MOOSE JAW — New banners now hang in downtown Moose Jaw that remember three veterans from the Ellis family, including one who fought with the “Suicide Battalion” in the First World War.
Art Ellis and his brother Reg served in the Great War, while Art’s son, Roy, served in the Second World War. Their biographies are featured below, with information taken from the City of Moose Jaw website.
This is part 4 of 8 in a series.
Arthur (Art) John Ellis
Pte. Art Ellis enlisted with the 128th Battalion in Moose Jaw on Jan. 4, 1916 at age 30. This battalion was a Moose Jaw-based battalion that started enlisting recruits from here and area in late 1915. The battalion left for England on Aug. 15, 1916.
Before he went overseas, grandpa Art married Bessie Rosalie Nagle on March 4, 1916. Their first of two sons, Carl Arthur Ellis, was born on Feb. 25, 1917. Grandpa would not meet Carl until he returned from service in 1919.
After arriving in England, grandpa was assigned to the 28th Battalion. On Dec. 5th, 1916, he arrived in France, and on Dec, 28 he joined his new battalion in the field.
The 28th Battalion fought in virtually every major battle of the First World War and proved themselves to be more than equal to the task. That dedication to duty came at a cost, though, as 787 men died and 2,241 were wounded during the war.
Grandpa returned to England on April 11, 1919, and was demobilized on June 2, 1919. He also earned the War Service Badget Army Class A, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
After the war, Grandpa and Grandma Ellis settled in Moose Jaw and lived there for the remainder of their lives. Grandpa, a painter before the war, joined the C.P.R. and retired as a conductor in 1951.
In 1940, our grandparents got to experience their sons putting their lives on hold to once again fight for our freedom, because the world did not learn its lesson the first time around. Already understanding the horrors of war, that parting must have been difficult for them.
Reginald Ellis
Pte. Reginald Ellis enlisted with the 46th Battalion in Moose Jaw on Sept. 23, 1915. This battalion was formed in Moose Jaw in February 1915.
During the First World War, it became known as the “Suicide Battalion” because of how many casualties it took. The battalion played a part in every major battle that Canada was involved in throughout the war.
Of the 5,374 members of the battalion, there were 1,433 soldiers killed and 3,484 soldiers wounded. From August 1916 until the Armistice on Nov. 11, 1918, they had a 91.5-per-cent casualty rate.
Reg arrived in England on Oct. 30, 1915. He was transferred to the 10th Brigade Machine Gun Corps in June 1916 and arrived in France in August 1916, where he served as a machine gunner and dispatch runner. He was later absorbed into the 4th Battalion Machine Gun Corps.
Early in 1918, it was reported that he had received the Military Medal. We are unsure about the circumstances that led up to Reg receiving the medal, but the criteria states that “it may be awarded to non-commissioned members for individual or associated acts of bravery on the recommendation of a Commander-In-Chief in the field.”
Reg was discharged as a cadet on July 6, 1919, and returned to Moose Jaw, where he lived a solitary life. Today, we hear a lot about PTSD and have a better understanding of it, but for many years it seems that people could not grasp that not all wounds are physical. We believe the actions that Reg took and witnessed during the war profoundly affected his life.
Besides his Military Medal, he also received the British War Medal, the Victory Medal, the War Service Badge and the Army Class A medal.
W. Roy Ellis
Roy was born in Moose Jaw on April 11, 1920, to Arthur and Bessie Ellis and lived all his formative years here. He enlisted on May 6, 1940, and on Sept. 9, 1945, he was discharged.
He spent several years training in Canada. On July 2, 1942, Sgt. Roy Ellis married Madeleine Cooney. In March 1943, he was posted overseas and became a member of the RCAF 1659 Heavy Conversion Unit as a mechanic.
The role of a Heavy Conversion Unit was to train crews on the large, four-engine bombers they would be flying in combat. Crews were trained on either the Halifax or the Lancaster bomber.
When dad returned home, he finally met his first child, Patricia. Dad and mom, a powerful team, eventually had six children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren in over 50 years of marriage.
Following the war, dad trained as a remedial physical therapist, then worked at the DVA Hospital in Saskatoon with returning war veterans.
As a civilian, dad returned to his love of swimming and recreation. He became the head swim coach in Saskatoon from 1945-60. When the family returned to Moose Jaw in 1960, he formed the Kinsmen Swim Club and coached it from 1960-66.
His great passion, however, was recreation. He believed strongly that every community needed access to quality recreation venues and programs and worked hard through his various recreation-related roles in government to make this a reality. He was quite successful, as many of his peers referred to him as “Mr. Recreation.”
The Saskatchewan Recreation Society also honoured him, establishing the Roy Ellis Bursary to recognize his contributions to the leisure services field in Saskatchewan. Service to others was a defining characteristic of our father.
The medals he earned included the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal, the Defence Medal 1939-45 and the General Service Badge.
