Post by mk6901 on Dec 4, 2011 19:39:15 GMT -5
Sw News-
National Archive Museum, Ottawa, Ontario
This week, USFL player Stricker Williams has discovered he has family ties to World War One. “It’s just really a shock to me, no one ever told me about it,” Williams said.
While trolling through the Canadian National Archives in Ottawa, Ontario, Williams discovered the World War One records of a man named Charles Williams. Williams stated, “Many people share the same last name as me, so I really didn’t think much of it but I decided I should check it out anyways. At first I thought it was someone with no relation to myself what so ever. But as I inspected the file closer I discovered this man lived in the same neighborhood as my mother, and in fact at the same address. That’s when I realized this man was my grandfather.”
Charles D. Williams. DOB: April 21st, 1890 is what the heading read. As Williams read through the files he discovered his grandfather had fought at many major battles throughout World War One. These included The Somme, Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele.
During The Somme Williams’ grandfather fought with the 4th Canadian Division. For those unfamiliar with this battle or World War One altogether, the Germans absolutely slaughtered British and Canadian forces on the battlefield. Williams’ grandfather’s regiment, 2nd Winnipeggers took heavy casualties, 245 dead, 365 injured. Only 43 men were uninjured after the battle. Williams’ grandfather was one of the lucky.
After The Somme the 4th Canadian Division moved off to Vimy Ridge. Charles’ divisions along with three other Canadian divisions were given the “impossible” task of taking the ridge. After a few days a fighting they do and the world perspective on Canada changes.
Just then Williams said something caught his eye, “Down near the bottom, I saw a whole blurb about how my grandfather was a promising football player. He was at a training camp for a CFL team when he decided his time could be better spent serving his country. This was in 1914. Just then everything clicked for me. This is where I got my football genes. No one else I know of in my family plays football or really even paid any attention to it until I joined the USFL. This is the only place I could have gotten this from is my grandfather.”
Continuing down the page Williams started to read about his father and Passchendaele. This is apparently where Williams’ grandfather went missing. He was sent out on a raid to prepare for the battle the next day, and he never returned. No one else in his raiding party knew where he might have gone to. He seemed to have just vanished. Speculations include; he was sucked into a mud hole, had some sort of heart attack from all the stress of living in the terrible conditions, he could have also died from an unknown disease. While all of these are possibilities, if he did die somewhere he most likely blended in with the other dead bodies on the ground. Whatever happened, one thing is certain, he died and was never seen again and nothing was ever recovered to prove he even existed.
“I guess I owe a lot to my grandfather. Not only for helping the allied cause in World War One but also for where I am today. Without him I don’t think I would be where I am with football. Without him I might just be a bum somewhere on the street, who knows?”
Charles Williams
National Archive Museum, Ottawa, Ontario
This week, USFL player Stricker Williams has discovered he has family ties to World War One. “It’s just really a shock to me, no one ever told me about it,” Williams said.
While trolling through the Canadian National Archives in Ottawa, Ontario, Williams discovered the World War One records of a man named Charles Williams. Williams stated, “Many people share the same last name as me, so I really didn’t think much of it but I decided I should check it out anyways. At first I thought it was someone with no relation to myself what so ever. But as I inspected the file closer I discovered this man lived in the same neighborhood as my mother, and in fact at the same address. That’s when I realized this man was my grandfather.”
Charles D. Williams. DOB: April 21st, 1890 is what the heading read. As Williams read through the files he discovered his grandfather had fought at many major battles throughout World War One. These included The Somme, Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele.
During The Somme Williams’ grandfather fought with the 4th Canadian Division. For those unfamiliar with this battle or World War One altogether, the Germans absolutely slaughtered British and Canadian forces on the battlefield. Williams’ grandfather’s regiment, 2nd Winnipeggers took heavy casualties, 245 dead, 365 injured. Only 43 men were uninjured after the battle. Williams’ grandfather was one of the lucky.
After The Somme the 4th Canadian Division moved off to Vimy Ridge. Charles’ divisions along with three other Canadian divisions were given the “impossible” task of taking the ridge. After a few days a fighting they do and the world perspective on Canada changes.
Just then Williams said something caught his eye, “Down near the bottom, I saw a whole blurb about how my grandfather was a promising football player. He was at a training camp for a CFL team when he decided his time could be better spent serving his country. This was in 1914. Just then everything clicked for me. This is where I got my football genes. No one else I know of in my family plays football or really even paid any attention to it until I joined the USFL. This is the only place I could have gotten this from is my grandfather.”
Continuing down the page Williams started to read about his father and Passchendaele. This is apparently where Williams’ grandfather went missing. He was sent out on a raid to prepare for the battle the next day, and he never returned. No one else in his raiding party knew where he might have gone to. He seemed to have just vanished. Speculations include; he was sucked into a mud hole, had some sort of heart attack from all the stress of living in the terrible conditions, he could have also died from an unknown disease. While all of these are possibilities, if he did die somewhere he most likely blended in with the other dead bodies on the ground. Whatever happened, one thing is certain, he died and was never seen again and nothing was ever recovered to prove he even existed.
“I guess I owe a lot to my grandfather. Not only for helping the allied cause in World War One but also for where I am today. Without him I don’t think I would be where I am with football. Without him I might just be a bum somewhere on the street, who knows?”
Charles Williams
