Hundreds of Prince County veterans profiled in massive history project

After nearly 5,000 hours of work, almost all the 441 Prince County men who trained in the 105th Battalion C Company in Summerside during the First World War have been profiled.

• Summerside'sout-sized role in First World War remembered

The MacNaught History Centre has been tracing the family history and service records of everyone in the Prince County company for nearly 18 months.

Louise Morris, one of the volunteer researchers working on the project, has spent countless hoursporing over newspapers, military websites, Veterans Affairsand genealogy websites, profiling the men of C Company.

"When I started to really research the men, each one of them has a story to tell and Ithink that's what drives me," she said.

"I had no idea of the sacrifice and what they went through when they were over on the front and I really gained an appreciation for what that meant for all of us during this project."

Most of the men from C Company joined either the 26thBattalion in New Brunswick or the 25th Battalion in Nova Scotia, she said. Some Acadian Islanders even joined the 14thBattalion in Montreal.

Askingfor help to complete 14 profiles

The soldiers served in several major battles in the First World War, such as Vimy Ridge, the Somme and Passchendaele and more than 25 per cent of them didn't come home.

So far they've profiled almost all the men except for 14. They are:

• Arthur Phillip Arsenault, from Coleman.
• Daniel Pascal Bernard (aka John Damien), from Tignish.
• William HerbertBoyle, from Elmsdale.
• JosephDesroches, from Palmer Road.
• FrederickFredrickson,from Christinia, Norway.
• James GriggGallant, fromTignish.
• PeterGrigg Gallant, from Tignish.
• Angus Albert Hickey, from Glenwood.
• GabrielAlphonsus Kielly, from Summerside.
• Joseph Edward McDonald, from North Carleton.
• George Cubit (Qubit) Provost, from Tignish.
• James Brewer Ramsay, from Port Hill.
• Kenneth Smollett, from Saint John, N.B.
• Aubin White, from Egmont Bay.

The MacNaught History Centre in Summerside is asking anyone with information on these individuals to contact them.

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