Reginald W. Frost

The Scapegoat

/ Matthew K Barrett / 1 Comment

Major H. LeRoy Shaw
87th (Grenadier Guards) BattalionShawHL

Major Shaw said that he was going overseas because he had no ties or obligations to hold him back, and that his spirit was only the same as many of his friends, and of many with whom he was not acquainted. With them, he said, it was a question of where their home and family duties ended and duty to their country began. 

(Maj. Shaw speech, Montreal Gazette, 14 Feb 1916, 14)

Born on 28 June 1878 in Prince Edward Island, Harold LeRoy Shaw was manager of the Montreal Imperial Life Assurance Company when he joined the 87th Battalion in September 1915. He went to France as a company commander in August 1916. He served as acting battalion commander between March and May 1917, and led the 87th through the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

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Lt. Col. Rexford

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Lieutenant Colonel I.P. Rexford
87th (Canadian Grenadier Guards) Battalion
Rexford

As a Rotarian who has held for the last 35 years the classification of “corporate executor” in the Rotary Club of Montreal, I was horrified to read in an article in THE ROTARIAN for October a recommendation by the author that a person should designate his wife as sole executrix to avoid the coast of a bond and “keep the commission in the family.”

 Surely the author must know of the many tragedies which have followed where a man has named his wife as sole executrix, a person usually entirely without experience in administrating an estate and managing investments.

 (Rexford, “Re: Making a Will”, The Rotarian, Jan 1950, 55)

Born on 14 September 1884 in Quebec, Irving Putnam Rexford was a Royal Trust Company manager and member of the Rotary Club with ten years’ experience in the Canadian Grenadier Guards. In September 1915, he joined the 87th Battalion organized by Colonel Frank Meighen.

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Lt. Col. Ketcheson

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Lieutenant Colonel W.G. Ketcheson
80th (Hastings) Battalion
Ketcheson

While not possessed of a very high academic education, Lieut. Col. Ketcheson has the qualities most essential in a Commanding Officer, i.e. – the ability to handle men and a strong personality.

 (80th Bn. inspection report, 1916)

Born on 29 March 1862 in Hastings County, Canada West, William Gilbert Ketcheson was a member of an old United Empire Loyalist family. His ancestor, Colonel William Ketcheson (1759—1848) had immigrated to Hastings County after the American Revolution and later served in the War of 1812. With 8 children, 71 grandchildren and 59 great-grandchildren, many of his descendants assumed prominent positions in the county.

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Lt. Col. Frost

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Lieutenant Colonel R.W. Frost, D.S.O.
87th (Canadian Grenadier Guards) Battalion
Frost

Capt. Frost was twice blown up by shells but remained on duty.

 (14th Bn. War Diary, 3 June 1916)

 Capt. R. W. Frost, for the third time in 24 hours, was blown to the ground by a shell. Too dazed to walk, he was carried to Railway Dugouts, where he recovered and whence, on the following morning, he hastened to duty with the Battalion.

 (R. C. Fetherstonhaugh, The Royal Montreal Regiment, 14th Battalion [1927], 87)

Just as the 87th Battalion prepared to deploy to France in summer 1916, Reginald William Frost replaced Lieutenant Colonel Irving Rexford in command. A native of Norfolk, England, Frost was born on 21 May 1885 and immigrated to Canada in 1906. He had served seven years with the 66th Princess Louise Fusiliers when he enlisted in the 14th Battalion under the command of Frank Meighen at the outbreak of the war.

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