Toronto’s Company Sergeant-Major Alexander McVean will finally get a headstone after 100 plus years.
Some 16 soldiers of the Toronto Scottish Regiment are travelling to the Netherlands and France as part of a ceremony to lay a headstone for a soldier who has been unknown for more than 100 years.
The team, with residents from South Etobicoke, includes a Pipe Major and historian, will visit Meppel, The Netherlands, to mark the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of The Netherlands, to a large measure by First Canadian Army.
Regiment historian and author Timothy Stewart said the citizens of Meppel, were ‘honoured,” the Canadians were attending the anniversary of the Liberation of The Netherlands.
In France, for more than 100 years the unknown soldier of the 75th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was buried in a grave in the Somme, with an ‘unknown’ headstone, like countless others.
Company Sergeant-Major Alexander McVean (left) with colleagues.
The soldier was recently identified as Company Sergeant-Major Alexander McVean, 27, of Toronto, and the team will help place a headstone on his grave on April 16.
“These are historical moments that happen infrequently, especially the identification of a soldier from the Great War over 100 years later and the dedication of a new headstone with his name,” said Stewart.
McVean had been promoted to Company Sergeant-Major in October, a month before he died.
“The successful identification of his final resting place is a reminder of the enormity of the sacrifice that some have made in service to Canada,” said Bill Blair, the Minister of National Defence. “Your loved one will always be honoured and remembered.”
McVean was born in Shettleston, Scotland, and was one of nine children. The family emigrated to Canada in 1911.
Canadian troops marching in battle in the Netherlands.
Before enlisting in the CEF, he served in the 9th Mississauga Horse, a regiment of the Active Militia, and worked as a civilian chauffeur and streetcar operator.
The 75th Battalion fought as part of the 11th Infantry Brigade of the 4th Canadian Division. In October 1916, the Division was tasked with capturing the Regina and Desire Trenches, the last of a series of trenches between Thiepval and Courcelette, France.
The Battle of the Ancre, ended on November 18, 1916, marking the conclusion of the five months of the larger Battle of the Somme. The Canadian Division suffered 1,250 casualties but managed to take many German prisoners, including 17 officers and 608 from other ranks.
Some 248 of the casualties were from the 75th Battalion, where 104 men died, of which 71 had no graves. McVean was reported wounded and then later declared killed in action. He is commemorated on the Canadian National Vimy Memorial.
Built in memory of Canadian soldiers killed in France during the First World War, the memorial honours those who have no known grave.
Alexander’s brother, Bombardier Malcolm McVean, also lost in life in the war. He served with the British Royal Field Artillery and is buried in Étaples Military Cemetery near Boulogne, France.