Person

George Rhydero Bagnall married his childhood sweetheart Anne Margaretta Hughes in 1882 in their home town of Carmarthen. He worked for the National Provincial Bank and was determined to succeed, so that meant moving around the country. In 1883, the young couple started their family whilst living in Bath and in 1888 they moved to Sunderland where George became a manager. They lived above the bank at 110 High Street, with a cook, housemaid and nurse, and this is where Carl, Wynn, Nita and Vera were born.

In 1896, they moved to Leicestershire and lived in 17th century Newton Harcourt Manor where bank manager George died in 1897 leaving £5400 to wife. Anne had to downsize and moved with the six children and only one servant to Uppingham Road in West Humberstone, north east of Leicester, and Wynn became a boarder at Bedford Modern School.

Wynn travelled to Canada in 1906 as a servant to Nigel Heathcote, also from County Durham and an ex-pupil of Bedford School, and became a rancher in Calgary, returning to England in 1909 to visit his mother, and then back to Canada in July 1910 where he found a job as a clerk with the Bank of Montreal.

On the outbreak of war, he enlisted as a Gunner 41439 in the 6th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery at Valcartier, Quebec on the 3rd September 1914. He gave his occupation as bank clerk, his address in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and his next of kin as his mother, now a nurse at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London. The following year, he was sent to France, and in a letter to his old school he described his initial impressions of trench warfare: ‘We are having almost continuous rain, and the firing line is literally a sea of mud. The trenches in many parts are running streams in spite of the splendid efforts of the engineers, and at times, when duty calls, we have to set our jaws a little firmer, and remember the Great Cause for which we are enduring discomforts and hardships, to refrain from uttering epithets of discontent”. In March he was promoted to Bombadier and by August he was a Corporal.

In January 1916, at Shorncliffe, Wynn was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the 23rd Battery, Canadian Field Artillery, and in March was attached to the 5th Battery near Neuve Eglise in France. By June 1917, he was Orderly Officer and Adjutant in the 2nd Brigade, CFA, and fought at Arras, Vimy Ridge and Ypres and in 1918 he was promoted to Captain and transferred to the 58th Battery, where for three months he was Acting Major. The War diary for 11th November 1918 reads “Brigade cleaning up and resting after 14½ months of practically continuous warfare. Weather cold and cloudy. Horses to be clipped trace high. News of the Armistice taken very calmly”. The Brigade spent Christmas in Cologne where it was announced that Captain Wynn Bagnall had been awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry and initiative during the Battle of Cambrai in October. The Brigade then moved into Belgium where preparations were made for return to England and then onward to Canada and final discharge in Montreal on 19th July 1919.

Wynn returned to his old employment in Canada at the Bank of Montreal which had contributed 1,049 employees to the War, 230 of whom were killed, and the company commissioned two statues, one in Montreal as a memorial to victory and one in Winnipeg to honour the Canadian soldiers. Wynn Bagnall, as a decorated employee, was chosen as the model. The statue by American sculptor James Earle Fraser was 9 feet in height and was made of bronze on a marble base, ‘Here is no giant warrior god on a high pedestal, but a man. He is tough, ready for the fight, his feet apart, arms held loosely at his sides but ready. His helmet is just slightly at an angle and, under its brim, his face reflects strength and determination’, read one review.

In 1920 Wynn crossed into the United States to settle there. The 1920 New York State census shows him lodging in Riverside Drive, Manhattan and lists his occupation as an accountant; according to his military papers his address in 1921was 64 Wall Street. By 1925 his home was at 45 East 55th Street, Manhattan and it was to here that he brought his new bride, Adelaide A.Clough in 1926, but he was divorced by 1930, and working for himself as a financial salesman.

Wynn Bagnall M.C. died on 7th March 1931 and was buried with military honours at Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Long Island.

See also, for more about Bagnall’s statue:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/soldiers-long-lonely-duty-blog-of-the-week-west-end-dumplings-234935061.html
http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/bankofmontrealwarmonument.shtml

Civil Parish: Bishopwearmouth Without

Birth date: 10-Feb-1890

Death date: 07-Mar-1931

Armed force/civilian: Army

Residence: 110 High Street, Sunderland (birthplace)
Newton Harcourt Manor, Leicestershire
Uppingham Rpad, West Humberstone, Leicestershire
Calgary (1906 census of Alberta, Saskatchewan & Manitoba)
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia (enlistment papers)
Riverside Drive, Manhattan (1920 US census)
64 Wall Street, Manhattan (military papers)
45 East 55th Street, Manhattan (1925 New York state census)

Employment: Rancher (1906 census of Alberta, Saskatchewan & Manitoba)
Bank of Montreal (enlistment papers)
Financial salesman / accountant (US census)

Family: Parents: George Rhydero Bagnall, Anne Margaretta Hughes
Siblings: Gwen, Otto, Carl, Nita, Vera
Wife: Adelaide A. Clough

Military service:

Captain 41439
2nd Brigade Canadian Field Artillery, 6th, 23rd & 58th Batteries

Medal(s): Military Cross

Gender: Male

Contributed by Jean Longstaff