"It was Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific on parade. I thought then . . . that in those few minutes I witnessed the birth of a nation."
Many Canadians have heard those words today. They are the words of my great-great uncle, Brigadier-General Alexander Ross, the brother of my grandfather’s father.
Several years ago, a friend of mine was tearing down a house on the 200 block of 12th Street when he found a document behind a baseboard that interested him. It was clearly old and had a name on it - Alexander Ross - that was much like my name – Deveryn Donald Alexander Ross. He brought the document to my house and gave it to me as a gift.
When I first looked at the document, I thought it was interesting, but it didn’t really capture my attention. I put it in a drawer in a desk and forgot about it.
Five years ago, in early April, as I recall, I opened the drawer and found the document that I had forgotten about. That’s when I looked at it more carefully and noticed that it has the royal seal on it, and the signature of King George V. It bestows the Distinguished Service Order (one step below the Victoria Cross) upon Lt.-Col. Alexander Ross, of the 28th Battalion Canadian Infantry. A copy of the document is found at this link:
http://www.nwbattalion.com/memorial/arossdso.html
After some protracted research, I was able to determine his apparent relationship to my great-grandfather. I say “apparent” because you can never be completely sure with records this old. What I know is that his family was from the same place in Scotland as mine – Forres, Morayshire and settled in the same area of Saskatchewan as where my great-grandfather, my grandfather and both my parents are from.
When World War I started, Capt. Alex Ross was effectively the company clerk of the 28th Battalion – the Radar O’Reilly of the unit. His wife had just died during childbirth (along with the baby), he was a struggling lawyer and he enlisted to serve his country.
The 28th Battalion was involved in every major battle of WWI – including the Somme, Paeschendale and Vimy. A few months before Vimy, now-Major Ross became the commander of the 28th when General Embury was wounded. At Vimy, Major Ross organized a combined artillery-infantry assault that resulted in the 28th accomplishing all of its objectives on the first day of the battle, with a far lower casualty rate than other units – but still in the hundreds. For this accomplishment, Major Ross was promoted to Lt-Colonel, and was awarded his first of two DSOs.
By the end of WWI, this farmboy - turned lawyer – turned military commander had advanced to become a Brigadier-General. He was the first President of the Royal Canadian Legion and gave the speech at the dedication of the Vimy Memorial that everyone is talking about – “I thought then . . . that in those few minutes I witnessed the birth of a nation."
General Ross died with any children, alone in Yorkton, not knowing that he had family members so close by. I am told that he was haunted throughout his life by all of the friends he saw die in the trenches of France.
I am proud to say that I am one of six living next of kin of this man. And I would never have known that if Murray Fletcher had not found that document and brought it to my house.
The heroism of these men cannot be forgotten.