Oswald P. Arkless MC

"A" Company, 49th Battalion (Edmonton Regiment)

Lieutenant Oswald Pearson Arkless commanded "A" Company in the attack on Passchendaele in 1917. It proved to be the deadliest day of the war. Facing intense fire, quagmire conditions and mass casualties, only 34 of the 125 men would remain by the end of the attack. Arkless himself was wounded, but refused to retire. Instead, he commanded the left half of battalion front until relieved. He was awarded the Military Cross for bravery.

During the Hundred Day offensive of the following year, Arkless served as Second in Command of “C” Company and later led a patrol that breached the Mons-Condé Canal during the final advance to Mons in November 1918. Arkless returned to England after the war and died in 1954.