“I am enclosing a snapshot of myself and an old friend and veteran that every person in Canada can be proud of.”
So wrote the MP for Simcoe North, Mr. Julian Ferguson, when he forwarded the picture of he and Archibald ‘Jock’ Shaw to the Barrie Examiner in May of 1954.
“This man, Mr. A.F. Shaw, 30 Anne Street, Barrie served in the South African War and the First and Second World Wars. He served with the Canadian Engineers and his regimental number was 190. Mr. Shaw, in serving his country as he has done, is an example to all young people that we Canadians have something well worth protecting and if it had not been for men of Mr. Shaw’s calibre and the veterans of the past, we Canadians would not be able to enjoy the freedom in this country that God has given us.”
Jock Shaw, like so many other Canadians both then and now, was not born on this soil but chose to settle in this land and stand up for it when needed.
Jock, as you may have guessed by his nickname, was Scottish by birth. Born in Edinburgh to Duncan Shaw and Isabella Douglas in 1873, the energetic young man wasn’t long in seeking adventure elsewhere. Still in his twenties, Jock had travelled to South Africa and settled in Kroonstad, not far from Johannesburg.
Within a few years of his arrival, the Boer War had shattered the peace of colonial life in South Africa and Jock Shaw immediately involved himself in defending British interests there. In 1906, a new threat in the form of the Natal Rebellion erupted and again Jock served.
In 1907, after being away for a decade, Jock returned to his native Scotland but he didn’t stay long. His wanderlust took him away to Canada in 1908 where he joined family members who had immigrated there during his absence.
Young Mary Thom Stewart, fifteen years his junior, caught his eye. He had known her many years earlier back in Scotland and she had certainly grown into a smart and pretty lass since then. In 1910, the two eloped and kept their marriage secret for several weeks before finally announcing the union to their respective families!
When the Great War broke out, Jock Shaw was one of the first to enlist. As a carpenter by trade, he naturally joined the Canadian Engineers and spent the greater part of the was in France digging trenches and building infrastructure along the battle lines.
Upon his return to Canada, Jock was sent to Camp Borden where there was plenty of work for a recently returned soldier with good carpentry skills. It was this move that brought the family to Barrie where they put down deep roots.
Jock and Mary had three children, all of whom entered into military lives themselves. Cpl. Jemina Shaw, born in 1911, was their eldest child. Mima, as she was known, joined the Ordnance Corps and was the first Barrie woman to go oversees when World War Two broke out. She met fellow Ordnance Corps member, and fellow Canadian, Sgt. Major Arthur Larmour in England and married him there.
Mima and Arthur returned home and settled in Barrie where they raised their own family of three. Mima’s brother, Wing Commander Oliver Shaw, spent his life in the air force and retired in Ottawa while Archibald Shaw Jr., her other brother, settled in Whitehorse, Yukon after he finished his military career.
Jock became camp maintenance engineer at Camp Borden and remained there until his retirement in 1932. Soon after that, he began building a home on what was then the very edge of town. His small but neat house at 30 Anne St. was constructed for less than $3,000 and still stands today.
When war reared its ugly head once again in 1939, what did the surely battle-weary old soldier do? He tried to enlist, of course! Sorry, Jock, you’re just a bit too old, they told him. After all, he was 66 years of age by then. He had to be satisfied with rejoining the camp engineering staff for the duration of the war.
Not one to be idle, nor to stray too far from his military connections, Jock Shaw took a great interest in the local Legion and was president at one time.
And so, when Jock passed away in March of 1955, his funeral was naturally put in the hands of his comrades at the Barrie Branch of the Canadian Legion. His Legion brothers acted as pallbearers and formed an honour guard as the 81-year-old was laid to rest in that snowy cemetery in his adopted land. They, and many others from this town, filed past the Union Jack draped coffin and placed poppies upon it.
The firing party from the Grey and Simcoe Foresters gave their customary salute and then the woods fell quiet again. No more battles. No more roaming. The warrior was a rest now.
Each week, the Barrie Historical Archive provides BarrieToday readers with a glimpse of the city’s past. This unique column features photos and stories from years gone by and is sure to appeal to the historian in each of us.
