The War to End all Wars
Would War I

Presentation of Colours to the 172nd Reg, August 26, 1916

World War I  began in Europe and lasted from July 1914 to November 1918. Known as the Great War and “the war to end all wars”,  it eventually led to the mobilisation of more than 70 million military personnel around the world, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest and most deadliest wars in history.
Between 1914 and 1918, approximately 710 men from Vernon enlisted for war, accounting for more than 20% of the population.
Okanagan First Nations men from the Head of the Lake signed up in record numbers: every single eligible Indigenous Okanagan man aged 20-35 enlisted during the war.  With so many soldiers in town, local businesses were able to stock boots, socks, uniforms and rations, providing a boost to the local economy.  But when the first local contingent of soldiers was sent overseas in 1915, the brutalities of war became all too real. In June 1915, the first news reached Vernon hat local soldiers had been killed in France and the list of casualties only continued to grow.  
By the end of 1917, little remained of the festive spirit of the war’s early days. While men and women on the home front continued to fundraise for troops overseas, an atmosphere of sadness and despair had begun to settle over the town.

Private George McLean, DCM

In the First World War George McLean was ranching on the Reserve of the Head of the Lake Band (now the Okanagan Indian Band).  Every eligible man between the ages of 20 and 35 volunteered from the OKIB for the First World War.  George was 41, but he also volunteered. While training at Camp Vernon he helped to capture some German men who had escaped from the Vernon Internment Camp.
​He was serving with the 54th Kootenay Battalion at Vimy Ridge when he won his Distinguished Conduct Medal, second only to the Victoria Cross.  First he carried a wounded officer to safety, then he returned to the battle and using hand grenades, was able to capture 19 German soldiers single handed.  On his way back escorting his prisoners he was hit twice in the left arm by a sniper.  Later five German soldiers attempted to overpower him. He killed them all.   His wounds required going home to Canada and he was discharged from the Canadian Expeditionary Force back in British Columbia five months before the war ended.  He eventually became a fire fighter in Vancouver and died in 1934.

​PRIVATE FREDERICK LEE

Lee poses for a photo at the Vernon training camp, with other members of the machine gun section of the 172nd Battalion (Rocky Mountain Ranger Bn) in 1916. His position in the front row, with the Lewis gun beside him presumably shows that he was held in high regard by his fellow soldiers (Canadian War Museum)

At the time of the First World War, anti-European immigrant discrimination was common. Immigrants from China, Japan, and other non-European countries were discriminated against, and seen as other and less Canadian than those from Europe.
Frederick Lee came from a large and successful farming family that had settled in Kamloops. When his father died, it became hard for his mother to maintain the family farm, and she moved back to China, along with most of his siblings. Fred Lee choose to stay in the country he considered his home.
Because  he was of Chinese decent, Fred Lee was not granted some basic Canadian rights, such as the right to vote. Despite this discriminations, he chose to enlist with the Rocky Mountain Rangers to serve the Canadian military. Private Lee trained here at the Vernon Military Camp and was assigned the role of machine-gunner, indicating he demonstrated a high level of skill to his superiors in training in order to achieve this designation.
The Rocky Mountain Rangers were eventually broken up and assigned to other formations and Private Lee was deployed overseas as a member of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF).  Lee fought and survived battles and victories in France and Belgium, including the Canadian victory at Hill 70, where unfortunately he did not survive. Most likely killed by a German artillery shell in August 1917.

Private Frankel Lee is one of almost 20,000 Canadians who have no known grave.  Lee is one of approximately 300 Chinese Canadians who fought for Canada in the First World War. 

Albert, Vernon, and Herbert Ellison ​

Price Ellison, Jr. (GVMA Archives)

Albert, Vernon, and Herbert Ellison (GVMA Archives)

​Price and Sophie Ellison were a prominent ranching family in the North Okanagan. At one point, the place we now know as Vernon was called Forge Valley, named after Price Ellison’s blacksmith shop at the base of East Hill. This family later donated a large parcel of ranch land to become Ellison Provincial Park.
All four of their sons enlisted in World War I. The eldest, Price Ellison Jr., enlisted at the age of 19. He saw considerable action, and was wounded, in France, before being discharged in 1919. 
Vernon Ellison enlisted when he turned 18. He participated in the Battle of Mons and, like his brothers, was discharged in 1919.
Herbert Ellison enlisted at age 16 and was assigned to the Canadian Army Service Corps reinforcement in British Columbia. But because he was underage, his mother pressed for his release, which was granted. Herbert rejoined on November 1, 1918, and was discharged in 1919. He never made it overseas. 
His younger brother, Albert Ellison, enlisted into the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles, but was released from service after 8 months because he was only 17 years old. Once he was of age, he re-enlisted and served in France with the 1st Canadian Motor Machine Gun Brigade. He was discharged in 1919.

James and Harry Tronson

Son of George Henry Tronson and Louisa Margaret. His maternal grandparents were Charles Forbes Vernon, after whom present day Vernon is named, and Catherine Kalamalka, a member of the Nk’maplqs (Head of the Lake) Band of the Okanagan Nation. His great-grandfather was Chief Kalamalka, a highly respected chief in Okanagan Nation, after whom Kalamalka Lake is named.
Harry Tronson worked as a farm labourer at the start of WW1. He enlisted on January 19th, 1917, at 19 years of age. 
He sailed from Halifax to England on the SS Olympic on the 2nd of June 1917. On September 27th, 1917 he was taken on strength with the 47th Battalion in France. In December Harry Tronson caught bronchitis while on active duty and returned to England to recover. He was discharged from the hospital in England 10 days later and returned to the field. Private Harry Tronson was discharged in 1919.

Henry “Harry” Tronson (GVMA Archives)

Cpl. Williams (Billy) Brewer and Pte. James Tronson

James Tronson
On the right

Son of Nancy Tronson, James worked as a rancher at the start of WW1. He enlisted on January 22th, 1917, at 29 years of age with the 30th BC Horse in Vernon.  He sailed from Halifax to England on the SS Olympic on the 2nd of June 1917. On September 27th, 1917 he was taken on strength with the 47th Battalion in France. On the 26th of October, 1917 James was reported as wounded and missing in battle.  On the 18th of June 1918 his states was changed to "Died on or since 26 Oct 17". Private James Tronson is one of almost 20,000 Canadians who have no known grave. ​

William Brewer 
On the left 

Son of Christine who was the daughter of Chief Isaac Moise. William known as Billy he worked for a number of years at the Coldstream ranch. He enlisted on the 15th of January 1917 at the age of 28. Arriving in England on the same boat as both Harry and James Tronson, transferring to the 47th Battalion in France at the same time. On the 10th of June 1917 he was once again transferred to the 10th Battalion. Brewer was reported as Killed in Action January 9th 1918 "In The Field in France or Belgium."  William Brewer was survived by his wife Amelia, and his 3 children Arthur, Mamie and Helen

The listed on this page is only a small representation of the men and woman who served during the war. 

IN FLANDERS FIELDS
​BY JOHN MCCRAE

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
  That mark our place; and in the sky
  The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
  Loved and were loved, and now we lie
      In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
  The torch; be yours to hold it high.
  If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
      In Flanders fields.