By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
Sept. 6 will see a special remembrance ceremony at St. James Anglican Church in Roseneath.
At 2 p.m., a plaque honouring the service and the sacrifice of Roseneath native Sgt. Heber Clinton Nichol in the First World War will be unveiled and dedicated – replacing the large brass plaque his parents erected there Sept. 2, 1919, on the one-year anniversary of his being killed in action. The plaque was lost 100 years later when an arsonist set fire to the church.
Michael Korn of the North Lakeshore Chorus has taken a special interest in Sgt. Nicol since participating in last year’s tour to France, Belgium and the Channel Islands for the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
“My friend William Boyko has Sgt. Nichol’s war diaries, and last year the North Lakeshore Chorus sang at his grave in Drury Mill British War Cemetery, and William laid a wreath in his honour,” Korn reported.
“I got it into my head that the plaque honouring Sgt. Nichol should be replaced.”
Korn provided a copy of the coverage in the Sept. 27, 1918, Cobourg Sentinel-Star reporting the news that the son of Mr. and Mrs. Francis Nichol was lost in action.
Sgt. Nichol enlisted Sept. 28, 1915, with the 80th Battalion of Peterborough, and went overseas the following May to serve a year in the Pay and Record Office in London. He transferred to the 38th Ottawa Battalion and arrived in France in the spring of 1917, where he qualified for his promotion to sergeant with a score of 144 out of 150 on his non-commissioned officer’s course exam.
His last letter home to his parents, written two days before his death, stated that his Battalion would be taking part in another “push” before many hours.
The article described the 21-year-old as “a young man of exemplary character and of a quiet disposition.
“He answered the call of King and Country and has paid the supreme sacrifice in far-off France. To his parents, brothers and sisters the community extends their heartfelt sympathy.”
Some 107 years later, on Sept. 6, he will be remembered again with a ceremony that will include a free concert by the North Lakeshore Chorus. Former Roseneath United Church minister Rev. Jamie York will pipe, and Royal Canadian Legion Branch 580 (Grafton Legion) will be sending a colour party.
Following the arson incident of 2019, the church rebuilt and reopened Dec. 9, 2023. It is located at 21 Church Rd. in Roseneath.
