Lance Corporal John Shiwak
Killed in Action 20/11/1917

 

1735
John Shiwak
Royal Newfoundland Regiment

Son of John and Sarah Shiwak
Rigolet, Labrador
January  1, 1889 - 20 Nov. 1917

Citation: British War Medal and Victory Medal

Enlisted: July 24, 1915
Embarked for Southampton on 9 July 1916 and disembarked at Rouen 10 July 1916.

KIA November 20, 1917 at Marcoing, France.

His name is inscribed on the Beaumont Hamel memorial among those who have no known grave.

(Veterans Affairs Canada)

 

From the official record: "... As the Newfoundlanders marched along the canal road, concealed from enemy view by a high brick wall on their left, a solitary shell crashed into the centre of the column, killing ten men and wounding fifteen more. It was a tragic occurrence, for this chance shot was the only one that landed anywhere in the vicinity at that time. Among the victims was....the Regiment's leading sniper, Lance-Corporal John Shiwak from Labrador. He was buried that afternoon in Masnieres, close to the spot where he fell. His loss was keenly felt throughout the Regiment, for his matchless marksmanship and his skill as a scout and an observer together with his reliability and good nature had won him many friends. In his last letter to his writer friend, Lacy Amy, Shiwak had expressed a great longing for his distant home -- his father, his two sisters, and his Eskimo hunting companions. "There will be no more letters from them until the ice breaks, he said wistfully."

"He had earned his long rest," wrote Amy in tribute. "Out there in lonesome Snipers' Land he lay, day after day; and the cunning that made him a hunter of fox, and marten, and otter, and bear, and wolf brought to him better game. And all he ever asked was: "When will the war be over?" Only then would he return to his huskies and traps where few men dare a life of ice for a living almost as cold.

"John Shiwak - Eskimo - patriot."

--- Excerpt from page 416/417, The Fighting Newfoundlander