Edward James “Ted” McIntosh was born at Stillwater, Guysborough County, on November 29, 1898, the fifth of William and Olive (Hingley) McIntosh’s eight children and the third oldest of their six sons. As was common at the time, Ted left school at age 10 to work on the family farm and in the local woods.
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| Pte. Edward "Ted" McIntosh's 193rd Battalion Portrait |
Following the outbreak of the First World War, military recruiters initially focused their recruitment efforts on Nova Scotia’s larger communities. In the spring of 1916, however, efforts to raise a Nova Scotia Highland Brigade consisting of four battalions—85th (Nova Scotia Highlanders), 185th (Cape Breton Highlanders), 193rd and 219th—significantly impacted rural areas of the province. For the first time since the war’s outbreak, military recruiters visited such Guysborough County locations as Sherbrooke, Canso and Guysborough town, in search of volunteers.
Many of the province’s young men were enticed into enlisting with the Highland Brigade, and young Ted McIntosh was no exception. On July 7, 1916, Ted attested for overseas service with the 193rd Battalion at Camp Aldershot, NS. He was almost five months shy of his eighteenth birthday at the time, and listed his occupation as “lumberman.”
Ted departed for overseas with the 193rd aboard SS Olympic on October 12, 1916. Also on board the vessel were the three other Nova Scotia Highland Brigade battalions. Shortly after arriving in the United Kingdom, two of the Brigade’s units—the 193rd and the 219th Battalions—were dissolved and their members dispersed to other units or branches of military service.
Four days prior to departing Halifax, a medical examination revealed that Ted had “flat feet.” This diagnosis, perhaps combined with his young age and pre-service occupation, resulted in a decision to transfer him to the Canadian Forestry Corps (CFC). On January 17, 1917, Ted was “taken on strength” at CFC Base Depot, Sunningdale, where he remained for almost four months before being assigned to duty at CFC Headquarters. On December 1, 1917, Ted was posted to No. 53 District CFC’s “Tech. Warehouse” at Egham, where he served for two and a half months.
With a new fighting season fast approaching and Allied commanders anticipating a major German offensive, military authorities combed the ranks of non-combat units, in search of infantry reinforcements. In mid-February 1918, Ted was transferred to the 17th (Nova Scotia) Reserve Battalion. Stationed at Camp Bramshott, UK, the unit provided infantry reinforcements for the 25th (Nova Scotia Rifles) and 85th (Nova Scotia Highlanders) Battalions serving at the front.
On April 7, 1918, Ted was assigned to the 85th Battalion and immediately proceeded to the Canadian Corps Reinforcement Centre (CCRC) in France. Five weeks later, he left CCRC for the forward area on May 14 and joined his new unit in the field the following day. Ted remained at the front with the 85th throughout the final months of the war, as its soldiers participated in the “100 Days” campaign that brought fighting to an end.
The Allied offensive commenced with the Battle of Amiens (August 8 - 11) and continued for three months. In early September, the 85th was involved in the “Scarpe Operation” near Arras, during which Allied forces broke through the famous German Hindenburg defensive line and advanced toward the strategic city of Cambrai. Ted’s unit saw particularly intense action at Bourlon Wood and Canal du Nord in late September, and was among the Canadian units that pursued retreating German forces into Belgium in early November.
Ted remained with the 85th throughout these events, an experience that exposed the 19-year-old to some of the war’s most fierce fighting. Following the November 11, 1918 Armistice, the 85th remained in Belgium until early May 1919, when the unit returned to the United Kingdom. At month’s end, its soldiers boarded HMT Adriatic for the journey home and arrived in Halifax on June 7. Eight days later, Ted was formally discharged from military service and returned to the Sherbrooke area.
One of Ted’s older brothers, Donald Murdock McIntosh, also served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Canada. Drafted under the Military Service Act (1917) at Halifax on March 25, 1918, Donald was “struck off strength” at Camp Aldershot, NS, on September 17, 1918. He remained in the Halifax area, where he married Margaret Winnifred Kelly, daughter of George and Laura (Fulton) Kelly, Caledonia, in a ceremony held at 317 Barrington St., on December 5, 1919.
In June 1922, Donald emigrated to the United States and Margaret followed shortly afterward. They initially resided in Waltham, MA, where Donald’s half-brother, John William McIntosh—a child from William McIntosh’s 1879 marriage to Catherine Leslie—resided. One year later, the couple relocated to Everett, MA, where Donald was hired as shipping foreman at a newly-opened Beacon Oil Company distillation plant. The site contained 20 still houses for processing crude oil and 10 storage tanks that held 400,000 gallons of gasoline and inflammable by-products.
