THE POPPY TRAIL

First Published in the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogy Society Newsletter - Toronto Tree - January/February 2017.

Joseph Henry Down (1889 – 1915) – The Poppy Trail

My grandfather Joseph Henry Down died at the 2^nd Battle of Ypres, Belgium on April 24, 1915.   His body was not recovered, and there is no grave, but he is listed on the Menin Gate Memorial, along with over 55,000 other soldiers who lost their lives in the battle.

In order to commemorate Joseph’s death my husband John and I decided to plan a trip to Ypres in April 2015.  As part of the planning, we researched Joseph from cradle to grave.  The family had always lived in the east end of Toronto and I didn’t realize how many places they had lived in while still maintaining to be “East-Enders”.

Our plan was to find as much information about Joseph as possible analysing all the data I had collected in my genealogy research, plus additional information from any military records.  My husband also contacted the Legion and received a bag of poppies.  Our intent was to leave a poppy at every location where Joseph lived and we visited.  So before we made the journey to Ypres, we started in Toronto.

I haven’t located Joseph’s birth certificate, but the family attended St. John’s the Baptist Norway Church.  I made an appointment at the Diocese of Toronto Anglican Archives on Adelaide Street in Toronto.  The Archives are open 2 days a week and while you don’t need an appointment, it’s recommended to call ahead to ensure the records you need are available.  http://www.toronto.anglican.ca/parish-administration/archives/  It was my first time at the archives and I was surprised when I was given the actual parish records to research.   So I donned my cotton gloves and very carefully turned the pages and I was rewarded.

 Joseph Henry Down was born on September 23, 1889, in the village of Norway, now a part of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the son of Charles Walter Down and Alice Maude Crew.   He was baptized at St. John’s Norway Church on September 5, 1890 and his parents are listed as living in Norway, and his father is listed as a Milk Dealer.

The Toronto Directories were invaluable in our research.  Joseph’s family lived mostly in the east end of Toronto.  Jane McNamara has listed all the directories on her blog which was very handy for this research. http://wherethestorytakesme.ca/toronto-city-directories/     These directories can also be accessed through the Toronto Public Library website, but I found Jane’s list more convenient as all the directories are listed on one page.

In 1893, the family is listed as living on Woodbine Avenue, Norway and his father also lists a business under Grocer and Fruit and Fishes etc. on 692 Queen Street East, near Broadview Avenue.  By 1899 the Grocery store was 668 Queen Street East, whether a new location or simply a re-numbering of the street is not known.

The 1912 Directory lists Joseph’s father Charles with an additional Cartage Business , listed as C. W. Down & Son at 81 Hamilton Street, around the corner from the Grocery store.   

Joseph attended Queen Alexandra Public School on Hamilton Street, near Broadview and Dundas Streets.   A search on the Toronto branch King and County page lists 4 Down surnames.  All belong to my grandfather’s line.  Joseph and his brothers William, Charles and R.E. (Richard Edward) Down are listed on the plaque.  Of the 4 brothers only Richard survived and returned to Toronto.   The King and Country page also a wonderful sidebar on the main page with links to military websites. http://torontofamilyhistory.org/kingandcountry/

 Sometime between 1908 and 1913 the Joseph’s family also acquired property where they built a house on Bellefair Avenue in the east end of Toronto.  In 1911 Joseph married Bertha Snider (nee Busby).  Bertha was 10 years older and she was a widow with 2 daughters, Mildred Agnes Ellen and Marjory Maxine Snider.  Bertha and Joe had 3 children, Charles William “Charlie”, Geraldine Dorothy “Dolly” and Joseph Henry Kitchener “Joe”.

20 Bellefair Avenue, Toronto, Joseph Down on the steps at the back.  Picture taken circa 1913

20 Bellefair Avenue, Toronto, circa 2015

Using the birth registrations for Joseph and Bertha’s children together with the directories gave us more address to check out.  Thankfully the addresses still remained in the east end of Toronto:    50 Enderby Road, 290 Woodbine Avenue, 210 Hamilton Street, 534 Kingston Road and 582 Woodbine Avenue.

So off we went, armed with a list of locations, a bag of poppies and a camera.  We found all the locations on our list.  I was familiar with some of the addresses as my grandmother and my great grandmother lived in the same houses until their deaths.  Some of the street numbers changed on the streets, but using the street directory, was an enormous help.  The street directory portion of the directory lists all the streets in alphabetical order and by house number. It also lists the intersections, so you can get an idea of the vicinity of the house you are researching.   I was able to pinpoint the general area of the house number by using the cross streets as reference.  For instance in 1914 , 290 Woodbine Avenue  is located  at the crossroad of Kingston Road and Woodbine Avenue.  That is not the case today.  290 Woodbine is a long block south of Kingston Road and I imagine the new 290 is a much more substantial house.  Some of the houses had disappeared completely replaced by an apartment block in one instance.  We did our best and photographed the houses we found and left a poppy as near to the location as possible.

