Ramblings for Monday, June 12th, 2017
The first day of our tour in France focused on tracing the last footsteps of my late uncle Henry who was a casualty of WWII. Henry (Harry) Sambells died in action Sept. 1944, while serving as a Sapper in the 6th Field Company of the Royal Canadian Engineers. After he and his comrades had completed clearing land-mines along a section of muddy gravel road on Sept. 22 they returned over the same route back to camp at the end of the day. Unfortunately, the group of five men had failed to detect all mines and on the return trip, their half-track vehicle detonated one of the mines killing all instantly. As was the custom, the remains of the men were temporarily buried in the back-yard at a nearby home and were dutifully recorded for later exhumation and reburial after the war. It was during 2016 that my cousin Rosanne Trimmer discovered records identifying the place of the temporary burial at the house of Mrs Duval-Grisette on the west side of the road at Ecault. However, it seemed unlikely that the same house remained today, let alone the same family living there now. Nevertheless, I was determined to make an effort to discover the site.
From Montreuil, we headed northwest to Etaples and then north along the country road to Ecault. It was relatively easy to identify the section of road from the description provided by historian C.Q.M.S. Flatt in his book the History of the 6th Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers. There were only four laneways off the heavily wooded forest on the west side of the 2 km long road. I spotted some people at the third entrance and stopped to make inquiries. In broken English, the gentleman directed me to the next house up the road nearest Ecault. A few hundred yards further we stopped but quickly observed that the house was quite new. Approaching the locked gate I attempted to manually ring the bell but lacking its clapper I could not generate a sound. I looked down the lane and walked back and forth in front of the gate in hopes of attracting attention. Fortunately, a lady appeared a few minutes later and cautiously walked forward to our smiling faces. Despite her limited English and our broken French, she confirmed that she was M. Grisette the daughter-in-law of Madame Duval-Gisette. She unlocked the gate and beckoned us to follow her up the laneway to her house. Stepping aside she entered the house and retrieved a key to unlock the back gate. She pointed to the site where five Canadians and one Dutchman had been buried behind the adjacent house of her now deceased father-in-law. Stepping back she left us in our thoughts as we walked forward to take pictures of a large tree below which the burials had occurred. Observing an unfamiliar site with a very familiar story can be quite moving. After a short while, we thanked her and retreated to our car feeling fulfilled in knowing the full circumstances of our uncle’s burial.
From Ecault we headed on towards Boulogne and stopped briefly for a picture at the site of where Harry’s last encampment had been located – a quiet peaceful rural patch of lowland valley just to the southeast of Boulogne. Continuing on we stopped for a brisk walk of through the remnants of the large wind-swept German battery at Cap Griz Nez, and not far away from the great German big-gun at the Museum of the Atlantic Wall near Audinghen.
Our last stop of the day was a visit to the Canadian WWII cemetery of Leubringhen where Henry Sambells and his comrades were buried. As with all war cemeteries in France, this Canadian one was well maintained with manicured lawns, plantings, and a guest book. It was not difficult to locate the grave. Many family members had visited previously so its exact location was well known to us. Of significance to me was the fact that all five men from the 6th Field Company who were killed that day were buried beside each other. I retrieved a piece of stony flint from the pathway leading to the cemetery gates as a memento of my visit.
Flashback
In May of 2006, my son Jeffrey made a serendipitous discovery. While leisurely searching on Google for family surnames during a lunch hour break at work, he discovered a reference to a lake in northwestern Ontario bearing our uncommon surname. I was startled when he brought it to my attention. I checked the reference and was absolutely astounded to find Sambells Lake listed in the Kenora District. The first evidence of a family member arriving in Ontario was in Timmins in 1928. To my knowledge, no members had ever settled or even traveled to northwestern Ontario let alone achieved any distinction to warrant the surname being used in this fashion. I sent an e-mail query to the Geographic Names Specialist at the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and received the following reply:
“We are pleased to provide the following in answer to your e-mail. Sambells Lake was named in memory of World War Two casualty, Sapper Henry Sambells who died on Sept. 22, 1944, at the age of 34. Sapper Sambells fought with the Royal Canadian Engineers of the Canadian Amy. He was the son of James and Florence Sambells of Hamilton, Ontario and is buried in the Calais Canadian War Cemetery in Pas de Calais, France.”
My heart skipped a beat. Florence and James were my grandparents! I was overjoyed. Further inquiries revealed that the lake had been named in 1959 when the discovery of gold in the Red Lake area prompted the need for improved land surveys and the naming of hundreds of lakes in the wilderness district. At the time it was suggested that the lakes be named after WWII casualties from Ontario. Sadly, the government made no attempt to inform family members of this decision.
Sambells Lake, Kenora District, Ontario Canada
In the summer of 2007, I organized a family canoe/camping trip to visit Sambells Lake where we fixed a bronze plaque onto a rock cairn we made in memory of my uncle’s service and sacrifice. Eight members of the family participated in the adventure with several from the USA and England. Again in 2013, a second pilgrimage was made with more international members of the family attending. A third excursion is scheduled for the summer of 2018. Thanks to Henry, his sacrifice has also served to reconnect and maintain the personal kinship among international members of this branch of the Sambells clan.
– – – next – – – “Geopolitics of the medieval French clan”