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Qualicum Beach Museum exhibit explores experience of First World War

Traveling exhibit from Canadian War Museum supplemented by local research
qb-museum-flanders
The Qualicum Beach Museum has an exhibit about Canada's role in the First World War that includes a focus on people from the Parksville Qualicum Beach area who served. Clockwise from top left: Campbell Davidson, Gordon Jones, Will Parker, J.F. Smyth, Emily Mills and Ray Jones.

A new exhibit about Canada's role in the First World War is on display at the Qualicum Beach Museum and it includes a fascinating glimpse into the experiences of some Parksville Qualicum Beach war heroes.

Fighting in Flanders – Gas. Mud. Memory is a travelling exhibit by the Canadian War Museum which explores the important role Canada played in Belgium during the war. 

The Qualicum Beach Museum has localized the First World War through the stories of local people who went off to war, with some never to return.

The panels touch on local people and places, including two families, the Jones and the Parkers, who were neighbours, and whose descendants have extensively researched their role in the First World War. 

Museum Director Lorraine Bell researched the local connection, with help from Kerry Parker and a summer student.

“These two families were very good friends and so we wanted to talk about that,” Bell said.

Gordon Jones enlisted in the summer of 1915 when he was about 18 years old and served with the Canadian Corps.

He was with the corps when it captured Hill 70 at the cost of 10,000 killed, wounded or missing in action. A regimental diary entry for Aug. 15 reveals Jones worked his way around the left flank of a machine gun and put it out of action with a bomb.

The next day, Jones single-handedly stormed an enemy dugout and took 30 of the enemy prisoner and was recognized with the Distinguished Conduct Medal  — the second highest award for bravery in action after Victoria Cross. He was killed in action at the Battle of Amiens in August 1918, just a few months before the Armistice of Nov. 11.

The family of Charles "Will" Parker lived around the corner from the Jones' farm on Hilliers Road. When their home burnt down in August 1914, the family lived in tents loaned to them by the Jones.

Parker signed up a month later and was in France by June of 1915. He was wounded in the hand by a premature explosion of a rifle grenade in 1916. Later that year he was killed during a heavy bombardment of the Canadian trenches at Mouquet Farm in Courclette, France. His body was never recovered.

With casualties mounting and many wounded soldiers returning to Canada, the former Qualicum Beach Hotel was turned into a convalescent hospital.

Dr. Campbell Davidson became the commanding officer and physician of Qualicum Beach Military Convalescent Hospital. He had moved to town to become the area's first medical doctor after an athletic career that saw him win the Stanley Cup in 1897 and 1899.

His records have been preserved by the museum and describe various ailments and injuries of the returning soldiers, such as "shell shock".

“If you look really closely you can see, like ‘gunshot wound’ and a lot of lung ailments and that kind of thing,” said Bell. Gas warfare and pneumonia were two reasons for the high number of patients suffering from lung problems.

Davidson stayed in Qualicum Beach and continued to serve after the war, with his home and practice located on the current site on the Qualicum Beach Inn. On the site where the old convalescent hospital used to sit on Beach Road, there are now houses. 

One major focus of the exhibit is communications during the war, including everything from Morse code to pigeons.

“They could actually carry messages where telephones and human messengers couldn’t do it,” Bell said. “Some pigeons were awarded medals.” 

Although there were more high tech options such as radio or telephone — these methods could not always be relied on, Bell added.

“They had to lay down the line, and if the line got broken, they couldn’t communicate that way. Whereas the pigeons were really good at that,” she said.

Also in fitting with the communications theme is the story of legendary Onondaga athlete and veteran Tom Longboat, who had the especially dangerous job of running and delivering important messages.

Longboat became famous as the first First Nations person to win the Boston Marathon and he also competed for Canada in the 1908 Olympic Games.

"He did this really dangerous job for a long time and he could really get the messages where they needed to go," said Bell. "He survived gas attacks — he was just remarkable."

The exhibit also includes an activity that lets children learn how to translate Morse code and try out a gas rattle.

Bell said the museum will keep building on the local information base for future exhibits and in 2025 plans to focus on the Second World War and later conflicts that saw Canadian participation.

Fighting in Flanders – Gas. Mud. Memory is housed in the powerhouse building and can be viewed until the end of January. The powerhouse building can be a bit cold in the winter, so the museum suggests visitors keep their coats on and it check it out first. 

The museum is located at 587 Beach Rd.



Kevin Forsyth

About the Author: Kevin Forsyth

As a lifelong learner, I enjoy experiencing new cultures and traveled around the world before making Vancouver Island my home.
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