MOOSE JAW — April 9 marks the 108th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, a pivotal First World War battle that contributed to Canada’s growth as a country and its reputation worldwide.
The Vimy Foundation, an organization dedicated to preserving the memory of this event, which raged from April 9 to 12 in 1917 and killed 3,598 soldiers and wounded 7,004, has highlighted some stories of the 11,285 soldiers whose names appear on the monument in France.
Brothers in blood
Privates Rollie and Norman Ash were brothers from Antigonish, N.S., who served with the 26th Battalion (New Brunswick). As black Canadians, they enlisted despite discrimination and limited opportunities for black volunteers at the time.
Norman, born on June 2, 1897, in Antigonish, was the fourth child of James and Ester Ash. He worked as a labourer and exaggerated his age by two years when he enlisted on July 6, 1916, at Truro, N.S., joining the 106th Battalion (Nova Scotia Rifles). His older brother Rollie, born on Sept. 6, 1894, and employed as a horseman, enlisted just four days later.
The brothers departed Halifax with the 106th aboard the SS Empress of Britain on July 15, 1916. Upon arrival in England, the unit was disbanded and its men reassigned. Norman and Rollie were transferred to the 26th Battalion and arrived in France on Sept. 28, joining their new unit in the field by mid-October near Lens.
In January 1917, the 26th was stationed in northern France, rotating through the trenches around Lens. While large-scale combat was rare during the winter months, patrols and raids remained deadly. On Jan. 16, 1917, Rollie took part in a trench raid and was reported missing, later presumed dead. His body was never recovered.
Norman remained with the battalion and fought in the successful assault on Vimy Ridge on April 9. Weeks later, while under heavy shelling near Neuville-St.-Vaast, he sustained a contusion to his left knee and was hospitalized at Saint-Cloud. After a month of recovery, he rejoined his unit in time to take part in the attack on Hill 70.
On Aug. 15, 1917, the first day of the battle, the 26th advanced through heavy machine gun and rifle fire. After reaching their objective — an exposed stretch of shattered earth dubbed “Norman Trench” — the men dug in by hand while facing repeated German counter-attacks. Pte. Norman Ash was killed in the day’s fighting. Like his brother, his remains were never recovered.
The Ash brothers’ names are engraved side by side on the monument.
A Stanley Cup champion
Lt. Francis Clarence McGee, known as “One-Eyed Frank McGee,” was born on Nov. 4, 1882, in Ottawa, Ont.
Before the First World War, he was a talented hockey player, despite losing his left eye in an amateur game. This injury did not deter him from achieving remarkable success, as he won the Stanley Cup three times with Ottawa and set a record for the most goals scored in a single Stanley Cup game (14).
His contributions earned him a place in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Despite his partial blindness, McGee enlisted in the military and became a lieutenant in the 21st Infantry Battalion. His nephew, Frank Charles McGee, recounted how he managed to pass the eye exam by cleverly covering his blind eye with one hand, then switching hands instead of eyes while reading the chart — tricking the examiner into believing both eyes were functional.
McGee was wounded in the knee in 1915, an injury that should have ended his military service. However, he returned on Aug. 21, 1916, as a motorcycle dispatch rider. On Sept. 16, 1916, he was killed in action at Courcelette during the Battle of the Somme.
His brothers, Charles and Walter, also served, with Charles’ name commemorated alongside McGee's on the Vimy Memorial.
A restless spirit
Pte. David Footuransky was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Dec. 25, 1895. A curious and adventurous young man, he emigrated from Ukraine to Toronto with his family in his early teens, joining the city’s growing Jewish community.
True to his restless spirit, he once ran away to the United States and was arrested for illegally hopping trains — a story that hinted at his thirst for experience and the wider world.
When the First World War broke out, Footuransky and his friends enlisted in search of adventure and he joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force on Aug. 9, 1915. But beneath his boldness was a deep concern for his family. Before departing, he purchased a life insurance policy and told his mother to buy a house if he didn’t return.
Tragically, Footuransky was killed on Nov. 18, 1916 and his body was never recovered. When the notice of his death arrived, his sister, overwhelmed by grief, threw away the letter to spare their mother further pain. It was months before the family learned what happened to him.
Thanks to Footuransky’s foresight, his family purchased a home in Toronto. There, they opened their doors to other new immigrants, helping others begin their lives in Canada — just as Footuransky had once done.
