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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Hugh Somerville

In memory of:

Private Hugh Somerville

April 22, 1915

Military Service


Service Number:

6613

Age:

21

Force:

Army

Unit:

Canadian Infantry (Western Ontario Regiment)

Division:

1st Bn.

Additional Information


Born:

May 27, 1893

Only son of Mrs. Margaret Somerville, of Toronto. Native of St. Thomas, Ontario.

Commemorated on Page 37 of the First World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.

Burial Information


Cemetery:
Grave Reference:

Panel 10 - 26 - 28

Location:


The Menin Gate Memorial is situated at the eastern side of the town of Ypres (now Ieper) in the Province of West Flanders, on the road to Menin and Courtrai. It bears the names of 55,000 men who were lost without trace during the defence of the Ypres Salient in the First World War. Designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and erected by the Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission, it consists of a Hall of Memory", 36.6 metres long by 20.1 metres wide. In the centre are broad staircases leading to the ramparts which overlook the moat, and to pillared loggias which run the whole length of the structure. On the inner walls of the Hall, on the side of the staircases and on the walls of the loggias, panels of Portland stone bear the names of the dead, inscribed by regiment and corps. Carved in stone above the central arch are the words:


TO THE ARMIES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE WHO STOOD HERE FROM 1914 TO 1918 AND TO THOSE OF THEIR DEAD WHO HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVE.

Over the two staircases leading from the main Hall is the inscription:

HERE ARE RECORDED NAMES OF OFFICERS AND MEN WHO FELL IN YPRES SALIENT BUT TO WHOM THE FORTUNE OF WAR DENIED THE KNOWN AND HONOURED BURIAL GIVEN TO THEIR COMRADES IN DEATH.

The dead are remembered to this day in a simple ceremony that takes place every evening at 8:00 p.m. All traffic through the gateway in either direction is halted, and two buglers (on special occasions four) move to the centre of the Hall and sound the Last Post. Two silver trumpets for use in the ceremony are a gift to the Ypres Last Post Committee by an officer of the Royal Canadian Artillery, who served with the 10th Battery, of St. Catharines, Ontario, in Ypres in April 1915."

Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Digital Collection

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  • Memorial– Inscription on the Menin Gate - May 2019 … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Memorial– Menin Gate - May 2019 … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Newspaper clipping– In memory of the men and women of London, Ontario (and area) who went to war and did not come home. Remembered on the pages of the World War One issues of the London Advertiser. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Inscription on Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial
  • Roll of Honour– Pte. Hugh Somerville's name was included on the Merchants Bank of Canada 1914 - 1918 Roll of Honour. He indicated on his military attestation that he was a clerk. He volunteered to serve early in the war and signed his military attestation on September 20th, 1914 at Valcartier Camp, Quebec.  He was a member of the historic First Canadian Contingent.  Source:  The Standard / Canada's Aid to the Allies and Peace Memorial.  Edited by Frederick Yorston. Published by the Montreal Standard Publishing Co., Ltd., Montreal.  This large Souvenir Edition magazine included the Rolls of Honour for various prominent Canadian businesses.
  • Name on the Roll of Honour– Detail of Pte. Hugh Somerville's name on the Merchants Bank of Canada 1914 - 1918 Roll of Honour.

Learn more about the Canadian Virtual War Memorial

To learn more please visit our help page. If you have questions or comments regarding the information contained in this registry, email or call us. For inquiries regarding the names and information found in the RCMP Honour Roll, please email the RCMP.

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