The Disastrous Fire of '42 / July 1 Celebrations: Lest We Forget / Collins' Centennial Memoir
July 1 Celebrations: Lest
We Forget
Enlisted for Service in the First
World War at Westville, N.S.
A recruiting rally was held at Westville on August 5, 1914, a day after war was declared. The following is the complete list of the officers, NCOs and men of the 78th Pictou Highlanders who have enlisted of overseas services.
Officers: M. Everett Sutherland, Capt., Westville
Enlisted Men from Westville: Pvts: John G. MacDonald (burglar), Dan Carrigan; John R. Armour (Racky); Henry MacNeil; Alex Miller; Dan Miller, James Livingstone; David Rees; Rueben Williams; George Loning.
The War Memorial
July 1, 1922 was a beautiful sunny day, with the type of weather which draws large crowds for community events. From various parts of the county, people came to take part in the Westville Dominion Days.
The festivities commenced with a colorful parade of pipers followed by school children. At 11 a.m. Lieutenant Governor Grant and Major General Thacker were given a warm welcome. About 4,000 people had gathered to witness the unveiling of the new war monument, wrapped with a Union Jack set in a carefully manicured lawn and surrounded by summer flowers.
Highlanders parading around
McQuarrie's Corner, July 1, 1938.
After the official opening ceremony and speeches, little girls dressed in white placed white carnations at the foot of the monument. The Last Post was sounded by Charles MacDonald.
The monument remains today a beautiful piece of art. With the exception of the bronze statue, the entire monument is built of granite. The inscription reads:
In memory of our honoured dead
who laid down their lives
in the great War
as a sacrifice on the Altar of
freedom,
1914-1918
The bronze figure is seven feet six inches in height. The pedestal is slightly over five feet tall and measures, from wing to wing, about eleven feet. The total height is thirteen feet.
The monument, one of the finest east of Montreal, was built by the Thompson Monument Company of Toronto at a cost of over $6,000.
Awaiting a July 1 parade; year
unknown
Pictou Highlanders in a July 1
celebration during the '30s.
The names engraved on the monument are:
Daniel
Adamson Harry MacNeil
John
Appleton Frank
MacPherson
Thomas
Blair John H. McInnis
George
Boggs John R. Miller
Daniel
Chisholm William L.
Miller
George
Clay Joseph Myers
Rod Fraser
Connors Daniel O’Handley
Alexander
Cyr John Patterson
Alexander
Duncan Edward Rae
Philip Edwards
Joseph Reid
George
Ferguson Joseph Richardson
George
Foley Albert Rose
John W. Fraser
Muir Ross
Raymond Stewart
Fraser John Robert Sloane
Angus
Gray Robert Smith
Herbert Hadley Stanley Smith
Sydney Hale, M.M.
H.M.S. Stevenson
John
Henderson Charles Stewart
Wilson
Hickman Harry M. Stewart
James A.
Holland Samuel R. Stewart
Robert Hubley
Wylie Stewart
Charles MacAllister, D.C.M. Harry Stroyd
John G. MacDonald
William Sullivan
John
MacEachern Sam K. Tingley
Hugh D.
MacKenzie Roland Francis Turner
Anbrose Henry Madore
James R. Wallace
George Albert
MacLeod Anthony Wallace
A July 1 parade; year unknown
A horse team at the July 1,
1938, celebration.
The men and women who gave their lives in the World War II, 1939-1945, are as follows:
Samuel A. Cameron
Robert E. Campbell
George Chambers
William F. Clarke
Freeman F. Dalling
Austen G. Ellis
John F. Emery
Clarence Favier
Wallace O’Fraser
Lester Graham
Lemuel W. Gray
Harold Hubley
William Hughes
Robert LeBlanc
John R. Lockhart
Augustus W. MacDonald
Reginald MacDonald
Jessie M. MacLeod
John H. MacLeod
Cliffard MacPherson
Robert Melanson
Fraser F. Mercer
Alva H. Morrison
Clyde A. Munro
Roy T.R. Oliver
Neil Rattee
Joseph Taylor
James S. Walsh
Korea Conflict:
William E. Johnson
A July 1 celebration, pre-1942
