| Wounded, he went back for more THE MONTREAL STAR, TUESDAY, JULY 29, 1975 Vimy Veteran sets reunion |
| FREDERICTON (CP) - When the Carleton and York Veterans Association holds its reunion here on Saturday, an unobtrusive little black man will know the satisfaction of work well done. Seymour Tyler, president of this year's reunion committee, has known soldiering since the First World War and still is active at 78. A native of Saint John, N.B. he was born Feb. 22, 1897. "When the First World War came along, I quit school and enlisted," he said. "I landed in an outfit that was trained as infantry and could also handle most construction jobs. We landed in Liverpool after a crossing that took 21 days. We went first to Seaforth, then to Folkestone and soon crossed to Boulogne and went right up to the front. I was later wounded at Vimy Ridge." Back in New Brunswick after the end of the war, Mr. Seymour entered the militia as a member of the York Regiment. He went on a bugler's course in Halifax in 1925 and also played cornet in the regimental band. |
Meanwhile, he had taken a farm in New Maryland, near Fredericton, and had married in 1929.
"I was on the way to Saint John with a load of vegetables to display at the exhibition on Sunday, Sept. 3, when I head on my car radio that Great Britain had declared war on Germany. I turned right around, went back home and prepared to enlist for active service." In 1936, the erstwhile York Regiment and the Carleton Light infantry were combined to form the Carleton and York Regiment. The new unit was immediately mobilized on the outbreak of the Second World War and Mr. Seymour spent the autumn in 1939 with the battalion in Woodstock, N.B. "We landed in Scotland on Dec. 17, 1939," Seymour recalled, "and I had the honor of leading the bugle band from the ship to the train. We went down to Aldershot and began our training. "I sounded the Royal Salute when King George VI came to inspect the 1st Canadian Division. I was carrying the Efficiency Decoration and both the King and the Queen exchanged a few words with me that day." |
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Joined railwayBack in civilian life, Seymour Tyler ,moved the family home .from New Maryland to Lakeville Corner. Then he joined Canadian Pacific Railway as a porter."I agreed to try it for a week. I stayed on for 20 years." In that time he became a familiar figure on the pullmans between Toronto and Vancouver. In recent years Mr. Tyler has lived quietly at Lakeville Corner. He has been an active member of Oromocto Branch No. 63, Royal Canadian Legion, and has sounded Last Post and Reveille at Remembrance Day and other ceremonies through central New Brunswick. |
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| Mrs. Tyler (Lenetta) is deeply involved in community and charitable work. She is president of the Carlton and York Ladies Auxiliary; president of a Baptist Missionary Society and secretary of the Green Hill Light Camp, maintained by the Baptist denomination.
Of three grown sons, one works in Montreal; one is a technical instructor at Minto Memorial high school; and the third operates an automobile repair shop in Minto, N.B. |
Seymour Tyler with memorabilia from two world wars One of three daughters has been on the staff of Canadian Forces Base, Gagetown, and has been on foreign service as a soldier's wife."As for me, just tell the boys I'll see them in Fredricton on Saturday," Mr. Seymour said in parting. |
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