Osgoode Hall Law School of York University Osgoode Digital Commons Digital Texts Law Library 2014 The Great War Law Student Memorial Project E. Patrick Shea Gowling, Lafleur, Henderson (Firm) Highlanders Foundation Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/library_digital Part of the History Commons, and the Law Commons Repository Citation Shea, E. Patrick; Gowling, Lafleur, Henderson (Firm); and Highlanders Foundation, "The Great War Law Student Memorial Project" (2014). Digital Texts. 2. https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/library_digital/2 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Library at Osgoode Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Digital Texts by an authorized administrator of Osgoode Digital Commons. They shall grow not old THE GREAT WAR LAW STUDENT MEMORIAL PROJECT E. Patrick Shea, CS For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon They went with songs to the battle, they were young. Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted, They fell with their faces to the foe. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them. Message from The Law Society of Upper Canada This book is a tribute to 59 exceptional young men. Each one of them made a momentous and irreversible decision 100 years ago. We will never know their full reasons for making the choice they did, but we know it was a choice that cost them their lives. On behalf of The Law Society of Upper Canada, I want to acknowledge the enormous sacrifice these brave young law students made to put their legal studies and their lives on hold to serve and protect their country. We are privileged to be able to recognize their service and their sacrifice through an Honorary Call to the Bar for each of them. I would like to thank Patrick Shea without whom this tribute and this book would not be possible. Patrick has dedicated himself to this project. He has invested countless hours researching all of the students, not only those who served from Ontario, but from every province across the country. His research has taken him to libraries and archives all over the world to trace their biographies and track their descendants. His dedication and commitment to this project has been astounding and I would like to thank him for his tireless work and effort. It is also a privilege to share this tribute and the Honorary Call with members of the families of these law students. Every one of us owes a debt of gratitude to these young heroes. Their sacrifice, and that of all the others who gave their lives has enabled and enriched our lives over the years. May this book help us to remember. Treasurer The Law Society of Upper Canada The Project In March of 2012, Captain (ret’d) E. Patrick Shea, C.S., a partner in Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP and a former Reserve Officer in the Canadian Armed Forces, wrote to Thomas G. Conway, the Treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada, to propose that honorary calls be provided to the Law Society of Upper Canada students killed in the First World War. Shea’s proposal was accepted by the Law Society and he began to research the 59 students listed on the Law Society’s WWI Memorial to prepare biographies and locate living descendants. In conducting research to prepare biographies, Shea discovered that a 60th Law Society of Upper Canada student who had enlisted in WWI and died while on active service, Lieutenant Robert William McBrady, was not listed on the Memorial. McBrady was killed in a domestic incident while in Canada after enlisting, but before going overseas. McBrady’s biography is included in this Book. Had they lived, each of the students would almost surely have been called. In 1914, individuals wishing to be qualified to practise law in Ontario were required to: (a) be admitted into the Law Society of Upper Canada as a student; (b) clerk (article) for either three or five years depending on the persons education; (c) attend lectures at the Law School at Osgoode Hall for three years; (d) pass prescribed examinations; and (e) pay prescribed fees. After the War, the Ontario Legislature passed the Law Society Amending Act, 1919, which permitted the Law Society of Upper Canada to provide calls to any student member who served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, the Imperial Expeditionary Force or the Navy and who was honourably discharged. The Committee Thomas G. Conway (Chair), Former Treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada; Captain (ret’d) E. Patrick Shea, CS, Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP; Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Paterson, CD, The Bank of Montreal and former Commanding Officer of the 48th Highlanders of Canada; Hon Stephen Goudge, former Justice of the Court of Appeal for Ontario and Paliare Roland LLP; John Callaghan, Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada and Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP; Janet E. Minor, Treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada and Robert G.W. Lapper, QC, CEO of the Law Society of Upper Canada. Acknowledgments The following individuals and organizations have made this project possible: the staff at Library and Archives Canada and the University of Toronto Archives; the staff at St. Andrew’s College in Aurora, Ontario especially Dr. Sue Hayter, PhD and Captain (ret’d) Vic Goldman, CD; the staff at Trinity College School, especially Captain The Rev Canon Don Aitchison; the Former Treasurer, Thomas G. Conway, the Treasurer, Janet E. Minor, and Benchers of the Law Society of Upper Canada and the staff at the Law Society of Upper Canada especially Mary Shena, Amy Costanzo, Paul Leatherdale, and Zelia Pereira; Darlene Warren of the University of Calgary; Major Frank Lamie and Lauren Enquist of Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, who assisted with the editing of the text; Sonia Mahajan, a student at Branksome Hall in Toronto, who worked on the project as a summer intern and assisted with the biographies; Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, which funded the production of this book; and the Highlanders Foundation, a charitable foundation co-founded by Shea to perpetuate the history of Canada’s Highland Regiments, which funded the printing of this book. 7 Introduction It is, as a practical matter, impossible to provide a comprehensive history of the First World War in the space available and there are numerous sources of readily-available information with respect to the War, Canada’s contribution to the War Effort, and the impact of WWI on Canada and Canadian society. The purpose of this short Introduction is to provide some context to the contributions to the War Effort made by the legal profession in Ontario and to provide background information to assist readers understanding the biographies that follow. The sources of the information in this Introduction are varied and include the Canadian War Museum’s website, “Canada and the First World War”, the Law Society of Upper Canada’s website, Veterans Affairs Canada’s website and Colonel G.W.L. Nicholson’s 1962 text Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914 – 1919, the official history of Canada’s involvement in WWI. The Great War – The Beginning The chain of events that led to the outbreak of the Great War is complex and rooted in a network of treaties and military alliances that were triggered by the assassination, in June of 1914, of Archduke Franz Ferdinand the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Emprire. The War began on 28 July 1914, when the Austro-Hungarian Empire, looking for an excuse to prosecute a limited war against Serbia, declared war on Serbia. That event triggered a series of alliance commitments that quickly resulted in the widening of the conflict beyond all expectations. Ultimately, all of the major powers were drawn into WWI with the belligerants assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies or the Triple Entente centered around Great Britain, France and Russia, and the Central Powers centered around Germany, the Ottoman Empire and the Austro- Hungarian Empire. The War was fought primarily on the Atlantic Ocean and three Fronts: the Western Front in France and Belgium, the Eastern Front in Russia and the Southern Front in Serbia. The Canadian Contribution to the Great War Britain entered WWI as a result of the invasion by Germany of Belgium in August of 1914. Britain was bound by a treaty to defend Belgium in the event of an attack. When Germany refused to comply with Britain’s demand that it withdraw from Belgium, Britain declared war on Germany on 5 August 1914. This brought the entire British Empire, including the Dominion of Canada, into the War. While Canada was a self-governing Dominion of the British Empire, it did not control its own foreign affairs and Britian’s Declaration of War meant that Canada was also at war. Canada was, however, able to establish the nature and extent of its involvement in the Great War. After Britain declared War, Canada ordered the mobilization of a Canadian Expeditionary Force as its contribution to the War. The Canadian Expeditionary Force, or the CEF, refers to the field force that Canada contributed to WWI. The Canadian Corps – the four Canadian Infantry Divisions Canada put into the field to fight in France and Belgium – was perhaps the most significant part of theCEF, but the CEF included other formations such as the Canadian Cavalry Brigade, the Canadian Machine Gun Corps, the Canadian Railway Troops and the Canadian Forestry Corps.