Sinclair heritage WWI - 1917

Robert Sinclair James Sinclair

James and Robert came to Canada from Orkney, Scotland. They worked between then and 1917 as farm labour (just look at their hands) in Meskanaw, Saskatchewan. I imagine the lure of good wages ($1.10 day) in the army and the romance of wartime adventure was irresistible when portrayed by the recruiting officer who came through the area late in the war seeking fresh recruits for the war in Europe. Jim and Robert ended up in the 28th Battalion as signalmen. The brothers were both at Vimy Ridge and survived the war - though Jim was severely wounded sometime after the main attack on Vimy Ridge. He lost an eye, the hearing in one ear and had shrapnel all down his left side - shrapnel that, for the rest of his life, would work its way to the surface and emerge as a reminder of his service to Canada - and his adventure away from the farm. Robert was at Vimy and at Passchendale and left a diary of his experiences as quiet testimony to the grim realities of his adventure.