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Les soldats de la Grande Guerre : Projet de biographies historiques sur les soldats de Fredericton

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Spare, Harry Thomas

Private 69875
26th Battalion

Background

Harry Thomas Spare was born September 7, 1879 in Whiteparish Salisbury, England to Lavina Emma Gregory and Thomas Spare. According to the England and Wales census, Thomas had four siblings named William, Fanny, Lavina, and Amy. Few records illustrate his early life growing up in England; however, census documents suggest that Harry likely had some form of early education and apprenticeship with his father. Harry’s father worked as a painter in the area of Wiltshire until his death in the late 1890s. By 1901, Harry’s grandmother and two cousins, Edith and Harry Gregory, had moved in and were living with the family after the passing of Thomas. By this time Harry was working as a painter in town just like his father had. In 1912, newspapers show that Harry moved to Canada and likely ended up settling in Fredericton because of his mother’s brother Sergeant R.W. Gregory, of the 236th New Brunswick Kilties. Although there is no indication Harry had military experience like his uncle, he likely chose to settle in Fredericton because of established relationships Gregory had in the area. Harry quickly made friends through work and networks formed at the Christ Church Cathedral where he attended and became an active member of the cathedral choir. When war broke out Europe, Harry went to Saint John and enlisted with the 26th Battalion on November 11, 1914. According to his attestation form, he was described as having hazel eyes, brownish red hair, a fair complexion, while standing approximately five feet seven inches. Sergeant Spare spent the winter and spring of 1914-1915 in Canada training with the 26th Battalion in preparations for going overseas. At thirty-five years of age, Harry also had a brother, William, who was about to embark for service in France and Belgium. It is unclear if Harry saw any family and friends again.          

Wartime Experience

On June 15, 1915, Sergeant Harry Spare left to go overseas from Halifax, Nova Scotia aboard the S.S. Caledonia arriving June 24. He remained with the 26th Battalion in England over the summer until his unit was sent to France in September, less than three months after arriving. Harry spent the fall and winter of 1915-1916 just south of the Ypres Salient as part of the first two Canadian Divisions that were forming up in northern France and southern Belgium. In April 1916, he received an eight-day leave for rest before returning to the front lines. Although his service record does not have all the details of his service, newspapers suggest that he transferred to an ambulance corps unit over the next few months leading up to the Battle of the Somme. However, when the German Army opened an artillery barrage against Canadian positions along the Ypres Salient near Sanctuary Wood and Mount Sorrel, Harry was put in an incredibly difficult role trying to assist thousands of Canadian casualties. The two weeks of fighting during Mount Sorrel likely took an awful toll on members of the ambulance corps. On June 16, 1916, Private Spare was helping a wounded soldier and bandaging wounds when an artillery shell exploded nearby his position killing him instantly. According to an extensive letter written home to Sergeant R.W. Gregory by Lieutenant Ward, Harry’s efforts in putting his own life on the line to help others pointed to the kind of heroism that many of his comrades admired:

“You will, I am sure like to know that Sergeant Spare’s death occurred during one of the heaviest bombardments ever this war has seen. The last time I saw him alive was when he was bandaging a wounded man, who was lying on a raised bag just above the trench, and there, exposed to flying shrapnel, Spare was carrying on his work as calmly and unconcernedly as possible. I stayed with him of few minutes and then passed on up the trench in the course of my duty. When I re-passed the spot again about an hour later, the body of Sergeant Spare and three of his comrades lay on the raised bag. His face was very quiet and peaceful without a sign of pain or shock. From the nature of his wounds it was evident that his death had been instantaneous, and he never could have known that he was hurt. It appears that after dressing the wounded man, he came down into the bottom of the trench where men were crouching, and a little while later, a shell bursting in the trench killed him and two of his companions. He had such a death that a soldier would choose if death must come. Of Sergeant Spare, I can say that his life was one of self-sacrifice and devotion to duty. He carried self-forgetfulness to a degree rarely found. During the last seven months I have seen him at work under all conditions and my admiration for his character has grown steadily with greater knowledge. His patience and self-control were remarkable. On working parties, where hours of waiting in the rain, followed by long marches through blackness and mud in the trenches, when things were warmest in camp, when he gave his time to instructional work, in such and every case he gave of his best. More than this no man can do, and at last he gave his life. Greater love than this hath no man. It was my duty to look through the papers found in Sergeant Spare’s pockets and you may know that he had kept many letters from his mother and yourself. All these I destroyed, as is customary. Please accept this assurance of the sympathy of his comrades.”

Although records obtained through the Commonwealth War Graves Commission appear to suggest that Harry might have been buried at some point near Zillebeke Road, given the nature of continuous fighting that happened in the Ypres Salient his final resting place has become unknown. At the time of his death, Harry was approximately thirty-six years old.   

Lest We Forget

Sergeant Harry Thomas Spare is honoured on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial located in Ypres, Belgium. According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, he is one of approximately 55, 000 names honoured for individuals without any known grave killed in Belgium.

This biography was researched and written by Cameron Whitlock & Caitlyn Heatherington, Grade 8 students (2015-2018) at George Street Middle School as part of the Fredericton Soldier Biography History Initiative. If you have additional information to help us learn more about this individual, please contact [email protected].


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