Tag Archives: YMCA

“Manna From Heaven” – A YMCA Physical Director at Valcartier and Salisbury Plain

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By Robert Alldritt Before he was a prisoner of war in Germany (a story explored in an earlier article), Sergeant William A. Alldritt served as a machine gunner with the 8th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF). However, as documented in many of the letters he sent home and in letters written by his colleagues and fellow soldiers, he… Read more »

The Second Battle of Ypres and the Creation of a YMCA Hero

By Jonathan Weier Among the approximately 2000 members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force killed at the Second Battle of Ypres in late April and early May 1915 was the only Canadian YMCA worker killed in combat during the First World War. YMCA Honourary Captain Oscar Irwin, attached to the 10th Battalion of the CEF, was killed when he joined the… Read more »