The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.2004, Blaðsíða 36

78
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 59 #2
service rate of about $1.30 per day, of
which he assigned $15.00 per month to his
mother back home.
During World War One illness caused
almost as many casualties as bullets and
bombs. Frank was to become a casualty
due to illness. At the end of December
1917, Frank was sent to hospital suffering
from the mumps. After about two weeks in
hospital, he spent another month in conva-
lescence in the Boulogne area. After two
more weeks in the Reinforcement Depot,
Frank was ready to return to his unit. Of
course, on his return, the unit promptly
sent him on two weeks leave.
The Tenth Battalion history notes that
from December 1917 to March 1918, the
unit served four separate tours in the front
lines but suffered only two fatal casualties.
Frank returned from leave in time to be
detailed as one of 40 men ordered on a
trench raid during the night of March
12/13, 1918. It is possible that the Germans
knew the raid was coming. When the
Canadians reached the German trench,
they found it virtually deserted. Suddenly,
the Germans began firing from well behind
their own lines, including poisonous gas
shells. Frank was one of five men wounded,
being overcome by gas. Fie survived the
journey to the casualty clearing station. His
medical record described his injury as
“Dangerous”, meaning that the medical
staff knew he probably would not survive.
Near the front lines, medical resources
were limited. Staff would have concentrat-
ed their efforts on soldiers who had a
chance of surviving. Frank Thorsteinson
died of the effects of gas poisoning on
March 14, 1918. At a time when thousands
were killed every day, Frank was one of
only three soldiers killed in his battalion
during the winter campaign of 1917-18.
According to the regimental history, Frank
was also one of only three Tenth Battalion
men lost to the effects of poisonous gas
during the entire war. He is buried at
Barlin Communal Cemetery near Arras,
France.
I mentioned at the start that I had one
other surprise about my great uncle Frank.
It was probably the hardest thing to track
down. Last year's Winter Olympics
brought back memories of Canada's first
Olympic gold medal hockey team: the 1920
Winnipeg Falcons. This Spring an entire
issue of “The Icelandic Canadian” was
devoted to hockey, with special emphasis
on the Falcons. The cover was a caricature
of the 1913-14 Falcons, including one
“Buster1 Thorsteinson. The picture was
drawn by Winnipeg artist Charles
Thorson, who later became one of Walt
Disney's illustrators, (e.g. “Snow White”).
Thorson, apparently, loved to draw pic-
tures of the Falcons. Included in this issue
was an article written by Fred Thordarson,
a member of that team, for “Canadian
Sports and Outdoor Life” magazine in
1933. In this article, Thordarson mentioned
that the Falcons had dedicated their gold
medal season to one of their own, “Buster”
Thorsteinson, who had: “made the
supreme sacrifice for his nation in Flanders
on the eve of armistice, just after his last let-
ter to his loved ones in Winnipeg, telling
Pharmacists:
ERNEST STEFANSON
GARRY FEDORCHUK
CLAIRE GILLIS
642-5504
FF^pharmasave
We care
about your health
Centre and Fourth / Gimli, MB / ROC 1 BO