|
Nov 14, 1889
|
Born at Belfast
Ireland
|
|
Apr 3, 1915
|
Attested into
the 21st Battalion at Lindsay Ontario
Ø Number 59434 (temporary number 1365)
o He attested under the name of James Harvey
Ø No next of kin was given
Ø Previous occupation given as Steamfitter
Ø No previous military experience given
Ø Religion given as Roman Catholic
|
|
May 6, 1915
|
Embarked the RMS
Metagama at Montreal Quebec
|
|
May 8, 1915
|
Assigned to the
Depot Company
|
|
May 15, 1915
|
Disembarked at
Devonport England and proceeded to West Sandling Camp, near Hythe, Kent
|
|
Aug 28, 1915
|
Name changed to
read Robert Gaffikin
|
|
Sep 14, 1915
|
Embarked the St
Seiriol at Folkestone
|
|
Sep 15, 1915
|
Disembarked at
Boulogne France and proceeded to St Omer
|
|
Feb 25, 1916
|
SOS (Struck Off
Strength) on transfer to the 3rd Canadian Tunneling Company, Canadian Engineers
|
|
Mar 20, 1916
|
Declared to be
AWL (Absent Without Leave)
|
|
Mar 29, 1916
|
SOS as a
Deserter
|
|
Sep 15, 1916
Puchervillers British Cemetery
Somme France
|
|
Feb 2, 1917 2nd
Canadian Division Routine Orders
It would appear that the army was
re-thinking his classification as a Deserter given that he was wounded near the front 5½
months after he disappeared
|
|
|
2010
For the 7
nights leading up to November 11, 2010, the names of all Canadian soldiers who were killed
during the Great War were projected onto the Belgian War Memorial in Ypres. At the same time, the same names were being
broadcast via the internet to schools across Belgium and Canada. The image above shows the opening ceremonies at
the Belgian War Memorial on November 4, 2010.
Below on the left is the name of Robert Gaffikin being projected on that
wall. Below right shows the name being
broadcast to the schools. Each name appeared
for 25 seconds and each night 9,700 names were shown.
|