EAR FALLS — The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 238 held its annual Remembrance Day Service. A message, and prayer were read, followed by the laying of the wreaths and two minutes of silence. The service was delivered by the Ear Falls Legion members and their colour party with the accompaniment of bagpipes played by Gerard Arsenault.
This year’s service was a tribute to Christopher Patrick John O’Kelly, who is the namesake of the Ear Falls Legion’s O’Kelly room. This year marks the 105th anniversary of Passchendaele, where O’Kelly earned a Victoria Cross along with eight other men for their bravery, dedication and leadership in helping to take the ridge.
O’Kelly was born in Winnipeg in 1895. He first joined the 90th Regiment Winnipeg Rifles in 1915 and served with them for a short time before joining the 144th Battalion in 1916. In 1917 O’Kelly was drafted into the 52nd Battalion and joined them in France. The 52nd Battalion had many successes in battle, but the Passchendaele victory was what earned him the Valour 9 Victoria Cross for conspicuous bravery in action.
O’Kelly was immortalized in a war portrait commissioned by the Canadian War Records Office. O’Kelly was wounded in 1918, and after the war he returned to Winnipeg to sell real estate with his father.
In 1921 O’Kelly rejoined his militia unit, the Winnipeg Rifles and was promoted to the rank of major the following year.
O’Kelly began prospecting in Northwestern Ontario. He joined a group of prospectors searching for gold, and was to spend the winter trapping. Many of his fellow prospectors were also war veterans.
On Nov. 14, 1922, O’Kelly and his friend El “Bill” Murray stopped at the Hudson Bay Company store for supplies before crossing Lac Seul on their way to a winter camp on Bluffy Lake. He and his friend were last seen in their canoe as a storm rolled in near Goose Island. O’Kelly was only 27 years old.
Several searches were conducted over the winter, but yielded no results. In May of 1923, some belongings along with Murray’s remains were discovered. O’Kelly was never found.
A wooden memorial cross with a plaque was erected on Goose Island by O’Kelly’s Winnipeg Rifle comrades. Its inscription read: “Erected in the memory of Major Christopher Patrick John O’Kelly, VC, MC, by his brother officers of the 90th Winnipeg Rifles. Ye who pass this way are asked to care for this monument.”
In 1929, the memorial was submerged in water. Years later a portion of the original monument was recovered and donated to the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 238 by Gerald Bannatyne.
In 1992, Legion members from Branch 238 Ear Falls, Sioux Lookout, Hudson and Dryden dedicated a new cross and base to the memory of Major O’Kelly on Goose Island.
The Remembrance Day event was concluded with a spaghetti dinner at the Ear Falls Legion.
With files from Jennifer Olsen
