The Cenotaph on the lawn of Unionville’s Crosby Arena honours ten local men “who made the supreme sacrifice” between 1914 and 1918.
Matthew Rae, who died as a prisoner of war in Belgium at age 24, is one of them.
Today, 92 years after succumbing to wounds as a signal corpsman with the 4th Mounted Rifles Battalion, all that remains of his legacy are letters and war medals.
The fact the almost pristine correspondence and his Canadian Memorial Cross and Canada British War Medal, are available to the highest bidder on Internet auction site eBay pleases and distresses Dave Thomson.
A St. George, Ont. hobbiest who scours cyberspace for war veterans’ medals to repatriate them with families or home town museums and archives, Mr. Thomson discovered the offering yesterday.
The eBay web page details, in photos and narrative, the medals and family letters, including messages to the dead soldier’s father, Presbyterian Church of Unionville Reverend Frank Rae.
The highest bid, 24 hours ago, on the historical cache was $96.
“Many are disgusted with this sort of thing,” said Mr. Thomson, who has reunited more than 150 auctioned Canadian war medals to original recipients’ relatives or local archives. “Some ask how families can peddle off their heros’ medals. It makes a lot of folks retch.
“But, the positive spin is there’s an opportunity to return an heirloom. These items would be a wonderful addition to your library or museum. It’s like bringing him home.”
Markham Museum collection supervisor Marie Jones agrees.
“We do have some (war) medals and archival material and there’s interest, especially when it’s from a Markhamite,” she said.
“Currently, we don’t have the budget to purchase items for sale, but these are important letters and medals. We’ll definitely see if funds from another budget can be approved.”
Mr. Thomson suspects the anonymous eBay seller is an antiques dealer. The bidding, closing Thursday at 7 p.m., could reach the $700 mark.
“Whoever it is, they’re not doing anything wrong,” he said.
His enthusiasm for buying and returning war memorabilia became too expensive, he said. Now, he continues to source items, alerting soldiers’ municipalities and heritage preservation organizations.
He also helps historical authorities recover heirlooms.
“This is a chance to rally the troops and get this man’s medals home,” Mr. Thomson said. “The trick is not to start bidding against each other.”
Accordingly, the museum is seeking to bid on our native son’s medals and letters. You can help by contacting Ms Jones and making a contribution that will be used at auction.
Pte. Rae, who attended Markham High School, is buried in Kortrijk (St. Jan) Communal Cemetery in Belgium.
To support the bid, call the museum at 905-294-4576.
Check out www.ebay.com and enter 320275848112 in the search function to view the medals and letters.
To contact Mr. Thomson, call 519-448-1967.
For more information on Pte. Rae, check out http://mpl.markham.ca, click hot topics archive, then scroll down the list to Matthew Rae Story.