Veteran Glorice Gallant

My Great Grandfather, Glorice Gallant

       Glorice Gallant, also known as Glorious Gallant as what he was known as in the army. Glorice Gallant was born on May 10th 1897, in Egmont bay Prince Edward Island. He is my great Grandfather that I never knew since he died before I was born but I have heard a great deal about him. Glorice was in both world wars to which he served in the 13th battalion, and only returned home with minor injuries like being shot in the arm and having a metal plate put in. Sadly, due to the war he became an alcoholic who never got along with many people and especially never wanted to talk about the wars with his family, which is understandable but frustrating to this project. After the war, he also started a penny drive at the local legion, which he used to fund the creation of a children's playground.    

       The First World War, my great grandfather was too young to join in, but since he was tall enough and looked old enough, you did not need an ID to get in, so they allowed it. He was part of the 13th Battalion (according to his gravestone) but since he never talked about it, we will never know what battles he fought in but he was supposedly part of the black watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada. All we know is that there is a chance that he fought in one or more of these battles: Second Battle of Ypres in 1915, the Somme in 1916, Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele in 1917, and the Pursuit to Mons in 1918. During the war, he injured while carrying a wounded soldier back to base and was shot in the arm. Then he returned home and started his family. In World War 2, Glorice served in the home guard at the age of 44. He never left Canada during that war but he still served his duty by helping at home.

       After the wars, that Glorice fought in he was not that pleasant of a person to be around but he did find himself a wife and had eight children. He also worked shoveling coal for the Canadian national railroad. Sadly, Glorice became an alcoholic after the wars, as most people who went to war had very bad memories and since there was no psychologist, there was only one way to get rid of those memories. With his family, he was a very irritable man who got angry very easily whether he was drunk or not, so no one could get along with him other than the people at the legion, which he visited very often. Later on in his life, he decided to do something good for the community that he raised his children in, so he did a penny drive. This penny drive was like no others at the time and place because his was for a simple cause, to raise money for the community to erect a new playground for the children. In the end, he did raise enough money to make the playground and it was all in pennies because he would accept nothing else. Therefore, by the end of his life he ended up doing something great and was not just remembered as the family drunk who survived two world wars. In the end, he died July 24, 1974 in Summerside, Prince Edward Island.

                                                         Alex Gallant