METIVIER o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2004-12-28 published
First World War veteran dies at 104
Canadian Press
Ottawa -- The smell of warm blood oozing across the fields and
roadways of battlefields was Paul
METIVIER's most vivid -- and
horrifying -- memory of the First World War. He was just 16 when
he enlisted but he, and many others, lied about his age, telling
officials he was 19.
METIVIER, who lived long enough to be among Canada's handful
of surviving Great War veterans, died last Wednesday at age 104.
With his death, Canada has only six surviving World War One veterans.
METIVIER had been in failing health over the past several months,
said his daughter Monique
METIVIER of Ottawa.
"But he still insisted on going to the cenotaph at the National
War Memorial for the celebration of November 11, then insisted
on accepting an invitation to the Governor General's for tea
afterwards," she said.
METIVIER lived his final days in a suite at an Ottawa retirement
home, not far from where he raised his family in the city's Sandy
Hill area.
METIVIER grew up in Montreal and enlisted there.
He joined the 4th Division Ammunition column and used mules to
carry ammunition to the guns behind the front lines.
"I did the things you can do with horses," he once recalled,
adding that he earned $1.10 a day in the army and sent $20 a
month home to his mother in Montreal.
M... Names ME... Names MET... Names Welcome Home
METIVIER o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2004-12-28 published
First World War veteran enlisted at 16
Canadian Press, Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - Page S9
Ottawa -- The smell of warm blood oozing across the fields and
roadways of battlefields was Paul
METIVIER's most vivid -- and
horrifying -- memory of the First World War. He was just 16 when
he enlisted but he, along with so many others, lied about his
age, telling authorities he was 19.
Mr. METIVIER, who lived long enough to be among Canada's handful
of surviving Great War veterans, died December 22 at 104. With
his death, Canada has only six surviving First World War veterans.
He had been in failing health over the past several months, said
his daughter, Monique
METIVIER of Ottawa. "But he still insisted
on going to the cenotaph at the National War Memorial for the
celebration of November 11, then insisted on accepting an invitation
to the Governor-General's for tea afterwards."
Mr. METIVIER grew up in Montreal and enlisted there. He joined
the 4th Division Ammunition column and used mules to carry ammunition
to the guns at the front lines.
"I did the things you can do with horses," he once recalled,
adding that he earned $1.10 a day in the army and sent $20 a
month home to his mother in Montreal.
Veterans▼
Affairs▼ officials said Mr.
METIVIER, whose son Roland
was killed in action in 1942, never refused an invitation to
represent the veterans of his war. He showed up every year for
Remembrance Day ceremonies at Ottawa's War Museum and the National
War Memorial and regularly made appearances in the House of Commons.
"When I'm there, I think of my son, I think of my past and I
hope that the care we take for veterans and the remembrance will
continue," Mr.
METIVIER once said "They deserve to be remembered."
M... Names ME... Names MET... Names Welcome Home
MÉTIVIER o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2004-12-28 published
World War I vet Paul
MÉTIVIER, 104, carted shells to front
Lied about age to enlist and earned $1.10 a day
Only six Great War veterans left in Canada
Canadian Press
Ottawa -- The smell of warm blood oozing across the battlefields
and roadways was Paul
MÉTIVIER's most vivid -- and horrifying
memory of World War I.
He was 16 when he enlisted but he, along with so many others,
lied about his age, telling authorities he was 19.
MÉTIVIER, one of Canada's seven surviving World War I veterans,
died Wednesday at 104.
He had been in failing health over the past several months, said
his daughter Monique
MÉTIVIER, a judge on the Ontario Superior
Court of Justice.
"But he still insisted on going to the cenotaph at the National
War Memorial for the celebration of November 11, then insisted
on accepting an invitation to the Governor-General's for tea
afterwards," she said.
MÉTIVIER lived his final days in a suite at an Ottawa retirement
home. He was born on July 6, 1900, in Montreal and enlisted in
March, 1917, two years short of legal service age.
"He was poor, he'd been fired from a foundry he'd been working
at because he passed out from the heat," his daughter said.
MÉTIVIER joined the 4th Division Ammunition column, and as a
gunner led horse- and mule-drawn ordnance wagons to front-line
batteries in Belgium and France, spending 15 months carting shells.
"I did the things you can do with horses," he once recalled,
adding that he earned $1.10 a day in the army and sent $20 a
month home to his mother in Montreal.
He was assigned to the Canadian Boys' Battalion in 1918 after
his mother informed officials of his true age, and was sent home
from his 10-month Boys' Brigade assignment in England in October,
1918, a month before hostilities ended.
MÉTIVIER moved to Ottawa in 1921 where he got a job as an apprentice
photographer.
He worked the rest of his career in the map-making branch of
the Department of Mines and Technical Surveys, rising to chief
of reproduction before his 1965 retirement.
"He was a wonderful father and really an extraordinary man,"
his daughter told the Toronto Star's Joseph
HALL earlier this
year. He was dedicated to his children and "madly in love" with
his wife Flore -- who died in 1992 after 72 years of marriage,
she said.
As well as being awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal,
MÉTIVIER was awarded the French Légion d'honneur for his service
in France.
Like all of the surviving vets from that war,
MÉTIVIER possessed
a "remarkably positive attitude on life" that precluded much
dwelling on horror and carnage, his daughter said.
It wasn't until she began looking for records of his service
in 1998 that he was seized upon by Veterans Affairs to participate
in their various ceremonies -- including a repatriation of Canada's
World War I "unknown soldier" from Europe six years ago.
Veterans▲
Affairs▲ officials said
MÉTIVIER, whose son Roland was
killed in action in 1942 during World War 2, never refused an
invitation to represent veterans of the first war.
He showed up every year for Remembrance Day ceremonies at Ottawa's
War Museum and the National War Memorial and regularly made appearances
in the House of Commons.
Speaking about his role in countless November 11 ceremonies,
MÉTIVIER once said: "When I'm there, I think of my son, I think
of my past and I hope that the care we take for veterans and
the remembrance will continue.
"They gave their lives for Canada so it seems to me that they
deserve to be remembered."
MÉTIVIER leaves four children, 11 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
M... Names ME... Names MET... Names Welcome Home
METIVIER - All Categories in OGSPI