This Day in History: Oct. 26, 1917, Grey County's black day
About 60 Grey County names on one day's casualty list, and a Victoria Cross for Owen Sound's Thomas Holmes.
By David Ellis · · 1 min read
Oct. 26, 1917: A black day at Passchendaele. "The 26th of October was a black day for the County," says a history of Grey County published in Owen Sound in 1931. As Canadian troops opened their assault at Passchendaele, Belgium, that day's casualty list carried about 60 Grey County names. On the same day, Veterans Affairs Canada records, Owen Sound's Pte. Thomas Holmes of the 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles captured a German pillbox single-handed, winning the Victoria Cross.
Source: E. L. Marsh, A History of the County of Grey (1931), via the Internet Archive; Veterans Affairs Canada
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