Private Harold Ulmont Zwicker
Private Harold Ulmont Zwicker was born in Caledonia to Richard and Mildred Zwicker on April 3rd, 1897. Harold was the second of five children, the others Raymond, Lester, Izetta, and Charlotte. His parents had another girl, Laurene after Harold had perished in action. The family was Baptist, but the census does not mention Richard’s occupation.
Harold enlisted as an Infantryman on October 30th, 1915, in the 85th Overseas Battalion (Nova Scotia Highlanders, often called the “Never Fails”) and was given the rank of Private and Regimental number 222887. On enlistment, he was 5 feet 5 inches tall (165 cm), weighed 146 pounds (66 kg), with blue eyes and light brown hair. His enlistment medical report lists his condition as “Good but rather immature”, as might be expected of a fellow in his late teenage years.
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Private Zwicker’s unit sailed from Halifax on the SS Olympic on October 12th, 1916, arriving in Liverpool, England six days later. On December 29th, 1916, he was transferred to the 219th “Overseas” Highland Battalion, and on February 11th, 1917, he disembarked with his Battalion in Havre to engage the Germans in France and Belgium. His records are unclear, but at some point in 1917, he was transferred to “B” Company of the 42nd Battalion.
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Private Harold Zwicker perished on November 3rd, 1917, during the hellish battle at Passchendaele fighting the German 4th Army. From Veterans Canada website - It was a region made up of flat, low ground that was kept dry only with the help of an intricate series of dikes and ditches. Three years of heavy fighting there, however, had entirely destroyed these drainage systems. The ground, churned up by millions of artillery shells, turned to sticky mud when wet. In 1917, the autumn rains came early and turned the battlefield into a sea of muck, the likes of which still make Passchendaele synonymous with the horrific fighting conditions most people picture when thinking of the First World War. 275,000 British and Canadian lives were lost, as were 220,000 German lives. Private Zwicker was 20 years old when he died.
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Private Zwicker bequeathed his estate to his mother, Mildred. She was also awarded the Memorial Cross Medal (also known as the Silver Cross), and his father, Richard received the Memorial Plaque and Scroll.
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Private Zwicker is commemorated at the Ypres Memorial (Menin Gate) in Belgium, along with fifty-five thousand Canadian and Allied soldiers who were lost without trace (Memorial Inscription). He is memorialized on Panel 28 alongside dozens of his Battalion mates.
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Private Harold Ulmont Zwicker is commemorated on page 355 of the World War One Book of Remembrance. He is also listed on the Caledonia Cenotaph. Private Zwicker's cousin, Private James Alex Spears is also commemorated on the Caledonia Cenotaph.
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Online References
War Grave Search – https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1597279/harold-ulmont-zwicker/
Local Grave Search - https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20736009/harold-ulmont-zwicker
Canadian Virtual War Memorial - https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/1597279?Harold%20Ulmont%20Zwicker
Canadian Census - https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Home/Record?app=census&IdNumber=7804834&ecopy=e001975907
First World War Personnel Records Database (file download size 44.3 Meg) - https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Home/Record?app=pffww&IdNumber=331598&ecopy=662520a
Excerpts from References; Google References
https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/wars-and-conflicts/first-world-war/battle-of-passchendaele
