Soldiers leaving from Union Station, 1910s (45/96)

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Soldiers leaving from Union Station, 1910s
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Written by Aung Budhh

Husband + Father + librarian + Poet + Traveler + Proud Buddhist. I love you with the breath, the smiles and the tears of all my life.

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  1. It is nearly time for Remembrance Day, Nov. 11 next month. My great-uncle Sidney Edward Dudley enlisted in Toronto, along with thousands of others, in early 1915. They took the train to a very large waiting area in Montreal, where they were outfitted and trained. In August of 1916 he was finally shipped, with 3,000 others, on the SS Cameronia, to England, and sent to the front in France in early 1917. After hearing about the horrors of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, quite nearby in May, 1917, he was sent on a reconnaisance patrol for his first action. He was killed in Partridge Trench on July 5, 1917 by artillery fire. He left behind two brothers who survived the war, his mother, his wife and 2 sisters. Canada’s Silver Cross was awarded to both his mother and his wife, but the whereabouts of those medals are unknown.

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    • I love that you support soldiers of all the wars but I do not believe that war is a noble thing. My great-uncle endured health problems, boredom, fear, and unfamiliar discipline for nearly 3 years in various places that were not home. He was apart from his wife for years; they never got to have children. He was 23 when he died. He never got the opportunity to be a hero, or to actually fight. He never made any difference and died far away from the life he had known. Did he really fight for Canada’s freedom?

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      • I can see your point & it is very sad that he was gone so young. My grandfather was in WW1 & was in the trenches. He suffered some health problems, but lived till he was 91. It was hard for my grandmother & she raised 3 children partly on her own. I think that your uncle did make a difference though, because he enlisted & wanted to help out. All these men were hero’s because they believed in the effort & wanted to help in some way. God bless them all. I am just grateful that we are a free country & not a dictatorship. Thankyou to all who made that possible. I am be eternally grateful.

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