How a Tiny French Town is Commemorating Canadian Black Battalion Soldiers

Published August 29, 2018

Members of the No. 2 Construction Battalion line up in Truro, N.S., before they depart for England and France in WW I. (Submitted by George Borden)
Douglas Ruck is a lawyer and speaks publicly about the history of the No. 2 Construction Battalion. His father, Senator Calvin Ruck, published the first history of the battalion. (CBC)
An artistic rendering of what the completed monument will look like when it is unveiled in the Supt cemetery on Sept. 29. (Fondation du Patrimoine)
Some of the graves of the Canadian Forestry Corps in Supt, France. Four of the men buried in Supt are from the No. 2 Construction Battalion. (Submitted by Evelyne Comte)
Retired Capt. George Borden has spent the last year touring Canada and speaking about the No. 2 Construction Battalion. (Eric Woolliscroft/CBC)
This image from the fall of 1916 shows members of the No. 2 Construction Battalion, Canada's first military unit made up primarily of black personnel. (Nova Scotia Archives)
Kirrily Freeman, an associate professor in the department of history at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, researches the life of one member of the No. 2 Construction Battalion who is buried in Supt. (CBC)
Spr Charlie Some was a member of the No. 2 Construction Battalion and was murdered in France. (The Canadian Great War Project / The Legacy Voices Project)

Memorial to Canadian Forestry Corps helps preserve the story of black Canadians who served in WW I

Reprinted from CBC Nova Scotia story by Shaina Luck

A French memorial to 3,000 Canadian forestry engineers from the First World War will help to preserve the memory of members of the first and only black battalion in Canada's history.

Engineer Members of Invictus Team Canada Team Announced

Published August 15, 2018

Invictus Games Logo

Four members of the CME family have been named to this year's Invictus Games taking part in Sydney, Australia. The international event, slated for October 20 to 27, aims to harness the power of sport to inspire the recovery and rehabilitation of physically and mentally injured military personnel and veterans. 

The name 'Invictus' comes from the poem "Invictus," written in 1875 by William Ernest Henley, "I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul."

The Engineer members of the team are:

Lt John Edward Rogers Wood, Military Cross

John Edward Rogers Wood was born in Fernie, BC in 1906. He was educated at Upper Canada College in Toronto and graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in 1927 where he was an outstanding member of the football team. He graduated with a degree in Mining Engineering from the University of Toronto in 1930 and worked his profession until he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Engineers in 1940.

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