Veterans Dinner 2025
Presentation

Good Evening Veterans, President Richard Payette and Members of Royal Canadian Legion Branch 569, Honoured Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen:

First I would like to thank you for your kind invitation to address you this evening, and thank you to John Wrinn for reaching out to me.  Your phone call, John, was quite a surprise to me, as I had not expected a return visit to be the speaker at your Veteran' dinner so soon.  I'm so pleased that I was able to rearrange my schedule for this evening so as to accept your kind invitation. It is an honour and privilege to stand before you this evening, as last year I was struggling with a walker while awaiting a hip replacement on December 24th . In fact, I believe I sat on my walker for the presentation last year. 

 

Some in this room this evening will recall that my presentation last year focused on the two cenotaphs that had originally been erected in the Lost Villages of Aultsville and Mille Roches, as well as the history of your physical location of Branch 569 at 7 Frost Avenue in Long Sault.  This year, I wish to zero in on a couple aspects of the Mille Roches-Moulinette Cenotaph at Ault Park, site of the Lost Villages Museum.  It was just ten days ago that the community gathered  to honour the fallen from  Mille Roches, Moulinette, and surrounding areas who made the Supreme Sacrifice in defence of their great country of Canada and of millions around the world. Of special recognition was the 80 th anniversary of the end of World War II on September 2, 1945. 

 

Ladies and gentlemen, my presentation to you the evening will take a two-pronged approach to our local history, - a visit of Remembrance to the cenotaph site at the Lost Villages Museum, and "The Other November 11th", a largely forgotten time of remembrance. 

 

A visit to the cenotaph site and while standing on the beautiful plaza that surrounds the cenotaph, one comes face-to-face with the names of those who gave their lives in World War I on the front of the memorial. Among the nine names memorialized on the cenotaph are two brothers, the sons of Alexander and Isabel (McDonell) McLellan, - Archibald Eugene "Archie" McLellan and James Edmund "Jim" McLellan.  They were two of the four soldier sons of this Mille Roches couple. 

 

A brief look at the story of these four McLellan soldiers should be recognized and memorialized by all those who call Legion Branch 569 their branch. These soldiers, lived, worked, and played among our forefathers, and they left their marks on the community of Mille Roches. They and their descendants have made great contributions to this great country we call Canada. 

 

Archie McLellan was killed in action at the Battle of the Somme on November 28, 1916, at the age of 18 years, and his name and memory are memorialized on the Vimy Ridge Memorial.  His brother, Jim McLellan, left high school in January 1916, to enlist on January 24th at Cornwall.  He landed in England on July 4, 1917 and, as one medical report states that he was “a tough, rugged boy, eager to get into the fray.” He served in many of the battles in Northern France alongside his brother, but Lance Corporal McLellan was only 18 years of age when he was killed at Marcelcave, France, on August 8, 1918, when a truck he was transporting ammunition in was hit by a shell. Now do the math and realize his age at enlistment!

 

One can only imagine the anxiety and turmoil in the lives of the parents of these two young brothers.  One can only imagine the heartache experienced by them when news finally reached them at Mille Roches, as they had two other sons fighting in France.  Yes, their sons, Aeneas Benedict McLellan, known as “Mac”, and Alexander McLellan, fondly remembered as “Alex”, served with distinction and both were severely wounded during action in northern France.

 

Mac McLellan enlisted in the Canadian Army Engineers on February 23, 1916, arrived overseas in 1916, and he immediately proceeded to France on October 21, 1916.  He was wounded in the right shoulder on the battlefield in France in September 1918 and, after recuperating from his wounds, he continued a stint in France before serving in Belgium until the end of the war.  He was honourably discharged on March 29, 1919, to return home to the loving and grateful arms of his parent.  Mac MacLellan passed away at the age of 77 years on December 12, 1970.

 

Alex McLellan, a dear friend of my parents, was the fourth son from the McLellan family to serve in World War I.  He enlisted in the 154th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force on January 19, 1916, and arrived in England as a Training Officer in physical fitness and bayonet fighting.  He gave up his rank to go to France as a  private, and was wounded at Lens, France, on August 4, 1918.  He lost his left arm. As a young lad, I remember Alex during his life and time in Mille Roches, where he served as postmaster and established the well-known Treasure Island Honey Farm.  Alex and his wife, Florence, were Godparents to my oldest brother, Tom. A memory I have of Alex is the fact that he could do more with one hand and arm than most people could do with two.

 

Ladies and gentleman, this stop at the cenotaph in Ault Park at the Lost Villages Museum paints a picture of the atrocities of war, the loss of two sons and the wounds inflicted on two others. It is fair to say that these brave, local heroes, at very young ages, were determined to stand up to tyranny in defence of their country, Canada.

