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April 04, 2017

April 9, 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge in WWI, long considered a defining moment in Canadian history. Many from the BC legal profession participated in the Great War, the following making the ultimate sacrifice:

Members: John Henry Austin, Leo Buchanan, Adair Carss, Herbert Cameron Russell Clark, John Cook, Frank Llewellyn Gwillim, John Gillmour Hay, Elmer Watson Jones, John Keefer Kennedy, Alex John Kitto, Albert James Knowling, John Joseph Martin, Alexander Wilson Mulligan, Neville Montgomery, John McDonald Mowat, William Hart-McHarg, Robert McKane, John Dewar McMurrich, Robert Branks Powell, George Devereux Basset Scale, Lancelott Hull Sheffield, Richard Copland Spinks, John Hales Sweet, Anthony Temple, Stuart Bruce Van Kleeck, Robert Innys Baker Warton and Arthur Vincent Wood.

Students: George Edward Foster Ambery, Basil Elmo Atkins, Herbert Beaumont Boggs, William James Bowser, Walter Francis Chaffey, Ronald Arthur Ronaldson Clark, Edmund Daniel Patrici Corridon, Arthur Ramsay Creighton, William Taylor Crummy, Conrad O'Neill Daunt, Freeman Alexander Davidson, Irwin David, Harry Albert Downer, John Wordsworth Drose, Eric George Johnston Dunn, Frank Townsend Galliher, James Henry Grant, Ronald Hume Hilton, William Stanley Lane, Philip Reginald Margetson, David Henry C. Munro, John MacKayMunro, John Thomas Mutch, Kenneth Myers, Benjamin McDiarmid, John William McDonald, Kenneth Norman McRae, George Walter Nation, William Frederick Longlay Pilkington, Oswald Koelle Peto, James Wylie Raeburn, Clifford Fraser Risteen, Maurice Colvin Montgomery Rutherford, Cuthbert Farrar Savage, Frank Wendell Stacey, Joseph Harold Wilson, George Richard Davidson Wooler and Frederick George Yardley.

In his paper, Vimy 1917-2017, lawyer Art Linton, 1st Bn. Canadian Black Watch 1966-70, talks about the war service of BC's Locke family:

Charles Holland Locke, a lawyer from Winnipeg, Manitoba, served as a Captain in the artillery at Vimy Ridge. After the war, Locke returned to practice law in British Columbia and in 1947, was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada. Service and leadership are inter-generational principles. Mr. Justice Locke’s son, Charles Conrad Locke, became a lawyer in British Columbia. Locke the younger served as an artillery officer in WWII and went on to become a Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia and later, a Justice of the Court of Appeal of British Columbia. He also served as President of the British Columbia Law Society and President of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada.

To commemorate the 100th anniversary, Veterans Affairs Canada has a number of events scheduled on April 9, 2017, including at Mountain View Cemetary in Vancouver, Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Site and Veterans Memorial Park in Victoria, West Vancouver Memorial Park, Port Moody Station Museum, Civic Plaza in Harrison Hot Spring, Richmond City Hall plaza and Queen's Park Stadium / Regimental Museum at the Armoury in New Westminster. For details, see Veterans Affairs Canada event calendar.