Reginald Douglas Leal
Reginald Douglas Leal was a painter that was born in Madoc, Ontario but was raised in Peterborough where he met his wife. This is where they stayed. His next of kin was his wife Mrs. Mary Mabel Leal who stayed with his mother Mrs. Mary Jane Leal . He was 23 when he joined 2nd battalion on September 23 at Valcartier. He got the service number 7648. When he enlisted his description consisted of - height=5.8 feet with brown eyes, curly brown hair and a light complexion. His theater of war was France. He was in the 57th regiment for 2 months prior to the war. He was sent to the 2nd battalion where he died valiantly in his first and last battle at Ypres as a Private of Company 3 where he and his company held off Germans as other companies were retreating. His name is on the Menin gate memorial. His page is displayed on the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower January, 24.
Here is Reginalds attestation papers
War poetry was used to describe the horror of war and what i does to the soldiers, the land and the people caught in the crossfire. The one below was made by Ronald Gorell Barnes a British author who heard of the atrocities and decided to put pen to paper. This was to connect the civilians to soldiers and show them how brave and strong the soldiers are.
These are what letters written would look like. these were written to show what conversations would look like between soldiers and the one there writing to.
This is the Menin gate memorial in Belgium. This is where the soldiers who died in Ypres were memorialized. One such soldiers is Reginald Douglas Leal.
down below is the plans they used to build the Menin gate
