Canadian Connections


Prior to the First World War the Canadian military force amounted to 3,110 men of a regular army and a fledging navy. 620,000 Canadians answered the call to arms and enlisted to fight for the British Empire, at the outbreak of the First World War, of this figure 67,000 had been killed with a further 250,000 being wounded by 1918. In this piece about Remembrance, one man comes to the forelight who has a connection with Swansea.



I want to take you back to 1915, following the chronicled events of the 13th Battalion (Royal Highlanders of Canada), Canadian Expeditionary Force, consisting of 100-200 men. They moved up to the Front for the first time on 16th April, at St. Jean near St. Julien, western Belgium. The evening before the Second Battle of Ypres, (22nd April – 5th May), the battalion progressed to the Front Line, without any casualties. 23rd April, the Germans performed the barbaric act of releasing chlorine-gas for the first time. The attack was against the French, who were holding the line left of the Canadians. The French capitulated, causing confusion when retreating back to the village of St. Julien. During that evening of the 23rd, the 13th Battalion, still holding their lines fast, were also gassed and shelled. 24th April, was the first day of the Battle of St. Julien (24th April – 5th May). During the early morning the Canadians were re-forming, re-organizing their lines, when the Germans released another gas cloud. Officers gave the order for men to urinate on their handkerchiefs and place them over their mouths and noses as protection. The Canadians, including the 13th Battalion held the line until 7.30 in the morning, when they were forced back to the G.H.Q. trenches. The Germans captured the village of St. Julien which then remained in their Front Line for 2 years. During the first day of the battle, 102 men from the 13th Battalion were killed as a result of shelling or gas poisoning. The names of these men are inscribed on the Menin Gate Memorial, situated at Ypres.

We move now to this year. Since the beginning of the year I have picked interesting stories that were published in the newspapers, covering 1914 – 1918. I post my findings on my Facebook Page, Swansea War Dead – First World War. Feel free to join my page and to make comments.



On 13th May my post included an article entitled Swansea Canadian Killed In Action, which had been published in the Cambria Daily Leader, announcing the death of George Wilfred Imrie. The Herald of Wales and Monmouthshire Recorder, published on the 22nd May 1915, had an article with an accompanying photograph of G. W. Imrie. With some research, I discovered that Imrie was one of the 102 to be killed on the 24th April 1915.



By chance I was chatting to Simon in the Bay studio and he mentioned that his great-uncle had been killed during the First World War – George Wilfred Imrie. Simon’s middle name is Imrie – his maternal grandmother’s maiden name.

I told them of my research work, and shared with Simon my findings and the photograph.


What more information is there about George? He was born in Mumbles in 1889, and educated at Brynmill Board School. During 1912, he emigrated to Canada, on board the Royal George where he settled in Montreal employed as a clerk at the Nichols’ Chemical Works. He never married. He reached the rank of Sergeant in the army.

Copyright – The Bay Magazine – July 2018

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