Tribute from one veteran to another

Gary Hatton, a retired veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces living in Niagara-on-the-Lake, visits a particular gravestone in St. Mark’s Church cemetery at this time every year.

He was pleased to discover the presence of the grave of Major  Benjamin H. Geary, a distinguished veteran of the First World War, in the cemetery, and feels “to have this officer at rest in NOTL is an especial honour to the town and its residents, and in particular, its veterans.”

Geary, Hatton explains, was a second lieutenant in the First World War, and was awarded the Victoria Cross, the Commonwealth’s highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy. 

Every year, on Nov. 11 at 11 a.m., while the Remembrance Day service is underway at the Queen Street Cenotaph, Hatton says, “I humbly visit his grave to place my poppy on his headstone, as a mark of respect for his service to his Sovereign, Great Britain and Canada.  

Geary, he suggests, deserves a tribute as “our own real war hero.”

Donald Combe, sexton of St. Mark’s cemetery, wrote of Major Geary for The Local in 2019.

“Geary was awarded the Victoria Cross for his most conspicuous bravery and determination on ‘Hill 60,’ near Ypres, on April 20 and 21, 1915, when he held the left crater with his platoon,” said Combe. “The crater was vulnerable to very heavy artillery fire. Each attack was repulsed, mainly owing to the splendid personal gallantry and example of Second Lieutenant Geary, who exposed himself with entire disregard to danger in order to see by the light of flares where the enemy were coming on. He was severely wounded, losing the sight of one eye, and the other was seriously impaired.”

Geary, who was born in 1891, retired from the army in 1919 with the rank of Captain, and took Holy Orders in the Church of England, having studied at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. After other church posts, he served as Chaplain to the Forces from 1926 to 27, when he emigrated to Canada.

During the Second World  War, he served with the Canadian Army as Major, and after the war was Sergeant at Arms in the Ontario Legislature for 24 years. He retired to NOTL in 1972, where he became an active member of St. Mark’s. He died May 26, 1976.