My great grandfather’s Grocery store on Queen Street East is still there and is now a Hemp Store.  Around the corner on Munroe Street, the stables are gone and there are apartments.  My great grandmother’s house on Bellfair Avenue looks almost unchanged, except for a few cosmetic enhancements.  At “582” (as it was known in my family, no need to add Woodbine Avenue), it too appeared much the same as I remembered and I was left to wonder how my grandmother raised 5 children in the house.

Our last stop was St. John’s Norway Cemetery on Woodbine Avenue.  While Joseph isn’t buried there his name along with his brothers is inscribed on the Down family gravestone and we left our last poppy on the grave.

The Toronto part of our journey was complete.  Poppies were left at every location and now we were ready for our European excursion to continue our poppy trail through England, France and Belgium.  I wonder what the homeowners thought when they found a poppy fastened unobtrusively to their shrubbery?

JOSEPH HENRY DOWN - TIMELINE FOR WORLD WAR 1

As the 100 year anniversary of the first World War is upon us, I started to research where my grandfather Joseph Henry Down had been stationed during the War.  The Canadian government is digitizing all the service records for the soldiers of the first world war.  This is good and bad news.  Good news that the files will be available for free online.  Bad news because they are not available to the public while they are being digitized.  Because my grandfather's surname starts with a "D", these records are unavailable at this time.  So, I have taken much of my information from the Official History of the Canadian Army in the First World War Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914 - 1919 book, by Colonel G. W. L. Nicholson.


Joseph was born  September 23, 1889 in Toronto.  He was married to Bertha Snider (nee Busby) in 1911.  Bertha was a widow with 2 girls, Mildred and Marjory.  Joseph and Bertha had 3 children:  Charles, Geraldine "Dolly" and Joseph.  It should be noted that his son, Joseph, was born in December 1914 and his father probably didn't see his son.

On August 4, 1914, England declared war on Germany.  Shortly after that Samuel Hughes, the Canadian Minister of Militia and Defence ordered that a recruitment settlement be established at Valcartier, Quebec.

Accordingly, Joseph, felt the call of duty and left his family behind to sign up.  He was deemed fit for duty on September 1 at Valcartier and then signed his Attestation paper on September 25, 1914.   He was assigned to the 1st Division Engineers, 2nd Field Company.  He was a Sapper in the army and he had been a linesman before entering the service.

The new recruits were sent from Valcartier to Quebec City by train in October to board ships for England.  Apparently there was too much equipment for the ships that had been procured and loading appears to have been a shambles.  On October 3, 1914, the 2nd Field Company left for England aboard the "Zeeland" bound for Southampton.  During the 11 day crossing there was a rumour that the Germans would intercept them at Southampton and so at the last moment, the ship was directed to dock in Plymouth. 

Plymouth was not ready for such a large contingent of ships, machinery and people.  It took 9 days to unload the cargo and send everything and everyone to Salisbury where the training camp was located on Salisbury Plains.  The Divisional HQ was established at "Ye Olde Bustard" 3 miles north west of Stonehenge.  According to the war diaries for the time at Salisbury it rained almost non stop and outdoor training had to be suspended.  As well the contractors who were building the barracks for the soldiers were well behind schedule and many men were still living in tents as the winter approached. 

Joseph Down, seated left.  Photo taken in Fisherton Street, Salisbury, circa 1914

In February 1915, the soldiers started to move to France.  On February 2, 1915 an advance party left Avonmouth, Bristol for St. Nazaire, France.  The Southampton to Le Havre route unavailable to them, because of fear of a German attack.  It was then a 500 mile journey to the Front.

On February 15, the Division arrived in the Hazebrouck Strazeele area, where they commenced training with the British Troops until the beginning of March 1915.  From March 10 -12 they fought in the battle of Neuve Chapelle and then were assigned a tour of duty in the Fleurbaix sector.

Between April 14 - 17, the 1st Division relieved the French 11th Division in the Ypres area in Belgium.  They found the area very wet because they were close to the Yser canal.  The trenches were shallow and needed to be reinforced.  Some of the shallow trenches had been used as latrines and others used to store dead bodies.  The Canadian soldiers had to dig deeper trenches and repair the others.

On April 22, they were engaged in the Battle of Gravenstafel.  This battle was the first battle where the Germans used chlorine gas attacks as part of the battle strategy.  The Canadians had no gas masks for protection. 

The second gas attack occurred at the Battle of St. Julien took place between April 24, and May 5, 1915.  There were more gas attacks by the Germans with the Canadian army supplied with wetted handkerchiefs to combat the gas.  Sadly this is where Joseph Henry Down's war ended.  He was not felled by a gas attack, but by a bullet.  He was killed in action," shot through the head and killed instantly about noon on the 24th of April 1915, whilst on duty with a working party in the Ypres Salient, near St. Julien." according to his service record.

On May 3, 1915 the army withdrew after losing over 5,000 Canadian Soldiers. Joseph Down's body was never recovered and his name along with 55,000 other soldiers is commemorated on the Menin Memorial Gate in Belgium.