Robert Drummond, an emergency room doctor, spearheaded a project to honour soldiers who once lived in his Montreal West neighbourhood and died during the Second World War by posting 33 posters on lamp posts and front lawns. Each poster features a photo of a soldier, his regiment, local schools he attended, and where he lived. In some cases, the poster sits on the lawn in front of the home where the soldier lived.
This is a project that could be adopted by genealogical and historical societies — and Dr. Drummond admits he got the idea from a community in New Brunwick.
Here are the steps he took:
- To begin the project, Dr. Drummond took note of the 50 names on the cenotaph in Montreal West of soldiers who died during WWII. He wanted to put a face and story to each name. He told the Montreal Gazette, “Anybody can say something about how these men died. But the whole point of the project for me is to tell you how they lived and to kind of put their lives and their death in context.”
- Dr. Drummond approached the town’s mayor who supported the project along with the town’s historian.
- Then, he drove to Ottawa every month to look up the service records of the men at Library and Archives Canada.
- He found most of the soldiers’ photos at Library and Archives Canada. Others came from yearbooks and family members. He found only 33 photos, which is why only 33 posters were produced. He hopes to find photos of all of the men.
- Dr. Drummond would like to next list the soldiers’ names on the town’s website. Clicking on a name will reveal a soldier’s photo and story.
Eventually, Dr. Drummond hopes to produce a book about the soldiers.
If producing posters seems like a mammoth task, focus instead on what may be the more manageable website page of honour.
Read the Montreal Gazette article about this project here.
