The Dusty Bookcase: Remembrance Day

11 November 2026

Remembrance Day

Lieutenant William Arthur Barr was one of two children born to novelist Robert Barr and his wife Eva Barr (née Bennett). Killed in action near Croisilles on 17 August 1918, aged thirty-six, he was survived by his mother and sister Laura. In this country, the loss didn't receive proper notice. Nearly a month passed before the Gazette published a report of his death – even then, it botched his name.

The Gazette, 10 September 1918

Newspapers south of the border were even slower. Foreign correspondent Hayden Church broke the news to Americans on 2 November 1918.

The following day, the story appeared on the front page of the Detroit Free Press:

Appropriate.

From 1876 until 1881, father Robert had worked for the Free Press as a reporter and editor, after which the family moved to London, where William was born.

Church's piece appeared later that same day in the San Antonio Express (again botching his name):

The headline in the 6 November 1918 edition of the Atlanta Constitution paints the lieutenant in a very different light (and also botches the name):

I think it worth noting that Hayden Church bases his reporting on "a letter received from one of those who knew him best," someone who describes the thirty-six-year-old man as being still in his twenties.

As far as I know, the Calgary Herald is the only Canadian newspaper to print Church's reporting. It did so on 30 November 1918, fifteen weeks after his death, nineteen days after the Armistice.

This was the header: