Night at the Museum Student Showcase - Elena Enns

For Night at the Museum, Archives Assistant Elena Enns unearthed the history of some of Rossland’s veterans.

-Written by Elena

For Night at the Museum this summer, I researched veterans from Rossland who we did not have a lot of information on. This project showcased some of the skills I gained during my time working in the archive, but I also learned more about the men who fought for our country. For the most part, we had little to no information on the veterans I chose, and while finding the information was difficult at times, we can now at least provide a portion of their stories.

2007.10.2 - Private Ben Allen’s Memorial Cross medal from WWI

William Treverton in uniform - 24 September 1942, in Vernon, BC

I chose the veterans randomly from our list of veterans from the Boer War, World War I, and World War II. I completed research on more than the nine veterans I presented on, but in the end, I chose those who I had the most information on. The men I chose were Captain Percival Knight Allen, Corporal Benjamin Henry Lee, Private Ben Allen, Private Alfred Lindsay, Private Archibald “Archie” Coombes, Private John Kearney, Private John Archie Cameron, Flying Officer Gustaf Flagel, and Signalman William “Spike” Treverton.

To gather information, I used the Library and Archives Canada along with the Find-A-Grave website, history.com (for information about specific places they were fighting), and regimental museums.

Information on the different veterans will be displayed as part of our future Veterans Week displays.

Archives Assistant Elena Enns with her project

I would like to thank the UK National Archives, The Canadian Scottish Regimental Museum, and friends of the veterans for also helping in my research and putting together vital pieces of stories that I may not have discovered otherwise. I would also like to thank the members of the community that came to visit us and view my and my fellow students’ projects.