On February 10, 1928, a low-pressure vaporizer located in one of the still houses exploded, triggering a series of smaller explosions. Donald was working at the time of the incident, only minutes from the end of his shift. A contemporary news item in the Boston Herald describes his actions in the immediate aftermath of the blast:
“[McIntosh was] in charge of the valves which fed the scores of huge tanks which covered the 100-acre lot of the company. As the first half dozen stills and tanks blew up, McIntosh, terribly burned and suffering intensely, turned his back on the single opening where he might crawl for safety and be rescued[,]… deliberately crawled on his hands and knees through a wall of solid flame and shut off each of the valves of the other tens of huge tanks. Had these valves not been shut off[,] the entire city of Everett, Mass., would have been blown to bits, [an] explosive expert…states…. The State Fire Mashal, Neal, told The Herald’s correspondent the result of the explosion, had not McIntosh shut off the score of valves, would have been the greatest catastrophe in the history of New England.”
One of Donald’s co-workers, John J. Thompson, survived the explosion and recalled his last glimpse of his “old pal”:
“We watched him, begging, pleading and crying for him to come back…. You see, he realized, he knew what he was doing and he didn’t stop to think…. As we shrieked like crazy men, he just turned with the faintest of smiles on his face and waved his hand. Then he went through that wall of flame, hellish searing fire of burning oil and we never saw him alive again.”
Later that evening, Donald’s remains were discovered in the ruins and identified by a ruby ring he always wore. At least 13 other co-workers were reported killed in the immediate aftermath of the explosion, with several others still missing. Donald was survived by his wife, Margaret, and a four-year-old daughter, Dorothy.
After returning to civilian life in Sherbrooke, Ted quickly established a reputation as an experienced outdoorsman. An unpublished local history compiled by the Sherbrooke Women’s Institute states that Ted, a “popular guide,” set a record for a daily catch on April 16, 1942—the first day of the year’s angling season—landing “five salmon weighing from 16 to 23 pounds each.” The following year, a record catch of 1,005 salmon was landed along the river.
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| Ted with trapped wild cat pelts |
The abundant stock created a valuable seasonal source of employment for local guides. Visiting anglers made their way by train to Antigonish, where they arranged for ground transportation to Melrose, Waternish or Sherbrooke. Employment information in his Second World War service file states that Ted worked for 30 years as a guide along the St. Mary’s River.
At that time, commercially-produced salmon fishing accessories were virtually non-existent. As a result, local fishers and guides were constantly on the lookout for materials that could be used to make salmon flies. Jack Anderson, a long-time Sherbrooke merchant, recalled that the tobacco cans common in the area during the pre-war years came with a pull-tab top, “very much like a sardine can. The top was very, very thin. I remember Ted McIntosh picking’ up… tobacco-can covers he’d find around the country and takin’ scissors and slicing’ that off in little thin strips to get tinfoil for salmon-fly bodies.” Deer hair strands from white, grey, brown and black buck-tails were used to create the final product, attached to a manufactured hook. Ted’s brother Dan is credited with developing and perfecting the popular “MacIntosh salmon fly.”
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| Ted MacIntosh fishing the St. Marys River |
Jack Anderson also recalled that the five McIntosh brothers—Arch, Alex, Clarence, Dan and Ted—“all did some guiding. Perhaps the most famous of the five was Dan. They spent all their time on the river and were very accomplished salmon fishermen… from the late 1920s up… until the late 1970s.” During that time, the river’s abundant fish stock attracted recreational fishers from near and far. Jack described one such party that consisted of “an American doctor who was born near here [and]… a friend of his by the name of… Charlie Am. They were great Yankee ball fans, and this particular year, they brought Babe Ruth up with them on a fishing trip.”
Jack described an incident that occurred while the trio were fishing on the river:
“[O]ne day they were fishing… at the Flat Rock Pool. The river was very high early in the spring, Dan [McIntosh] was there, and Babe Ruth was sitting in the center of the punt, fishing away. Babe, I think, leaned too far over to one side and over he went, plunk-o, into the river. Now Babe Ruth was a very big man at that time. I would say he weighed two hundred and thirty or forty pounds, maybe. Dan, he was a kind of small little fellow who could curl up on the back seat of the punt and haul his legs underneath him. He got a hold of Babe by the scruff of the neck when Babe was going’ by him in the current. Well, Babe wasn’t able to crawl in over the side of the punt because the side boards on them were only about nine inches. And Dan wasn’t able to haul him over it at that stage, wet clothes and all. So the situation ended up that Dan had to hold onto Babe with one hand, pull up the anchor rope, and pole the boat ashore with [the other] hand. Eventually he made it and after he rolled him around in the rocks there a little bit, he made it up to the car. He had quite a stay here that time, and he went back to New York with a dozen or so cans of Pictou Twist [a popular local chewing tobacco brand to which Babe took a liking] and a dozen big salmon. But the salmon, I don’t think he ever caught one himself.”
The interest in the outdoors appears to have run in the family. Like his five sons, William McIntosh was an accomplished salmon fisher. While census records consistently listed his occupation as “farmer,” William’s September 26, 1922 death certificate gives his last source of employment as “guide” and identifies his former occupation as “guide and fishing.”
