The memories of two young soldiers are being sullied by a bureaucratic mistake that could easily be corrected.
Pvt. Peter R. McMillan, 22, and Pvt. Richard L. Massey, 19, died in 1919 in what was then the quarantine station at William Head in Metchosin, where William Head Correctional Institution now stands.
Massey, from Cereal, Alta., and McMillan, from Chesterville, Ont., died of smallpox, Massey in May 1919 and McMillan the following month. They fell ill while returning from Vladivostok, where they had served in the campaign against the new Russian communist government.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission commemorates the two young men and the 1.7 million other men and women who died in the First and Second World Wars by looking after 23,000 cemeteries and memorials in 153 countries. It also maintains an online database with names and information on the dead.
Today, McMillan and Massey鈥檚 graves are listed online as lying in 鈥淢etchosin (William Head Correctional Institute) Cemetery.鈥� That makes it appear that they died in prison.
The misleading listing should be corrected for the only two war dead known to be buried in the cemetery. It would be simple to change the entry to something like 鈥淲illiam Head Cemetery.鈥�
The approach of Remembrance Day reminds us that the war graves commission does valuable work in memorializing those who died for their country. It helps ensure that we remember and honour their sacrifice.
It does no honour to these two young men to brand them as criminals.
