Mrs. Vitaline Lanteigne of Caraquet, New Brunswick, was the 1962 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1962, at age 73, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada. She was the first French Canadian and the first from New Brunswick to be selected.

On June 12, 1944, her son, Private Jean Baptiste Lanteigne, was killed in action in France while serving with Le Régiment de la Chaudière.

On August 14, 1944, a second son, Private Philippe Joseph Lanteigne, was also killed in France while serving with Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal.

On September 15, 1944, a third son, Lance Corporal Arthur Lanteigne, was killed in action in Italy while serving with the Royal 22^e Regiment.

Born on December 9, 1889, Vitaline is the daughter of Odilon and Marguerite Doiron of Caraquet. She married Dominique Lanteigne on November 11, 1907. Five of her 13 sons enlisted during the Second World War. Three did not return, dying within three months of each other. Her surviving sons returned home wounded. Lucien was wounded at Dieppe and Daniel was wounded in the Netherlands.

Mrs. Lanteigne died in 1984.

Mrs. Mary Stodgell of Norwood, Manitoba, was the 1963 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1963, at age 74, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On December 19, 1941, her son, Private Stanley Fredrick Stodgell, was killed in action in Hong Kong while serving with the Winnipeg Grenadiers.

On March 20, 1943, a second son, Private Garnett James Stodgell, was taken prisoner in Hong Kong while serving with the Winnipeg Grenadiers. He died while in captivity.

On September 11, 1944, a third son, Corporal Cyril Angus Stodgell, was also killed in action while serving with the Lake Superior Regiment (Motor).

Mrs. Stodgell had five sons enlist during the Second World War, Stanley, Garnett, Cyril, Norman and Roy. Only Norman and Roy returned home.

Mrs. Bernadette Rivait of Windsor, Ontario, was the 1964 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1964, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On August 19, 1942, sons, Private Leon Maxime Rivait and Private Alphonse Cecil Rivait were killed in action during the battle of Dieppe while serving with the Essex Scottish Regiment.

On November 23, 1944, another of her sons, Private Lawrence Rivait was also killed in action while serving with the Essex Scottish Regiment.

Two other sons of Mrs. Rivait, Raymond and Edward, also served in the Second World War. Raymond was taken prisoner for three years. When Edward enlisted shortly after Lawrence was killed, Mrs. and Mr. Rivait drew up a petition to get him out of the service and while they succeeded in having him discharged, he rejoined a month later.

At the time of the National Remembrance ceremony in 1964, she expressed that she held the memory of her sons dear and found some consolation in her five married sons, five married daughters, 58 grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.

Mrs. Rivait enjoyed playing bingo while her husband was an avid gardener. Two of their grandchildren also joined the military; Raymond in the air force and Albert in the navy.

Mrs. Nora Wagner of Teeterville, Ontario, was the 1965 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1965, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On July 18, 1944, her son, Private Ivan Samuel Wagner, was killed while on duty with the Royal Regiment of Canada.

On August 12, 1944, a second son, Corporal Harry Everett Wagner, died of wounds while serving with the Royal Regiment of Canada.

On January 31, 1945, a third son, Private Bruce Howard Wagner, was killed in action while serving with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada.

Three sons. All dead in barely six months. Survived by two sisters, Mary and Nora, and one brother, Jack who was not able to join the forces due to health reasons.

Mrs. Wagner, née Boswell, was born in 1890. She married Bruce Wagner and was widowed in 1961. She was a dignified and resolute woman. Even after the loss of her three sons she never complained about anyone or anything. She carried on for them.

One of her first acts as the National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother in 1965 was to visit the Memorial Chamber in the Peace Tower, in Ottawa. Later that afternoon, she and her daughter were guests of the Ottawa branch of the Silver Cross Mothers. Mrs. Wagner died in 1980.

Mrs. Josephine Stephens, formerly Colville, of Toronto, Ontario, was the 1966 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1966, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On May 6, 1942, her son, Flight Sergeant William Freeborne Colville, was killed in an airplane crash in Newfoundland while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

On March 16, 1944, a second son, Flying Officer Alexander Colborne Colville, went missing while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force in a bombing raid.

On August 18, 1944, a third son, Flying Officer John Spencer Colville, was killed flying a typhoon fighter-bomber in France while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Every Sunday, Mrs. Stephens (Colville) would make a big chicken dinner for her family and up to five servicemen, temporarily posted in her area. In the years following the war, she received hundreds of letters of gratitude from men who had survived and whom she had welcomed into her home. She remarried in 1949 to George Stephens.

