Damaged father-and-sons headstone replaced to mark soldiers' sacrifice

A damaged piece of Newfoundland's military history is set to get a makeover Saturday, thanks to a group that works to identify, document and preserve the memorials of those who've served. 

Michael Pretty, chair of the Trail of the Caribou Research Group, says the headstone of Edward Baldwin, who died in 1928, was found broken into five pieces in the All Saints Anglican Cemetery in Pouch Cove in early May.

Edward's sons, James, Uriah and Horatio, are also included on the headstone, but they're not buried in Pouch Cove. The three brothers died in the First World War and their bodies were never recovered.

Unique headstone

Pretty says it wasn't unusual for families to have several sons serving, but the circumstances of the brothers' military service was noteworthy.

"The uniqueness of this is there's three brothers, three different militaries, three different battles," said Pretty.

"One was actually serving in the navy in the U.S. and then came to Canada and joined, another one was up in the Toronto area and joined, and one fellow joined here in Newfoundland." 

He said it's a shame that this monument was so significantly damaged, and while there are funds to repair individual soldiers' graves, there aren't other groups repairing family monuments like the Baldwins'.

Pretty said it's important to repair these sorts of monuments to hold on to the memory of those who served.

"It's our history. I'm 33 years in the military, and history is important to us," said Pretty.

"It's become a passion — or an obsession, if you ask my wife."

The uniqueness of this is there's three brothers, three different militaries, three different battles.-  Michael Pretty

Pretty said the new headstone will be a replica of the original.

"Word for word, punctuation mistakes, everything. It's just going to be a bigger, sturdier headstone."

Pretty said he's aware of 100 more headstones like Edward Baldwin's that need restoring, and the research group is aiming to compile stories of those who served on an interactive website.

The new headstone for Edward Baldwin — and his sons — will be unveiled at the All Saints Anglican Cemetery in Pouch Cove at 2 p.m. Saturday.