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The following is a list of Geographic Place Names honouring members of the 54^th Kootenay Battalion and Volunteers of Nelson, B.C.

To view this site on-line go to:

http://ilmbwww.gov.bc.ca/bcnames/g2_search_options.htm

Click on: Search by Name" and then enter the surname of the soldier. Here, you will also be able to view the geographic location on a map.

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office….with thanks.

Baird Lake

Latitude:51°19'35" Longitude:119°44'50"

Gazetteer Map:82M/5

Relative Location:E side North Thompson River, just N of East Barrière Lake, Kamloops Division Yale Land District

Named to remember CEF Private John Baird, 443606, from Barrière, killed in action 18 November 1916 at Courcelette, France. Born 29 September 1874 at Lanark, Scotland; came to Canada after 1908 and settled at Barrière in 1910. Enlisted at Vernon with the 54th (Kootenay) Battalion, and was serving as a machine gunner when killed by a shell while on a raid behind enemy lines. Originally buried in an Allied cemetery on the grounds of the sugar refinery at Courcellete, all the graves were later destroyed by shelling. Private Baird's name is inscribed on the Vimy Memorial.

Adopted 27 October 1998 on 82M/5, effective 11 November 1998.

Latitude: 118° 39'55"

Longitude: 118°39'55"

Gazetteer Map: 82E/2 Position: at Mouth

Relative Location: Flows S into Boundary Creek, N of Greenwood, Similkameen Division Yale Land District

Adopted 6 October 1998 on 82E/2 and 82E/7, effective 11 November 1998.

Named to remember CEF Private Edward Greenwood Christensen, 931618, serving with the 54th Battalion when he was killed in action at Vimy, 13 August 1917. His parents Anna and Mark Christensen were the first family to move into Greenwood, and he was the first child born there, 8 April 1896. Enlisted with Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force at Phoenix, 30 May 1916; assigned to C Company, Kootenay 225th Battalion, thence to 54th Battalion. With no known grave, his name appears on the Vimy Memorial.

Latitude: 49°28'22"

Longitude: 117°09'11"

Gazetteer Map: 82F/6 Position: at Centre

Relative Location: W side Five Mile Creek, in West Arm Provincial Park E of Nelson, Kootenay Land District

Adopted 27 October 1998 on 82F/6, effective 11 November 1998.

Named to remember RCAF Warrant Officer John Leslie Beattie, R-112661, killed in action 20 February 1944, age 23. Beattie was born and raised at Nelson, completed his schooling at Upper Canada College and was enlisted at Toronto; serving with 419 Moose Squadron when his plane was shot down over Germany. Entire crew missing and presumed killed. With no known grave, WO Beattie's name is inscribed on the Runnymede Memorial, Surrey, panel 254.

Latitude: 49°27'56"

Longitude: 126°11'02"

Gazetteer Map: 92E/8 Position: at Centre

Relative Location: SW of Megin Lake, NE of Hot Springs Cove, Clayoquot Land District

Bourke Mountain adopted 13 July 1946 on C.348, as suggested by Hydrographic Service (31 March 1945, file C.1.33). Form of name changed to Mount Bourke 7 April 1949 on 92E/8 (file T.1.43).

Named by Hydrographic Service in 1945, after Lieut-Commander Rowland Richard Louis Bourke, DSO, VC. Born at Kensington England 28 November 1885, and by 1902 a resident at Crescent Bar near Nelson, BC, where he established a fruit farm. Bourke was enlisted at England in 1915 as a sub-Lieutenant, Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve; promoted to Lieutenant January 1917. Awarded the DSO for his actions at the first raid at Ostend, Belgium, April 1917. Promoted to Lieutenant-Commander and awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions in the second raid at Ostend Harbour, 9 and 10 May 1917, as follows: after Vindictive had been hit and her crew had apparently been taken onto another launch, Lieutenant Bourke, commanding Motor Launch 176, went into the harbour to check that everyone had been picked up. After searching and finding no one, he withdrew, but hearing cries from the water, turned back. Twice more the launch started for the entrance to the harbour and returned. The last time they discovered one lieutenant and two seamen, badly wounded and clinging to a skiff from the sinking Vindictive. During this time ML176 was under heavy fire and was hit 55 times, once by a 6-inch shell which killed two of her crew and did considerable damage. Bourke, however, managed to take her into the open sea, and was taken in tow. In addition to the Victoria Cross, the French government conferred upon Bourke the Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. (The Register of the Victoria Cross, 3rd edition, 1977, published by This England; plus other sources). After the war, and following a tour of Australia where he married, Bourke returned to his fruit farm on the West Arm Kootenay Lake, then moved to Victoria upon appointment as Extended Defence Officer at Esquimalt Barracks in 1940. Died 29 August 1958 at Esquimalt; buried at Royal Oak Cemetery near Victoria. Also Bourke Rock. See Our Bravest & Our Best, Chapter 20, by Arthur Bishop (copy received April 1998, file T.1.43.)

And also for Rowland Bourke:

Latitude: 52°01'00"

Longitude: 128°27'00"

Gazetteer Map: 103A/1 Position: at Centre

Relative Location: NW of Goose Island, Golby Passage, SW of Bella Bella, Range 3 Coast Land District

Adopted 10 August 1944 on C.398, as suggested March 1944 by Hydrographic Service (file H.1.25).

After Commander Rowland Bourke, VC, DSO (1885-1958). Bourke had been a Lieutenant with the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve when he was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions at Ostend, 1918. He eventually settled near Nelson, then moved to Victoria upon appointment as Extended Defence Officer at Esquimalt in 1940. More on Roland Bourke here - be sure to scroll through it all http://www.rcnvr.com/a%20-%20WW1%20-%20RCN%20-%20RN.php

Latitude: 49°44'46"

Longitude: 117°08'31"

Gazetteer Map: 82F/11 Position: at Centre

Relative Location: Head of Kokanee Creek, NE of Nelson, Kootenay Land District

Cond Peak adopted 1 April 1924 as submitted by BC Geographic Division; not "Apex Peak" as identified in early reports.

After Frederick Thomas Piercy Cond, BCLS, who served in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve during the Great War. Taken ill on his return to Canada and died at Halifax 17 April 1919. See Corporation of British Columbia Land Surveyor's Roll of Honour. See also BC Gazette notice 22 June 1916, wherein Cond provided notice and petitioned to change his first given name from Fritz to Frederick.

Latitude: 49°28'51"

Longitude: 117°12'36"

Gazetteer Map: 82F/6 Position: at Centre

Relative Location: Just E of Nelson, at head of Fell Creek, Kootenay Land District

Adopted 11 November 2001 on 82F/6.

Named to remember Canadian Infantry Private Joseph DeFerro, from Nelson. Born 12 August 1898 in Avelino province, Italy, and immigrated to Canada with his parents c1900. The family settled at Mountain Station (now within the City of Nelson), where his father was employed by the CPR. DeFerro worked as a teamster (i.e. handled horses) after finishing school; because his parents didn't want him to join the war, he enlisted at Trail, identifying his aunt & uncle, Bruno and Lily LeRosa, as next of kin; trained at Victoria then Aldershot, England, before embarking for France with the Seaforth Highlanders of Vancouver, about a week after his 20th birthday. He had been in the field for 35 days when he was killed in action 29 September 1918 at Canal du Nord, France; buried at Haynecourt British Cemetery, Nord, France.

Latitude: 49°43'36"

Longitude: 117°07'28"
Gazetteer Map: 82F/11 Position: at Centre

Relative Location: Between headwaters of Kokanee and Coffee Creeks, S end Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park, Kootenay Land District

Adopted 12 March 1946 on BC map 4B; decision conveyed to BC Geographic Division by telegraph from Geographic Board of Canada, just before map went to press.

Named to remember brothers RCAF Flight Sergeant John Balfour Gray, and RCNVR Lieutenant Pilot Robert Hampton Gray, VC. The brothers were born in Trail and grew up in Nelson; John was the first Nelson man to die during WWII, and Robert was the last Nelson man to die during hostilities. Parents: John Balfour Gray, Sr., and Wilhelmina Gray, Nelson.

RCAF Flight Sergeant John ("Jack") Balfour Gray, R58225, recipient of the Aircrew Europe Star; serving as Air Gunner with 144 RAF Squadron when he was killed during a mine-laying operation, 27 February 1942, age 21. Buried at Rose Hill Cemetery, Doncaster, UK, grave G. 63; and his older brother......RCNVR Lieutenant Robert Hampton ("Hammy") Gray, VC, DSC, killed in action 9 August 1945, age 27 - the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki and 5 days before the war ended - by crashing his flaming Corsair bomber into a Japanese destroyer at the cost of his own life. Earlier in 1945 he had been awarded the DSC, and was posthumously awarded Canada's 13th Victoria Cross. With no grave but the sea, his name is inscribed on the Halifax Memorial, panel 13. More on Hampton Gray here - be sure to scroll through it all http://www.rcnvr.com/G%20-%20RCN%20-%20WW2.php

Latitude: 49°30'32"

Longitude: 117°11'25"

Gazetteer Map: 82F/11 Position: at Mouth

Relative Location: Flows SW into Five Mile Creek just NE of Nelson, Kootenay Land District

Adopted 30 October 2001 on 82F/11, effective 11 November 2001.

