTO GERMANY. AFTER THE WAR, MCKILLOP WAS APPOINTED THE POSTMASTER OF LETHBRIDGE TO FILL THE VACANCY LEFT BY THE DEATH OF MAJOR ALVIN RIPLEY, WHO MCKILLOP SERVED UNDER IN THE 20TH BATTERY. MCKILLOP MARRIED CORINNE ROY IN 1924, AND THEY HAD TWO SONS, DONALD AND JOHN. D.A. MCKILLOP DIED ON NOVEMBER 18, 1930 AFTER A PROLONGED ILLNESS LINKED TO WARTIME EXPOSURE TO POISON GAS. SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR HARDCOPIES OF SOURCE MATERIAL, MCKILLOP’S ATTESTATION PAPERS, DONOR CORRESPONDENCE, AND FULL TRANSCRIPT OF DONOR INTERVIEW.

Catalogue Number

P20150003004

Acquisition Date

2015-01

Collection

Museum

Less detail