 

Having just said the above, a few steps to the back of the cenotaph will bring you to the names of those who lost their lives in WWII.  Again, I will single out one particular name of a soldier who had quite a life before serving in the Armed Forces.  This soldier was John Lockey Scott Swainson, a British Home  Child.  Perhaps there are some among you who have no idea about these British Home Children in Canada and that some served with distinction in World War I and World War II.

 

The British Home Children were the over 120,000 orphans and destitute children who were sent to Canada in a child migration scheme between 1869 and 1939.  My grandmother was one of them.  John Swainson was another.  He was born in Newcastle, England in 1912 and came to Canada through the British Immigration and Colonization Association at the age of 14 years.  Little is known about his time in Canada, but it is known that he served out his indenture, yes I said indenture, on the farms of Oscar Fetterly, Albert MacDonald, and Fred Young of Mille Roches.  John Swainson served as a Private in The Black Watch, the Royal Highland Regiment.  He passed away in England on July 25, 1944, from injuries received in France.

 

While many British Home Children joined the army so that they could return to their mother country, I believe Pte. John Swainson joined out of patriotism to his adopted country, Canada.  His mortal remains may rest in England, the country of his birth, but his memory will live on in our community, at the Mille Roches-Moulinette cenotaph.

 

May I encourage you to pay a visit to the cenotaph site and see the beautiful plaque that was unveiled last year and featuring images of the McLellan boys and of John Swainson.  These photos are carefully preserved at the Lost Villages Archives.

 

As I said at the outset, my presentation this evening would have a two-pronged approach, and the second prong will reach back 212 years. I reference “The Other November 11 th , the Battle of Crysler’s Farm that took place on November 11, 1813.

 

The Battle of Crysler’s Farm was a pivotal point in the battles to save British North America that took place between 1812 and 1814. While many bloody battles took place along the border between British North America (or Canada) and the United States of America, such as the Battle of Queenston Heights and the Battle of Lake Erie, it was the pivotal Battle at Crysler’s Farm that halted the American advance down the St. Lawrence River to Montreal and their intended control of the major waterway into the interior of North America. In fact, with the control of the river, the United States of America would have had complete control of North America and there would not be a Canada that we have called “our home and native land”.

 

Visitors to the monument site near Upper Canada Village will be drawn to the obelisk memorial that was unveiled on September 25, 1895, although not at its present site on the memorial mound. It was moved about a kilometre north of the original site because of the Hydro and Seaway Development projects of the 1950s. As well, visitors will read the words on the “Blue Plaque” erected by the Ontario Heritage Trust in 1963. The plaque states: “Battle of Crysler's Farm 1813 - In November 1813, an American army of some 8,000 men, commanded by Major-General James Wilkinson, moved down the St. Lawrence en route to Montreal. Wilkinson was followed and harassed by a British "corps of observation," consisting of about 800 regulars, militia and Indians commanded by Lieut.-Col. Joseph Morrison. On November 11, Morrison's force, established in a defensive position on John Crysler's farm, was attacked by a contingent of the American army numbering about 4,000 men  commanded by Brigadier-General J.P. Boyd. The hard-fought engagement ended with the Americans' withdrawal from the battlefield. This reverse, combined with the defeat of another invading army at Chateauguay on October 26, saved Canada from conquest in 1813.”

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So why do I reference “The other November 11 th ” at a Veteran’s dinner. First, without the success of that first November 11 th in 1813, we would be gathering in a very different setting today, and it certainly wouldn’t be in Canada. The Remembrance Ceremonies of the 20 th and 21st centuries would be far different commemorations than what we have when we gathered over the years at the cenotaphs around the country. For each of us, our hearts should be full and our minds filled with thoughts of those who stood in defence of their homeland under the Red Ensign so long ago.

 

For those who have not heard of “The other November 11 th ” in the past, let me remind you of an event associated with it that occurs yearly in our community on November 11 th . Building on some acts of remembrance activities that Carol Goddard and I established at the Crysler Farm site many years ago, the Friends of The Crysler’s Farm Battlefield and the Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry Highlanders Regiment host a short Service of Remembrance on a yearly basis at 9:00 a.m. on November 11th . Numbers continue to build for this activity, and a cordially invitation is extended to Legion Branch 569 members and friends. 

 

In conclusion, I again give thanks for the kind invitation to have dinner with you this evening and to impart a wee bit of history to you in my role as President of the Lost Villages Historical Society. I congratulate all of you for what you do for Veteran’s and the community at large.  With your rich history of giving, may I wish each and every one of you the best in good health and happiness in your work and  associations with Branch 569. May you all be blessed.

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 Thank you.