Mrs. Elsie Adams of St. Catharines, Ontario, was the 1967 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1967, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On August 15, 1944, her son, Lieutenant William George Adams, was killed in Normandy while serving with the Lincoln and Welland Regiment.

On September 27, 1944, a second son, Sergeant Allan Frederick Adams, also serving with the Lincoln and Welland Regiment, was killed near the Scheldt Estuary.

Mrs. Adams married William Charles Adams. They lived in St. Catharines, Ontario and had seven sons, William, Allan, Charles, Roy, Ernst, Norman and Colin—all of whom enlisted. Charles, Roy, Allan and William Adams served with the Lincoln and Welland Regiment and Ernst with the Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. The youngest of the seven brothers, Staff Sergeant Colin Adams went to Germany with the dental corps.

The family was very musical. Three of the children served as bandsmen in the army while Mr. Adams was the bandmaster with the 1^st infantry battalion in France during the First World War.

Mrs. Adams’ son, Captain Charles Adams, was the director of music for the Canadian guards at Petawawa and responsible for music at the National Remembrance ceremony. On November 11, 1967 when his mother laid the memorial, he led the band.

Mrs. Pearl Rich of Vancouver, British Columbia, was named 1968 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1968, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On November 2, 1943 her son, Private William Rich, was killed while serving with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment.

On December 22, 1943, a second son, Private George Rich, was killed in action also while on duty with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment.

On July 24, 1944, a daughter, Wren Mary Rich (Rech) drowned while serving with the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service.

Mrs. Rich was the wife of Charles Rich.

Mrs. Wilhemina (Mina) Gray of Vancouver, British Columbia, was appointed 1969 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1969, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On February 27, 1942, her son, Flight Sergeant John (Jack) Balfour Gray, was killed while on duty serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force during a mine-laying operation. He was the first war fatality from Nelson, British Columbia.

On August 9, 1945, her second son, Lieutenant Robert (Hammy) Hampton Gray, was killed while serving with the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve, during an attack on a Japanese destroyer on the Pacific Ocean. He was the last man from Nelson, British Columbia to be killed during the war and was awarded the Victoria Cross for his service.

Mrs. Gray, née McAllister, was born in Molesworth, Ontario on February 22, 1884. She and Mr. Gray had three children--Jack, Robert Hampton and daughter, Phyllis Wilma. Mrs. Gray died in Vancouver on August 21, 1977.

Grays Peak in Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park in British Columbia is named in honour of Jack and Hampton Gray. There are many other memorials honouring Hampton Gray-- in Nelson, BC: the post office, plaques on the bridge at Gyro Park and on The Royal Canadian Legion building, a mural inside, by artist L.X. Forde, depicts him in action in Onagawa Bay. Gray’s Lake near Edmonton; Gray’s Walk on Elgin, Scotland—home base of the Fleet Air Arm; a memorial overlooking Onagawa Bay, Japan where he was killed; in Mississauga, Ontario, the Royal Canadian Air Cadets 789 Lt Hampton Gray squadron VC; in Nova Scotia the Gray Memorial School, now a community centre, on the Shearwater Naval Base whose opening was attended by Mrs. Gray in 1952; while a major memorial in Ottawa to wartime heroes called the “Valiant Group”, features Hampton as one of 16 Canadians honoured.

In 2005, a nephew of Mrs. Gray, filmmaker Ian Herring, made a fictionalized film about her son, entitled, The Last Battle of Hampton Gray. The biography, A Formidable Hero: Lt. R.H. Gray, VC, DSC, RCNVR, was written about Hampton by Stuart E. Soward, with a second edition in 2003.

Mrs. Mary Josephine Meech from North Sydney, Nova Scotia, was selected 1970 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1970, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On April 13, 1942, her son, Flight Sergeant William Ian Meech, was killed while on duty with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

On February 19, 1944, another of her sons, Pilot Officer Lloyd Remington Joseph Meech, was killed also while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Mrs. Meech, née Macdonald, was born in 1897. She married Lloyd Remington Meech. Together, they had four children--William, Lloyd, John and Garth. She died in 1975.

Mrs. Mary Anderson from Selkirk, Manitoba, was the 1971 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother. During the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa on November 11, 1971, she laid a wreath at the base of the National War Memorial on behalf of all mothers who have lost a child in military service to Canada.

On December 14, 1943, her son, Private Vernon Anderson, was killed while serving in Italy with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.

On July 21, 1944, a second son, Private John George Anderson, was killed while on duty with the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada in France.

Mrs. Anderson was born in 1900 and was Metis. She was 71 years old when she was named National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother.