Joseph Howard Pinnell

Rank:

Private

Regimental number:

772200

Unit at enlistment:

125th Battalion

Force:

C.E.F.

Volunteered or conscripted:

Volunteered

Survived the war:

Wounded:

Yes

Date of death:

May 3rd, 1917

Cemetery:

Vimy Memorial - Pas de Calais, France

Commemorated at:

Brant Avenue Methodist Church and Memorial Window, Riverdale Baptist Church, Victoria Public School Honour Roll, Penmans Ltd. Honour Roll

Birth country:

Canada

Birth county:

Bruce

Birth city:

Teeswater, Ontario

Address at enlistment:

22 Jubilee Avenue, Brantford, Ontario

Next of kin address:

22 Jubilee Avenue, Brantford, Ontario

Trade or calling:

Shoemaker

Employer:

Brandon Shoe Co.

Religious denominations:

Methodist

Marital status:

Single

Age at enlistment:

Image gallery:

Letters and documents

Circumstances of Casualty: Previously reported Wounded and Missing, now for official purposes presumed to have died.
Location of Unit at Time of Casualty: Attack North of Fresnoy.

BX May 28, 1917

Mrs. J. Pinnell, 22 Jubilee Avenue, has received official notice that her son, Pte. Howard Pinnell, who enlisted with the first overseas battalion of the Dufferin Rifles, has been wounded on May 3. Prior to his enlistment, Private Pinnell was employed with the Watson Manufacturing Company.

BX July 25, 1917

That her son Pte. Joseph Howard Pinnell had been reported wounded and missing on May 6 was the word received today by Ms. Annie Pinnell of 22 Jubilee Avenue. Private Pinnell, who was only 20 on his last birthday, went overseas with the first battalion from the 38th Dufferin Rifles. Before enlisting he worked with the Watson Manufacturing Company. He has two brothers at the front. John W. with the 43rd Canadian Camerons and Frederick H.A. with 125th.

BX January 4, 1918

Brantford Soldier Falls

Previously reported missing, since May last, Private Joseph Howard Pinnell is now believed dead, according to word received in the city yesterday. Private Pinnell, who went overseas with the first Brant County Battalion, lived at 22 Jubilee Avenue.

BX January 5, 1918

Official word “presumed to have died” has been received by the parents of Pte. Joseph Pinnell, 232 Jubilee Avenue, in this city. Private Pinnell’s death is presumed to have occurred on or since May 3 last year. He was one of three sons in the one family, all of whom answered the call. His two brothers are now in service, Lance-Corporal John W. Pinnell and Frederick H.A. Pinnell, now invalided to England with trench fever, the latter left with the 125th Battalion.

BX September 27, 1920

Memorial Window to Heroic Fallen Unveiled at Brant Avenue Church – Chancellor Bowles of Victoria College Officiated at Official Recognition of Nine Members of the Church Who Gave Their Lives in the Great War – A Ceremony Pregnant With Meaning

In dedication to the nine men of Brant Avenue Methodist Church who gave their lives in the Great War, a memorial window was unveiled in that church at the morning services yesterday. Rev. Chancellor Bowles of Victoria College, Toronto, gave the message of consolation to the friends of the soldiers whose memory he extolled and Major A.E. Lavelle, D.D., and Major E. Sweet both in uniform, unveiled the window. The congregation filled the church to the last pew and each one could not fail to receive, from the simple and impressive ceremony, a strong, new motive for keeping alive what Chancellor Bowles called a great and glorious memory.”

Deeply impressive and heart soothing was the whole ceremony. Rev. J.D. Fitzpatrick, the pastor of the church, was in charge and the choir gave special music, including solos by Miss Reba Force and Miss Margaret Stephen, the latter of Toronto. The military significance of the event was emphasized by the number of men attending in uniform. Besides Major Sweet and Major Lavell, places of prominence were given to Col. M.A. Colquhoun, D.S.O., C.M.G., Lieut.-Col. M.E.B. Cutcliffe, Major Jordan, Lieut. K.V. Bunnell, Lieut. Donald Waterous, Lieut. Charles Sheppard, Capt. (Dr.) Leonard Coates, Capt. Dufferin Slemin, Lieut. Fred Pinnell, Capt. Morley Verity and Sergt. James Hitchon, Nursing Sister, Captain Annie Hartley, was also present.

The Decorations

A special committee had spent much time in making the church beautiful, draping the chancel in flags and wreathing maple leaves over the window and around the memorial tablets formerly erected. Bouquets of mauve and white and pink and white asters were placed on the sill of the window.

The Sermon

Following the solemn prayer by Rev. J.D. Fitzpatrick and the choir offerings, Rev. Chancellor Bowles preached a most impressive sermon.

The dedication of the memorial, said Dr. Bowles, was promoted by instincts of love and gratitude and loyalty that sought to keep in recollection the names of those who were gone, their voices, their faces and the deeds they had done. Thoughts of them were like a benediction after prayer, for memories such as theirs soothed and elevated and enriched men’s lives and kept them in touch with the living past. Many memorials were being erected, he said, from simple tablets to costly community halls, churches and arches; yet the outward form mattered little, what counted was the appreciation and admiration of those who raised them. Every memorial was erected “Lest we forget.”

It was not likely this generation would ever see such another war, it was the grimmest and most awful thing men had ever faced; they had been overwhelmed by its terrible destruction and death. This ceremony was held to lead others to know its meanings and learn its lesson well – “Lest we forget.” Drawing his bearers to think of the many elements that entered into the cause of the war, the struggle, said the Chancellor, had written its own inner meaning. Humanity could live in safety on this earth only as a spiritual and moral force; there must be a right relationship among the nations; men had come to feel the sense of the ultimate value of what was right and what was fair. “We know what conceptions and ideals moved our boys,” Dr. Bowles went on. “They had the sense of human value. Most of them were scarcely young men, they were only boys. Life had no problems for them yet; the iron had not entered into their souls. Now they make one small portion of those who like in Flanders’ Fields. They had not lived their lives as some listening to me have almost done, they poured out the wine of youth, life’s passions; nor” he said, “will you cease to think of them as young and fair. From the many letters I read written by Victoria College students, I was struck by the cheer and the steadfastness to duty they expressed. From one I have here, written to the soldier’s mother, before the great struggle of August 8, he concluded, ‘a great triumph will take place and I shall have a part in it.’ Remember”, said the Chancellor in closing “that was the spirit that actuated them through it all.”

The Unveiling

Major Lavell and Major Sweet conducted the unveiling ceremonies, the former giving a brief address and the latter reading the names and drawing aside the Union Jack which covered the memorial window.

In beginning his remarks Major Lavell referred to Major T. Harry Jones, who had so much to do with the memorial window, but who had not lived to see the completion of the work. He said that out of the many thoughts that crowded in upon his mind there were but three he had time to express. The first was the sorrow that those present must feel who were nearest and dearest to the men whose names were on the memorial. This sorrow and perplexity at death was as old as the race. To this sorrow he had little to give but sympathy. Possibly if they would find the secret of Calvary and see our Lord’s death as victory and not defeat, they would have light and much comfort. The second was that the front line areas made a school the like of which existed nowhere else. It tested, disciplined and changed every man. They learned to know real values, what was worth retaining and what might be well given up. The third was that these brave young men having passed through this school that most of those present had not passed through, and therefore knew not, willingly faced death and died doing their duty, which to them was far preferable to mere living. Could their loved ones here not have faith in their faith and even in their sorrow and ignorance believe in the light seen by those who had fearlessly walked through the valley of the shadow?

Major Lavell quoted from Sir Arthur Currie’s message to the Canadian soldiers, delivered on March 27, 1918. How true, he said, his finals words had become and how appropriately they had been chosen for the inscription on the window: “You will not die, but will step into immortality.”

Impressively and clearly Major Sweet read the roll of those whose names were inscribed on the tablet:

Harold Staples Brewster
Alexander Finletter Brown
Hugh Dalton Livingston
Lawrence Wilmot Livingston
Joseph Howard Pinnell
Earl Pettit Pitcher
Harold Brant Preston
Frederick Stanley Schell
Egerton Vaughan

As the window was revealed and the names were called, the notes of the “Last Post” were sounded by Sergeant Beech of the Dufferin Rifles.

The committee of arrangements consisted of Mrs. R.S. Schell, Mrs. W.C. Livingston, Mrs. J.J. Vaughan, Messrs. W.S. Brewster, T.H. Preston, E. Sweet and C.S. Slemin.

BX September 19, 1916

London Visits of Members of Brant Battalion – Lance-Corp. Pinnell tells of interesting sights seen in the Metropolis

Mr. J. Pinnell, 22 Jubilee Avenue, has recently received two very interesting letters from his sons, Lance Corporal Joseph Howard Pinnell and Fred Pinnell, who are both overseas on active service. Both relate some very interesting stories of how the boys of Brant County’s own battalion enjoy themselves when on leave. Lance-Corp. Joseph H. Pinnell writes as follows:

Dear Mother and Dad,

A line to let you know I have had my six days’ leave and am back in camp. The one thing which I think you have heard most about is Westminster Abbey, and that certainly is a very nice place. It is about 900 years old and is still in splendid condition. Of course, it is kept in repair from year to year. All the important places are open at all times to soldiers and sailors. They have the tombs of nearly all the Kings and Queens of England, up until a couple of hundred years ago. Since that time they have been buried in Windsor and we could not go down there.

The next place we visited was St. Paul’s Cathedral, which is another beautiful place and if anything better than Westminster, especially on the inside, which is not divided up into so many small wings and bays. The dome on St. Paul’s is certainly some size and directly under the dome there is a hole in the floor which contains the bodies of several of Britain’s heroes, and among them that of Earl Nelson, who had the honor of being laid to rest directly underneath the dome. They also have a big wagon there which was designed and built in six weeks’ time and cost about £40,000. The material it was built of was a cannon taken at the battle of Waterloo. This was the wagon which carried Wellington’s remains to the cathedral, where they were laid to rest.

We next visited the Tower of London, which is very interesting. We were shown all through the place and there are some wonderful things to see. I could not begin to tell you one-third of the things I have seen, but the main things are the crown jewels, which are in a glass room with iron bars all around it and the lights burn in it all day. The jewels are valued at nearly £10,000,000, and that is a “little money.” I was also in the “Bloody Tower,” where the two princes were smothered over 300 years ago. The Tower of London built sometime in the tenth century. Another place we visited was the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Museum, Whitehall Road, London. Here they had models of several battleships, torpedo boats, cruisers and a lot of old-fashioned naval boats which were used in the olden days, and also models of a lot of cannon, siege guns and mortars, all of which show careful work in the making. They also had a model of a battle cruiser made of sterling silver, with a glass case around it, one of the finest pieces of work they had. It was about two feet long and had everything on it that could be found on a full-sized boat. In addition to this they had a full sized torpedo, and to tell you straight I would not want to be on the end of it when it struck a boat or some other thing.

Another sight was Madame Tussauds Wax Works, where they have a “den of Horrors.” The wax statues are very real and you would almost feel like going up and speaking to them. The one that looked the best to me was the figure of a London police officer, standing just inside the door. The den of horrors is the place where all the criminals’ statues are and in their most natural state. I did not find it as bad as people made it out to be. It is not a very pleasant place to be in when you have been told all about the men, what they did, where they did it, and how it was done.

The next place visited was the Zoo, where we certainly saw a lot of strange animals that we had never seen before. Almost any kind of bird you could wish to see was there, but there were several Canadian kinds that were not to be seen, the crow, blackbird, robin, meadow lark, and several others not so well known. They were mostly birds of prey and they had nearly all the different kinds. Only one thing marred our visit to the Zoo and that was the rain which fell all day and nearly every day we were in London.

A Zeppelin Raid

Before closing I will tell you that they had a Zeppelin raid in London the second night we were there, but I did not know anything about it till the next day at noon. This will give you an idea of how sound I slept. Very little damage was done.

A few bombs were dropped in the neighborhood of our camp in an open field about five miles away. The Zeppelins were around again last night, and we were all warned at 3 o’clock to get all our clothes on and be ready in case of danger to get out of our huts and away from it if possible. However, the machines passed us by without dropping any bombs.

Your loving son,

Howard

BX December 19, 1929

Mother Still Hopes for Her Missing Son

“Hope dwells immortal in the human breast.”

A decided exponent of this is Mrs. Joseph Pinnell, 196 William Street, who still holds hopes for the eventual return of her son, Private Joseph Howard Pinnell, who enlisted with the 125th Battalion in Brantford and was transferred to the 1st Battalion in France.

He was officially reported missing after the engagement at Fresnoy. The last word heard of him was that he had been wounded, losing an arm, and had proceeded from a dressing station at the front line to the hospital at the rear of the line. While officially reported missing, no trace of him has still been found. His mother has repeatedly dreamed that he is still alive, but with memory gone, and believes that he will come back to her again.

He was 21 when he enlisted in 1916 and 22 when reported missing in 1917. He was a shoemaker by trade, having been employed at the Brandon Shoe company plant here before enlistment, and he was a keen amateur photographer.