Newspaper Article

The short life...Carleton Place during the First World War

Probert, Rob

2015

Overview

Capt. [W. H. Hooper], his troops, and many others were posted to the front lines. Trench warfare and all of the nasty business that goes with that were a reality. In late April, in what became known as the Second Battle of Ypres, Capt. Hooper was ordered to take and hold an important position, a farmhouse at St. Julian's in Belgium. This battle lasted several days and in the end was unsuccessful. Capt. Hooper insisted on leading his \"lads,\" knowing that many came from Carleton Place, his own hometown. From various reports and letters home we learned that they came under a full-out attack and one that, in the end for some, could not be survived. Capt. Hooper's wounds were so severe that he was not expected to live. He was interred as a prisoner of war at Mainz, Germany, but was allowed to send and receive mail. He was later interred to Switzerland, eventually released and returned to Carleton Place in 1919 with the rank of Major. At the start of the war he was all of 33 years of age. Just four years later, in 1923, he served a one-year term as Mayor of Carleton Place. He served as postmaster from 1920 to 1950. The Hooper home is now the site of the Canadian Tire Gas Bar on Bridge Street He also had a successful career as a photographer. His memory lives on in the name of the local chapter of the Independent Order of the Daughters of the Empire (IODE) Carleton Place Major Hooper Chapter.

• Publisher: Postmedia Network Inc
• Subject: Hooper, W H / Scott, Clyde R