In August, 2008, Marika Pirie and I contacted Veterans Affairs Canada about a soldier that we believed overlooked in the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Marika Pirie has, over the years, taken photo's of a number of soldier graves from the Veterans' plot at Prospect Cemetery (Toronto) and from Hamilton Cemetery in Hamilton, Ontario. Some of these men may have died shortly after the war from non war-related causes. Private Laird stood out from the rest, though. He sailed with the First Contingent, attached to the number 2 field ambulance, Canadian Army Medical Corps. His attestation papers are stamped "INVALIDED TO CANADA FOR FURTHER MEDICAL TREATMENT." from Ontario Military Hospital, in Orpington, Kent, England. He died in 1918 at the age of 23.
There is a photo of his grave marker (not a CWGC marker) here:
We had no information concerning his cause of death, but given his age, and the fact that he was seriously enough to be repatriated from England, we thought that he should be considered for inclusion. The kind and co-operative folks at VAC tracked down what they needed, and Private Laird is now commemorated on the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
Thank you, Marika, for pulling all of the information needed to make the case, and to the folks at VAC for making this happen.
