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Home From the War

Two young men are sitting beside each other. They appear to be brothers. The man on the left has dark hair and is very serious. He is wearing at World War I army uniform. The man on the right is a priest. He is wearing round wire-rimmed glasses and has a nice smile. His hair is very wavy. He is wearing a clerical collar and dark vestment

Denis Duke Collection

Clarence Bessette (left) was wounded at Ypres and succumbed to his wounds on June 5, 1916. Clarence’s brother Herbert (right) was a Catholic priest who spent much of his life as a missionary. He died in 1952 in Sechelt, BC.

Lumby soldiers who survived the war, along with many other Canadians were sent to Liverpool in early 1919 to board the Empress of Britain for the return trip home to Canada.

The trip across the Atlantic to Halifax was rough with heavy winter storms and many of the soldiers were seasick. However, the trip back to Canada was much faster and safer than in 1917 when the German U-boats roamed the seas.

In Halifax, the soldiers boarded the CPR for Vancouver. The train stopped all along the way to drop soldiers in their hometowns. The CPR engineer would send a telegram ahead to let the town know their soldiers were coming home. Church bells would ring and people would gather at the station to welcome their loved ones home.