Loyola College - Review Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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20 Е ОПУОТАЗСО БЕБЕ СЕ REV РЕМ heavy shell fixe from the German Artillery, and rescued at his own risk several wounded men. Тће many friends whom Captain Walsh made while at Loyola have followed his career with interest and pride. His heroic life and holy death were worthy of a Catholic soldier fighting in a great cause. On behalf of his old College, we offer his relativ es our deep sympathy in their grief at his loss. FROM MGR. BURKE, Head Catholic Canadian Chaplain. I.am sorry to have to inform you that your dear good brother, Capt. J. P. Walsh, is dead. Col. Delaney, who loved him dearly and closed his eyes in death, will give you the particulars. Enough for me to assure you that he died in the full faith of the Catholic Church and with all her blessings. Не was quite reconciled and committed his soul to God, and sent a tender message to you and his other sister and friends. Не died for his country; he was worthy of his faith; he had every good man’s admiration and God's favour. We shall bury him reverently, with all the rites of Holy Mother Church, Monday. I shall pontificate the requiem myself. Col. Delaney and many other friends will be at the service. I pray you then to be reconciled to this act of God's will—the Lord hath given, the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. With every tender word of sympathy and condolence. P.S.—Col. Ross, his O.C., spoke to me to-night of your brother’s great service and splendid qualities of mind and heart.... A N FROM FATHER WORKMAN, O.F.M., Senior Chaplain. Although I have seen so much happen during this dreadful war, the news of his death was a great shock to me. I happened to be up in the trenches when he was hit, and though he suffered very much from the moment he was hit, I never thought the wound would prove fatal. He had every attention, though it was a little too “hot” to bring him out for two hours or so. I went back two days later to see him at the Casualty Clearing. He was making a brave fight then. But I was very much surprised to see how frail a body he had. I spoke to the nurse, and she told me he ought to have reported sick three months before. He had stuck to his post in the trenches too long, and had been drawing on his wonderful nerve. We had become close friends ever since he was posted to the 2nd Battalion. He gave the men excellent example by his faithful attendance at Holy Mass and the Sacraments. An officer of that stamp is of wonderful help to the priest.. I shall not soon forget all that he was to me and my work, and know now that God is rewarding him for it. You will have heard from other sources how dear he was to. the officers and men of his battalion. I know he was recommended for the Military Cross, and.that he richly deserved it over and over again. We were expecting the award, but his sad death came first, and God is now doing the awarding... . FROM LT.-COL. DELANEY. Prior Park, Combe Down, Bath, 17th Aug., 1916. I am sure that you know that it is with a very heavy heart that I am sitting here writing you this evening, and how sorry I am to be the bearer of such bad news. But I feel that it is better for me to write you than a stranger, and I am sure that Johnny would have done as much for me, if 1 had been in his place. You know how much I cared for him, and how much care and attention he gave me when I was ill. I have never forgotten, and neither has my family, all his kindness to me and my sister. To tell the story from the beginning: I got a letter from Percy Wright, saying that Johnny had been hit on Saturday. This was received on the following Thursday. 1 immediately wrote him, asking to be notified when Johnny left France. I did not get any word till by accident I came on a casualty list, saying that he had been evacuated to England on Saturday. I only e on Tuesday evening, and 1 immediately got up to London that night, getting in at 5 .m. In the morning I had the office D.M.S. phone, and the report was good, so I went to settle some official work at Canadian Headquarters and finished there at 12.30 noon. I got out to the 2nd London General Hospital, Chelsea, at 1.30 p.m., and, to my great sorrow, I was told that he was operated for a secondary hemorrhage from his wound. It appears that he was wounded in the thigh, a dirty wound, with pieces of clothing in it and a piece of shrapnel in the big blood vessel of the thigh. In France they operated and removed all metal and dirt from the wound, but when he

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LOYOLA COLLEGE REVIEW 19 CAPTAIN JOHN P. WALSH, C. A. M. С: Captain John P. Walsh was the first of Loyola's pioneers to give his life for the Empire. Не came to the College in 1896 and entered the class of Rudi- ments in the old building on St. Catherine Street. He remained with us until 1904, when he graduated with the degree of B. A. He wasa shy, delicate-looking boy, but his gentle manner and apparently frail build veiled a considerable strength of character, a coolness of determination, and a toughness of constitution, which his career both at the College and afterwards, and especially at the front, amply demonstrated. It was some time before the boys became acquainted with the real Jack Walsh, and still longer before his many qualities were fully appreciated. He was not brilliant, he never thrust himself on the notice of others, and consequently he passed at first for a very ordinary, quiet, pleasant student. As time went on, however, his amiability and really merry disposition made him popular with everyone, and, as he became better known, he won respect and esteem, and began to hold among the boys the position to which his solid traits of character entitled him. He was a conscientious persevering student, a self-sacrificing and enthu- siastic, though not demonstrative college man, a good all-round, though, if we except hockey, not a remarkable athlete. As a hockey-player he was certainly above the ordinary: a cool, tricky, hard-working, unselfish forward, with a fast, dangerous shot. At various times he held several positions on the Athletic Committee, and in the different Societies of the College and was towards he end of his course an officer in the Sodality of Our Lady. On leaving Loyola, Captain Walsh entered Medicine at McGill and graduated in 1908. Не practised in Quebec, his native city, and his life as a Doctor seems to have been to a great extent a repetition of his life as a student. The quality of his work was such as gradually to earn for him a large practice. He was always thorough, painstaking, cool and conscientious in the discharge of his professional duties. In the subjoined account from the ‘Quebec Chronicle will be found a brief outline of his active life before going to the front. In February, 1915, he went overseas with No. 2 Canadian General Hospital. After serving for five months at Le Tréport he was, at his own request, transferred to a combatant unit. The letters which follow bear ample testimony to his courage and determination and devotion to duty, both asa soldier and asaCatholic. “We shall merely add a few words in connection with the deed which earned such high praise for himin May, 1916. In the Eye-witness’ despatches graphically describing the heroism of the Canadian troops in defending a crater on their front against violent German attacks, the папе of Captain Walsh was mentioned for valorous conduct. The Canadians were depleted to a mere handful by the intense bombardment of the Germans, and the remnant of the garrison forced to retreat on their battalion. The Canadian Artillery, however, soon drove the enemy out of the crater, and a bombing party from the battalion again occupied the position, rescued the wounded, and restored the entrenchments. Many instances of individual bravery and conspicuous service are given in the despatch, several notable instances of self-sacrifice being mentioned, and among them is the heroic deed of Captain Walsh who fearlessly exposed himself to the

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CAPTAIN JOHN P. WALSH, No. 2 Hospital, C. A.M.C. B.A. 1904. Died of Wounds, August 17th, 1916.