Named to remember Canadian Infantry Private Earl Jackson, UE, 427419, from Nelson. Private Jackson was serving with the 3rd Battalion, Central Ontario Regiment, at Vimy Ridge when he was killed in action 9 October 1916. With no known grave, his name is inscribed on the Vimy Memorial, Pas de Calais, France.

Latitude: 49°59'00"

Longitude: 116°54'00"
Gazetteer Map: 82F/15 Position: at Mouth

Relative Location: Flows E into Kootenay Lake just N of Kaslo, Kootenay Land District

Adopted 7 October 1947 on Columbia River Basin manuscript 11 as a long-established name, and as labeled on Mineral Reference Map 1, 1927, and on Reference map 17-9-N, 1945, and on BC Lands' map 4B, 1946.

This feature is not named on the 1912 edition of BC map 4B, Nelson (map # 29). Labeled "Kemball (Falls) Creek" on Mineral Reference Map #1, 1927. Identified as "Kemball Creek (not Falls Creek)" in the 1930 BC Gazetteer.

After Lieutenant Colonel Arnold Henry Grant Kemball, CB, DSO, who resided about half a mile south of this creek (Lot A of Lot 819 Group 1). Kemball took up residence here after retiring from service with the 5th Gurkha Rifles (Indian Army) in 1910. He subsequently enlisted with Canada's Expeditionary Forces in WW I. He was serving with the 54th Battalion, Canadian Infantry, when he was killed in action in France, 1 March 1917, age 56; buried at Villers Station Cemetery, Villers-au-Bois, Pas de Calais, France, grave VI.E.1. Survived by his father, Major General J. S. Kemball, Wrotham, Kent, and by his wife, Alvilda, at Kaslo.

Latitude: 49°48'45"

Longitude: 117°07'34"

Gazetteer Map: 82F/14 Position: at Centre

Relative Location: Headwaters of Woodbury Creek, SW of Kaslo, Kootenay Land District

Adopted 6 May 1924 on Geological Survey publication 2038, Kokanee Glacier Park, as submitted by the British Columbia Board of Trade.

"After Colonel Kemball, killed in France." [no further information provided. Note: Kemball Creek, flowing into Kootenay Lake about 5 miles above Kaslo, was named after Col. Arnold H. Grant Kemball, CB, DSO, who had resided near the creek until enlisting with Canada's Expeditionary Forces in WW I - this is surely the same person.] Editor’s Note: Yes, one and the same!

Latitude: 49°33'12"

Longitude: 117°23'16"

Gazetteer Map: 82F/11 Position: at Centre

Relative Location: NW of Nelson, Kootenay Land District

Adopted 12 March 1946 on 82 SW.

Named to remember Royal Navy Captain Frederick Thornton Peters, DSO, DSC, VC, from Nelson, who died on active service 13 November 1942, age 53. Captain Peters was born at Charlottetown 17 September 1889, the son of the Attorney General and first Liberal premier of Prince Edward Island; he received his schooling at Victoria then Nelson, BC, before attending Naval School in England. Commissioned as a sub-lieutenant and decorated with the DSO and DSC in WW I. Captain Peters was awarded the Victoria Cross for ramming his cutter through the booms protecting the harbour at Oran, Algeria, on November 8, 1942 - the start of the Allied invasion of North Africa in World War II. Once in the harbour, two British cutters met an intense crossfire from warships and guns ashore, and both were sunk; 250 killed and the 200 survivors taken prisoner. Two days later, however, the Allies surrounded and quickly captured Oran from the French, Peters and the other Allied prisoners were released, and by the end of November almost all of French North Africa was in Allied hands. Following the action which won him the Victoria Cross, Peters was enroute to England when the plane he was travelling in was lost at sea 13 November 1942. With no known grave, Captain Peters' name appears on the Naval Memorial at Portsmouth, England, panel 61 column 3. Survived by his parents Frederick and Bertha Hamilton Peters at Nelson, and 3 siblings: Noel, Mary and Eve; predeceased by 3 siblings: Gerald, John and Violet. Additional biographical information & photograph of Capt. Peters at Veterans Affairs Canada website http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/general/sub.cfm?source=collections/virtualmem/photos&casualty=2495305 and the RCNVR Website http://www.rcnvr.com/a%20-%20CANADIANS%20in%20RN%20-%20WW2.php

Images of the Nelson News item on the presentation to Capt Peter`s mother and words from General Eisenhower courtesy of Greg Scott - Nelson BC

Latitude: 49°53'35"

Longitude: 118°53'15"

Gazetteer Map: 82E/15 Position: at Mouth

Relative Location: Flows SW into head of West Kettle River, SW of Jubilee Mountain, Osoyoos Division Yale Land District

Adopted 24 October 2000 on 82E/15, effective 11 November 2000.

