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Garrett MacDonald, 12 of Kendal visited the WW2 grave of his great uncle T, Victor Sclleck, at Schoonselhof Cemetery, Antwerp Belgium. By: Helen [Bajorek] MacDonald There's a marker which you might notice on the gatepost at the Orono Cemetery which records, among others, the death of 16-yr.-old Oscar Sow den. He gave his life during WWI, his death but one of many whose lives were ; cut short by the war. Oscar Sowden is the uncle my mom-in-law, Dora MacDonald who lives in Kendal, never knew. All the family has known since April, 1917 is that he is buried somewhere in France. It wasn't wasn't until the early 1980's that the marker was accidentally 'discovered' at Orono. This discovery came as a great surprise. surprise. to the family for he was a Newtonville lad. In"1943, a nephew he never met, Thomas Victor Selleck, enlisted in the Royal Regiment of Canada. After training, Victor, as he is called by his sisters Dora, Grace and Pearl, travelled to England in late spring, 1944 and by the end of the summer was transferred transferred to the battle lines. He likely saw less than two months action, for on October 26, 1944, he joined the many other young soldiers lying dead in a French field. He was 19 years old and the only family member to follow, lit- ' erally, in the footsteps of his unknown Uncle Oscar. His death, so soon, was explained in a telegram to his widowed mother who then lived in Toronto. The family received the news with disbelief, disbelief, and as one who has married married into the family, it has always seemed Victor's death was never fully accepted. There was no funeral. There was no burial. Nothing : of th.e ritual of mourning. .Yet. Victor is remembered often and fondly in family anecdotes;'a anecdotes;'a favourite recounts his financial dealings. Each Friday, he would bring home his pay packet and give to his mother a certain certain sum for'board. Then, he would repay debts accumulated accumulated through the week: a few dollars borrowed from his mother, another few from a sibling. He'd have just enough for a night on the town but by the next day was borrowing against the next Friday's pay. Two family members developed an interest in the family genealogy and one-- Mary - would have been Victor's niece---dug deep enough that she located through such sources as the National Archives in Ottawa Victor's military records. Although he died in France, it was learned he had been buried in Antwerp, Belgium. My recent travels to Europe included a visit to Amsterdam, Holland, where I attended a conference as well did a little sight-seeing. It seemed practical to make a day-trip by train to Antwerp with the goal to locate Victor's grave. After all, nobody in the family had ever had such an opportunity. Holland was in the full bloom of spring. Garrett, my' 12-yr.-old son and Victor's great nephew, and I arrived late afternoon and from the plane saw the wonder of what appeared as thick ribbons of red, yellow, orange, and purple purple seemingly as a quilt laid on the earth: all flowers in fields divided by narrow water trenches. It was such a day of sun and bloom that we took the train to Antwerp. Though our goal was to locate Victor's grave, our pilgrimage was enhanced by the encounters with Dutch and Belgian folk. At the train station, 1 presented presented the map located by Mary. "I'd like to buy a ticket ticket to Antwerp as we are looking looking for the Schoonselhof Cemetery," I told the woman at the counter. After paying NFL 120.00 [about $60 US] for each of our tickets, the woman directed a question to Garrett: "Are you looking for someone in your family?" "My dad's uncle. He died in the war." Likely she saw the Canadian flag 1 had sewn on Garrett's knapsack-- we've learned that the world is more friendly to Canadian travellers than American--for she commented on the Canadian troops liberating Holland from the Nazis. This is how it went. Each time we asked someone for directions to the cemetery, we were told of the Canadians. On a tram from the centre of Antwerp to the Schoonselhof Cemetery which is located on the outskirts of the city, Garrett and I were discussing the cemetery plan when a woman who appeared to be in Her early sixties, turned from her seat and said, "Excuse me; you are going to Schoonselhof Cemetery?" We told her we were, and that we were looking for an uncle's grave. She told us she visited the cemetery often; that it's a beautiful spot for hiking, as we learned when there. She asked if he was Canadian. We confirmed he was. "You know," she said, tears welling in her eyes, "I was very little during the war. It was hard years. Maybe you should know: we are grateful for the Canadians and we are sorry so many of your sons and uncles, died for us. It's a beautiful cemetery. You will like it." All I could say was a feeble feeble "Thank you"? The woman's words followed me through the cemetery which is massive and old and beautiful and which was once a summer summer retreat for a wealthy family, family, the chateau still standing on high ground surrounded by a moat. Some family graves date back more than 250 years. There were a number of groundskeepers pruning, mowing, repairing stones, and preparing new plots. It's a brisk 20-minute walk from the gate to the WWI I section where near 1,500 stones stand testament to the slaughter. On our way, we passed WW.| sections sections which contain the graves of French, Belgian, Italian, Russian, Portuguese and British plots. We located the Canadian section and began the search for Row G,.. Grave 10. Our voices echoed the names as we read them aloud from each stone: BankoWski, Carrière, Harris, Keown, Prokulivich, Stevenson v . "So many dead guys," Garrett whispered. And' we found it. One stone among the field of many. Beneath the name, T. V. Selleck, is inscribed: "Till memory fades and life departs, you live for ever in our hearts." And he does. Perhaps now there can be closure. Someone has found the grave and placed flowers at the base of the stone. The grounds are well-maintained with perennial flowers planted planted along the rows of stones. The Canadian boys are not forgotten or neglected. Last week, Holland commemorated commemorated VE day with particular particular recognition of Canadian efforts in it's liberation. liberation. It's likely not much consolation consolation for losing a brother or a son to war on foreign soil, but 55 years later, the Canadian sacrifices are remembered and acknowledged. acknowledged. And on foreign soil their graves are lovingly cared for, waiting for family to visit. RECYCLE NEWCASTLE FUNERAL HOME Carl Good ~ Joyce Kufta 386 Mill St. S., Newcastle 987-3964 www.newcastlefuneralhome.com "Caring for our Community all you can eat BUFFET SPECIAL - *14.50. Full Menu • Licenced by LLBO Give your Mother a treat at... New Dutch Oven Open 7 Days a week from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Hwy 35/115. Northbound - Orono ♦*<> Call for reservations 983-5001