Regimental Society Newsletter S s - Lord Strathcona's Horse

himself as Mark Flowerdew. Since Flowerdew is not a name I had ever encountered before in Atlantic Canada,my interest was immediately piqued. I asked the young man if he was aware of Gordon Flowerdew, a Strathconawho had been awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his actions at Moreuil Wood in March 1918. “Oh, yes,” hereplied. “He was my great uncle.”Namps-au-Val Cemetery, where GordonFlowerdew is buried, contains 425 Allied burials.“Dear Mother,When I recovered from my shock, I learned that Mark’s father was also namedGordon Flowerdew. Gordon is an associate professor at the Department ofCommunity Health and Epidemiology at Dalhousie University. He was bornand raised in England and when his father retired from the Royal Engineers asa colonel in 1958, the family settled in Crowborough, Sussex. The only contactthat Gordon has had with the Regiment was a few years ago when he sent theMuseum in Calgary the original of the letter that Gordon wrote to his motheron the night before the Battle of Moreuil Wood, delivered posthumously. Itwas eventually passed down to him since he has the same first name. To hissurprise, the curator of the Museum sent him “a handsome tax receipt.” Inview of what transpired over the next two days—Flowerdew’s courageousactions, which led to the award of the VC and also to his death—the text of theletter is particularly poignant:Have been a bit busy lately, so haven’t been able to write. I managed to borrow this card. Haven’t had any mail forsome days, so we are very keen to see the papers. The weather is still very good, but very keen at night. Have hadthe most wonderful experiences lately & wouldn’t have missed it for anything. Best love to all.Your affectionate SonGordon”As Gordon had never visited his namesake’s grave, I was able to send him a photo of it and the cemetery it is inwhich I had taken on a visit a couple of years ago. I also included photos of the Flowerdew painting that I hadcommissioned Joan Wanklyn (the British artist who did our centennial printseries) to do for me which I presented to the Officers’ Mess in Calgary in 1992,on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the battle Duncan Crockford’smore ethereal version (for which I was the model—but that’s a story foranother issue!).I didn’t expect to make any Strathcona connections during my month-longcruise to the Caribbean and the Amazon in November-December but, in fact,two more fascinating connections occurred. Miriam and I were travelling aspart of a 17-person group made up of people from across Canada, none ofwhom we had met before. After we made our introductions on the first dayat sea, a delightful lady in the group named Anne Sheppard approached meand told me of her Strathcona links. Although she had been born in China in1930, where her parents were medical missionaries, her Canadian roots wereNamps-au-Val Cemetery, like all CommonwealthWar Graves Commission cemeteries, isdominated by the Cross of Sacrifi ce.in Winnipeg. She is the niece of S.H. Williams, author of Stand to Your Horses, the story of the Regiment duringthe First World War.The final connection was made on our return trip from the Amazon, when we docked at Bridgetown, Barbados, forthe day. Miriam and I were exploring the island’s capital on foot when we came to a statue of Admiral HoratioNelson at National Heroes Square. Behind the statue was a war memorial commemorating the Barbadian dead oftwo world wars. We were struck by the number that had served in Canadian units but nothing prepared us for whatContinued On Page 10Strathconas NewsletterPage 9www.strathconas.ca