http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1134618--fiorito-mystery-of-soldier-s-grave-solved Mystery of soldier’s grave solved
2012/02/22
By Joe Fiorito City Columnist
There is a flat stone marker in the section of Prospect Cemetery where soldiers from the First World War are buried. The stone bears a number, not a name.
Over time, other soldiers — comrades, perhaps — were buried nearby, and these men were given proper military headstones.
But the numbered marker was never replaced; it sank deeper into the earth, and the soldier who is buried there was eventually forgotten.
Enter Bob Richardson.
Bob lives in Milton. He is an amateur historian with a particular interest in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, the men who went off to fight the First World War. He was doing some research on another matter when he happened to look at the Halifax Memorial; something curious struck him:
The Halifax Memorial is a monument for sailors who were buried at sea. But the names of five men — soldiers, not sailors — have been added to the memorial.
These soldiers, like the sailors, have no known graves. But there was something else: All five are native Canadians, and one of the names is that of Pte. Bertie Nackogie of Ontario.
Bob got busy.
The first thing he did was post a query online — yes, there is a forum for this sort of stuff — and Marika Pirie, a fellow buff, saw the posting. She is a first-rate researcher, and she dug up an obit for Bertie from the Toronto Star. The obituary pointed Bob to Prospect Cemetery, and led him to find the small, flat, numbered marker.
Pte. Bertie Nakogie, of Moose Factory, died in Toronto of pneumonia before he could go overseas. But nothing explains the lack of a proper headstone. Bob said, “Maybe they intended to put up a stone; maybe they forgot.”
Maybe they did.
He dug further into the military archives, and this is what he found: Bertie — his last name is likely misspelled; it is probably Nakogee — was a Cree trapper and guide. He was recruited, along with more than a dozen other men, from James Bay country.
“He was a member of the Algonquin Regiment of the 228th Battalion. He signed his military papers with an ‘X’, presumably because he was illiterate.” And, presumably, it was someone who did not have an ear for Cree names who filled in the papers for him.
Bob thinks that Bertie, because of his bush skills, was probably in training as a sniper.
He persuaded the War Graves Commission to prepare a proper headstone; it was recently delivered to Prospect Cemetery, carved with the military spelling of Bertie’s last name.
Bob also called Moose Factory, in a search for relatives; hard to do from a distance; harder still, given that church records were lost some years ago in a fire.
In the meantime, he has arranged for a ceremony to take place when the headstone is installed. “I’ve been in touch with an Armed Forces padre, orginally from Moose Factory; I’m hoping she can attend.” The Algonquin Regiment will send a colour guard. There will be pipers. And there will also be a native elder on hand. Bob said, “I want to do it April 28th, when there is a full moon.”
But why did Bob Richardson go to all this trouble for a man he does not know? “I feel there’s been an injustice done.” He wants to make things right.
And now new information has just come to light: Bob has learned that Bertie was a member of the New Post Band, now the Taykwa Tagamou Nation; he has confirmed the proper spelling of Bertie Nakogee’s last name; and he has asked the War Graves Commission to prepare another headstone in time for the ceremony.
To make things right.
