Ireland honours his First World War grandfather

Jake Ireland volunteered at a Royal Canadian Legion, Simcoe Branch 79 poppy station in Simcoe Sunday afternoon.

Chris Abbott

Editor

Jake Ireland’s grandfather, Harry Samuel Green, was a soldier in the First World War.

“That’s really why I’m here,” said Ireland, volunteering at a Royal Canadian Legion, Simcoe Branch 79 poppy station Sunday afternoon in Simcoe. “I’ve been doing this for maybe 10 years.”

Ireland’s grandfather, Harry Samuel Green, was a Home Child, born Oct. 20, 1893, in Aldershot, Hampshire. He was placed in the National Children’s Home following the death of his mother. Harry’s father, who worked at the army barracks in Aldershot, was unable to care for the young child.

At 17, Harry was sent to Hamilton, Canada, sailing from Liverpool in 1910. He worked as a farm labourer at John R. Job’s Hamilton Market Garden in Flamborough Township.

He enlisted in Waterdown on Feb. 25, 1916.

“I guess it was better for him to volunteer than it was to stay on one of those farms,” said Ireland.

On May 18, 1916, Harry married Winifred Mitchell at the Carlisle Methodist Church. Ireland’s mother, Evelyn, was born in September 1916 – she never saw her father.

Assigned to the 129th Wentworth Battalion, Harry had departed for England, then France where he was reassigned to a British Columbia Regiment.

Lance Cpl. Green was killed in action on Sept. 6, 1918, at the age of 23, while in the trenches near Canal du Nord, hit by a shell fragment. He was buried in the Dominion Cemetery, Hendecourt-Les-Casnicourt, France.

“I have very specific details on where he was buried,” said Ireland, noting it includes driving instructions to get to the cemetery. “I have a niece who went.”

Harry is also commemorated on the First World War Cemetery Gate at Carlisle United Church, a community north of Hamilton.

“Last November 11th, I went up to the gates at the church in Carlisle, and I couldn’t read the plaque - the stone had weathered so badly,” said Ireland. “I contacted them, said I will make a donation but I would like that fixed… so they did! It was fixed about two months ago.”

Ireland recently received a copy of a war-time photo of a group of Carlisle-area recruits that included his grandfather.

“Out of nowhere,” Ireland smiled, cherishing the photo. “Incredible.”

A veteran and member of Branch 79 in Simcoe, Ireland said he will be in Carlisle this year for Remembrance Day.