Named to remember Private Samuel John Ryder, 21332, and Private Herbert Henry Ryder, 443791, brothers, killed in action 13 November 1916 at the Somme, and 9 April 1917 at Vimy Ridge, respectively. Samuel was born 19 July 1894 in London, Herbert was born 14 January 1896 in London; moved with their family to Kelowna in 1912. Samuel was 21 and serving with the 13th Battalion Essex Regiment at the time of his death at the Somme; his name is engraved on the Theipval Memorial, Somme, France, Pier 10 Face D. Herbert was also 21, and serving with the 54th Battalion, Canadian Infantry when he was killed at Vimy Ridge; he is buried at Canadian Cemetery No. 2, Neuville-St. Vaast, Pas de Calais, France, grave 5-B-17.

Latitude: 49°44'51"

Longitude: 117°16'48"
Gazetteer Map: 82F/11 Position: at Centre

Relative Location: W boundary of Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park, N of Nelson, Kootenay Land District

Adopted 24 January 1962 on 82F/NW.

Named to remember RCAF Warrant Officer Second Class Iverson Frederick Ruppel, R149338, from Nelson. Born at Vulcan, Alberta, 4 December 1921 and came to Nelson as a young child. Ruppel was 21 years old, serving with 100 Squadron when his Lancaster bomber crashed in Berlin Stadtforst (forest) Spandau, during the night 30-31 January 1944. Initial status was "missing in action"; the body of 1 crew member was later discovered in a nearby grave, but remains of the other 6 crew members were never located. Status subsequently changed to "killed in action" 30 January 1944. With no known grave, WO Ruppel's name is inscribed on the Runnymede Memorial, panel 254. Parents: Frederick A. and Agnes J. Ruppel, Vulcan, Alberta (since deceased); brother David and 1 sister, Nelson (1944).

One of Canada's most distinguished statesmen, the Honourable Howard Charles Green, was elected seven times as Member of Parliament for Vancouver South and later Vancouver Quadra. [Comment: He spent 22 years, and more, representing BC in Ottawa.  Only Harry Stevens among BC MPs did it any longer - 23 years. Howard's years were consecutive; Stevens's years were not. And Green was, arguably, the most powerful and influential minister BC has ever had in federal politics. EJB] Born and raised in Kaslo, British Columbia, Howard Green graduated from the University of Toronto in 1915 and from Osgoode Hall in 1920. After being called to the bar in 1922, he practiced law in Vancouver until his election to the House of Commons in 1935.  [He practiced a bit of law thereafter, too, but this is substantially correct. EJB]

Howard Green's service to his country began in World War One, when he served overseas with the 54th Kootenay Battalion from 1915 to 1918. [He was with Kootenay Battalion from 1915 to 1917; he was with other units, notably the Sixth Brigade as Staff Captain, from 1917 to 1919. EJB]  Howard Green was mentioned in Military Dispatches and discharged as a Staff Captain in 1919. ['Mentioned in despatches': he got this mention for administrative duties - helping to repatriate troops after the war.  The senior officers he worked for must have appreciated what he did (and his desire for recognition).  But it was not a battlefield honour, and therefore Howard Green never cited it and deprecated other people making much of it. EJB]

As a Cabinet Minister, Howard Green held the portfolios of Public Works, Defence Production, and Secretary of State for External Affairs from 1957 until 1963. [This is right but not precise.  He was at Public Works from 1957 to 1959, at Defence Production from 1957 to 1958, House Leader from 1957 to 1959, and Secretary of State for External Affairs from 1959 to 1963.EJB]

In 1960, the University of British Columbia recognized his distinguished achievements with an honorary law degree (LL.D.). He later served on the University of British Columbia Senate from 1966 to 1969.

As a Progressive Conservative MP under John Diefenbaker, Howard Green was a strong advocate of nuclear disarmament. Under his leadership, Canada became a member of the 10-nation Committee on Disarmament reporting to the United Nations.

In 1962, John Diefenbaker referred to Howard Green as “one of the greatest leaders in the field of disarmament and world peace” and someone who had achieved for Canada “an undisputed place in the field of international affairs and the pursuit of peace for all mankind.”

Howard Green played many roles: a soldier, a lawyer, a statesman and a gentle compassionate human being.

EJB Comments by Eric Bergbush who is writing a book on Howard Green.

Note - in 2006 the Conservative Government proposed naming a Federal Building after Green at 401 Burrard Street in Vancouver. In 2008, local community groups, among them descendants of Japanese-Canadian Internees of the 2nd World War era, successfully prevailed on the government not to follow through with this because of politically insensitive sentiments allegedly expressed by Green in the 1930s. In 1988 the Mulroney Government redressed the issue with the Japanese Canadian Community. CBC Clip here

See a greater examination of the background which was much bigger than Howard Green here