Elnora pioneer Jack Beattie was not just an early settler who helped build Central Alberta, but he also served in the Battle of Passchendaele – one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War -- leaving a legacy of military service for succeeding generations.
“Grandpa was a Lewis machine gunner in Belgium, and everywhere he went, so did the machine gun,” said grandson Iain Mose of Elnora. “He was also a scout on the front who would sneak across enemy (German) lines and try to capture soldiers or gather intelligence.”
The grandson added that on one particular mission for the 2nd Battalion Canadian Mounted Rifles, he was caught by a German hand grenade and was wounded.
“They took shrapnel out of his mouth and ears, which affected his hearing for the rest of his life,” said the 58-year-old Mose, remembering that his grandfather did not talk about the war during his life. “He had witnessed horrors on the line he would never want to relive.”
According to an entry in Buried Treasures, the Elnora-Huxley-Pine Lake history book, he spoke of water waist deep in the trenches in March 1918, which caused chaos and desperate acts such as soldiers stealing turnips from local farmers to feed themselves. He also noted that, “conditions were unspeakable.
“There was no place to bury our dead, so we just banked them in the trenches. If one was sleeping, the rats would come to sleep against you for warmth,” recalled Jack.
“We could feel things changing around October 1918, we were always on the move now. Finally it came. Armistice,” he added in his letters.
For his war service, Beattie was awarded the King George V medal for service, and the Military Medal with bar.
The family of Beattie did not hear of his war experiences, a situation that Mose understands all too well.
“I am a retired RCMP officer and there are things I lived through I would not want to relive and remember,” added Mose. He emphasized that his family has a long line of military service. Jack Beattie's son Edwin also did his duty in the Second World War. As well, Mose's wife's mother was an aircraft spotter in the last world war, and her father was one of the first men off the boat at D-Day. “They all served in some capacity,” said Mose.
The Elnora resident added Remembrance Day is significant to the family and they make an effort to observe a minute of silence wherever they are.
“We are told to remember,” said Mose. “But there are things we would all like to forget.”
