Written by Today’s Cumberland Soldier of the Week is L/Cpl. Leo Haliburton St.Peter of Maccan, NS!
Leo St. Peter was born in 1900, making him just 16 years old when he enlisted into the Canadian army in 1916. He signed up with his friend Oz Brown and his older brother Henry, who covered for Leo when his age was questioned.
L/Cpl St.Peter participated in the taking of Vimy Ridge with the 85th Battalion under Colonel James Layton Ralston. In a Newspaper article for the Amherst Citizen, he recalls spending Easter Sunday in a chalk pit at the end of a tunnel, before going into the first wave of troops the following morning. L/Cpl St.Peter also fought at Passchendaele. It was there, while he was fetching rations for his platoon, that he was caught by a sniper’s bullet. His left arm was amputated, and L/Cpl. St.Peter was sent to England for medical attention.
He almost died several times from hemorrhaging, but he pulled through, and sailed back to Nova Scotia. Once he was back in Maccan, it was difficult for L/Cpl. St. Peter to find work as an amputee. He ended up working at R.W Loring’s General Store hauling feed (pulling just as much weight as able-bodied men) before moving on to work at I. R. Boss’s garage also in Maccan.
He eventually raised a family, and later moved to Amherst to take up bookkeeping before passing on in his 80s. We thank L/Cpl. St.Peter for his service and sacrifice.
We will remember him!
Nova Scotia Highlanders Regimental Museum 