Ted also turned his hand to several other trades. He was a skilled welder, and his Second World War enlistment papers identify his occupation at the time as “pipe fitter.” He also expressed an interest in pursuing training as an “electrician.” The wide range of Ted’s skills is impressive, particularly considering his lack of formal training.
Ted remained a bachelor well into his 30s. On August 18, 1936, he married Anna Beulah Jack, daughter of William F. and Nora (Coles) Jack, Sonora. Over the ensuing years, five children joined the MacIntosh household—James Calvin, Dorothy Ann, Margaret, Clara Bonita and Helen Viola.
The outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 no doubt stirred memories in the minds of First World War veterans like Ted. While recruiters told the “old soldiers” that their age made overseas service impossible, many were determined to serve their country in some capacity. Their persistence eventually persuaded the Canadian government to put their military experience to use.
In May 1940, the federal government established the Veterans’ Home Guard, later renamed the Veterans’ Guard of Canada (VGC). Modelled on the British Home Guard, the organization was initially created as a defensive force against a possible German—and later Japanese—attack on Canadian soil.
The VGC was organized into numbered Companies of 250 men, and included both active and reserve units. Active Companies served full-time at various locations across the country, while Reserve Companies fulfilled roles similar to militia units, training in the area where their personnel resided. At its peak in June 1943, a total of 451 Officers and 9,806 other ranks were on active service with the VGC.
One of the primary duties assigned to VGC active units was guard duty at prisoner of war and internment camps established across the country during the war. Other units protected military property on Canadian soil. The vast majority remained in Canada, although several companies were dispatched to British colonies for specific duties and one was attached to Canadian Military Headquarters, London, UK.
By late 1942, Ted was head of a household consisting of a wife and five young children. Despite these family obligations, he felt compelled to serve his country in its time of need. On December 7, 1942, Ted travelled to New Glasgow NS, and enlisted for active duty with the VGC, No. 6 District Depot, Canadian Army. A medical examination conducted after his enlistment reported only one minor issue—an “injury to left ankle in 1934. Ankle weak after walking long distance.” Otherwise, Ted displayed no significant health issues at the time.
Ted spent the next two weeks settling into the VGC routine. On December 23, he was granted five days’ Christmas leave and returned home to Sherbrooke. His service file makes no reference to any health concerns prior to his departure. The day after his leave commenced—December 24, 1942—Ted passed away suddenly at home.
Available documents suggest some confusion as to the cause of death. A casualty notification in his service file states: “Cause not known. Investigation under way.” Subsequent documents provide different assessments as to the reason for Ted’s passing. A “circumstances of casualty” form identifies “acute bronchitis and laryngitis” as the cause, while a “Report on Death of a Soldier” gives “myocarditis” (inflammation of the heart muscle) as the reason. An obituary published in a local newspaper informed readers that the “well-known guide of St. Mary’s River… died of pneumonia.” The official province of Nova Scotia death certificate combined factors mentioned above, attributing the main cause of death to myocarditis, while listing acute bronchitis and laryngitis as contributing factors. Ted’s younger brother, Archibald “Archie”, was the informant.
Pte. Edward James McIntosh was laid to rest “with full military honours” in Waternish Cemetery. Ted was survived by his wife Beulah and his five young children, brothers Archie (Sherbrooke), Alex (Ecum Secum), Dan (Sherbrooke) and Clarence (Dartmouth), and sisters Sarah C. Lowe (Dartmouth) and Laura MacInnis (Dartmouth). On August 7, 1943—almost eight months after Ted’s passing— Beulah gave birth to a sixth child, a son Edward Roy “Eddie” McIntosh.
Ted’s nephew, Burns—a son of his older brother Archibald Henry “Arch”—also enlisted for service during the Second World War. After training at New Glasgow, Camp Borden and Aldershot, Burns proceeded to the United Kingdom. He served with the Canadian Army in Italy, where he was wounded twice. Transferred to the Carleton & York Regiment following his recovery, Burns saw action in France, Belgium and Holland before returning home to Canada, having risen to the rank of Sergeant. After his discharge, Burns found employment with the Canadian Veneer Co., Saint John, NB. He later retired to New Glasgow, NS, where he spent his final years.
NOTE: Ted’s family surname was consistently spelled “McIntosh” in all available Canadian census documents (up to 1921) and throughout his First and Second World War military service records. Most family descendants adopted the spelling “MacIntosh” during subsequent years.
Special thanks to Mae MacIntosh, Sherbrooke, NS, and Michelle Wilmott, Calgary, AB, who provided information on the McIntosh family, particularly the lives of Ted’s brothers Donald and Dan, and the family’s connections to the recreational salmon fishery. Thanks as well to Sherbrooke Village for providing a salmon fishing photograph of Ted from the John Cameron Collection.
