Is there something odd about this photograph? The father, Reginald Heath, seems to be an ethereal figure in the background. After the second time he was wounded and again sent back to the trenches, he had his picture taken. He mailed it back to Canada with instructions to insert it into the family photograph. Reginald was sure he would die in the war and he wanted his family to remember him.

This is a photograph of Reginald Heath and his young family, circa 1916. The youngest, Winnifred is about 12 to 15 months old. She was born April 2nd, 1915 and died in May 1919 of the Spanish Influenza. The little girl on the left is Gertrude (born 1912) and on the right Mildred (born 1809). The Heaths immigrated in 1913, the year of Canada’s greatest wave of immigration. Reginald, a gardener in England and a farm labourer in Canada, was having a tough time making a living for his young, growing family. When war broke out in August of 1914, despite the fact his wife was one month pregnant and he was 28 years old, Reginald rushed off to join the Canadian Expedition Force.

If you know any service details about Reginald Heath please email us at editors@canadashistory.ca

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