Project marks First World War's 100th anniversary

Eric Horsey May was just 20 years old when he died of wounds on a battlefield in France on Aug. 22, 1918.

The Ottawa resident had left his studies at Queen's University to become a gunner with the 72 Battery of the Canadian Field Artillery, and later the Howitzer Battery.

The military presented May with the Victory Medal. Sometime in the past century, however, the award ended up on an Internet auction site.

Enter Huntington University president Kevin McCormick.

As part of a project to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War, which began July 28, 1914, McCormick is on a mission to purchase Canadian veterans' medals and other personal artifacts.

He then either gives them back to the veterans' families or donates them to museums or community groups across the country.

“It's very exciting, and it's very meaningful work, and I think it's a small way I can say thank you,” he said.

In the case of May's medal, he presented it to the Queen's University Archives on May 22.

McCormick has undertaken the project at his own expense as part of his role as the Honourary Lieutenant Colonel of the Irish Regiment of Canada.

He was asked by the federal government to become the Irish Regiment's honourary lieutenant colonel about 18 months ago.

McCormick said he's not sure why the government thought of him, as his only connection with the military was helping it develop educational materials, but said he was honoured to accept the post.

He said he's not a collector of military memorabilia, but started purchasing the items off of the Internet about a year ago with express purpose of raising awareness of sacrifices made in the First World War.

In fact, he said he actually disapproves of the practise of military medals being sold. In some cases, people purchase medals made of silver or other precious metals to melt them down, meaning a piece of history is lost forever.

McCormick said he plans to wrap up his project July 28, 2014, the exact anniversary of the beginning of the war. He has a complete set of letters, personal diaries and medals from a young Canadian killed in the conflict he plans to present at the tomb of the unknown soldier in Ottawa.

McCormick said he doesn't want to share details of the soldier's life just yet, because he's still trying to track down the man's descendants to see if they'd like the items, as he does every time he makes an acquisition.

The project has gotten him thinking about the conditions soldiers lived under 100 years ago.

It could take eight weeks for a letter to reach home, meaning that a soldier's family could receive a letter saying they were OK one day, and then receive a knock at the door saying their loved one was dead the next, he said.

In contrast, McCormick said he's able to easily speak to friends serving in the Canadian military through email and other modern communications technology, even if they're deployed overseas.

The trenches of the First World War were also the great equalizer, McCormick said. He said he's purchased medals earned by everyone from the president of the Alberta Medical Society to common labourers.

McCormick has also made some interesting discoveries about his own family history. One of his middle names is Robert, after his uncle Robert James McCormick, who died during the First World War, in Calais, France.

“I found this only after I started this initiative,” he said. “His medals were sold in England for $1,800. They sold everything. Those are things I'll never be able to have.”

McCormick said he's planning to have replicas of these medals made so he'll have a visible reminder of his uncle's sacrifice. His two grandfathers, Edward Watts and Hugh McCormick, also served in the First World War, he said.

Although not a historian by training, McCormick said he's always loved history, and is especially interested in military history because he's a proud Canadian.

He said it's important to mark the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War not only to remember the sacrifices of those who served, but also to teach people about the past.

“It really shows you how 100 years is not that much in history, when you start to look at the fact that we just recently lost the last First World War veteran,” McCormick said.

“When you look at it, that's a long time to have people around.”