Military service
Burial/memorial information
Son of Brig. Gen. R. A. Helmer and Elizabeth I. Helmer, of Gilmour St., Ottawa, Ontario.
The following circumstances of his death have been compiled from letters received by Lieut Owen Carsley Frederic Hague's father, Frederic Hague from officers in the area at the time. Early on Sunday morning, May 2, 1915 Lieutenants' Hague and Helmer left their position to check on a Canadian Battery who had positioned themselves on the bank of the Yser Canal near St. Julien close to the France-Belgium border. They had only gone a few yards when a six inch, high explosive canon shell burst. Lieutenant Helmer was killed instantly.
Commemorated on the Lieutenant Alexis Hannum Helmer Plaque.
Digital gallery of Lieutenant Alexis Hannum Helmer
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Lisgar Collegiate Institute yearbook
Lisgar Collegiate Institute yearbook 1914, war notes. -
Roll of honour
Lisgar Collegiate honour roll -
Photo of Alexis Helmer
Alexis Helmer, in uniform -
War Diary
War Diary 2 May 1915 CANAL BANK, YPRES Composite battery arrived from ST JEAN during night. Intense heavy shelling by enemy all night which increased towards morning. Lt Helmer killed & Lt Hague severely wounded while observing. Casualties to date 6 killed 50 wounded. Other Canadian Batteries being moved from ST JEAN to west of CANAL. Two guns of 4th Battery put out of action by direct hits. Only 12 available guns now. -
Circumstances of Death Registers
Lt Alexis Helmer's grave registration - Menin Gate -
Memorial
"IN FLANDERS FIELDS" IN MEMORY OF LIEUT. ALEXIS HANNUM HELMER 2ND OTTAWA BATTERY 1ST CANADIAN FIELD ARTILLERY KILLED IN ACTION MAY 9, 1915, AGE 22, AT THE SECOND BATTLE OF YPRES, BELGIUM. HE WAS THE FIRST LISGAR GRADUATE TO DIE IN WORLD WAR I. HIS DEATH INSPIRED HIS CLOSE FRIEND LIEUT. COLONEL DR. JOHN McCRAE TO COMPOSE THIS IMMORTAL POEM. ALERE FLAMMAM ERECTED BY THE LISGAR ALUMNI ASSOCIATION IN RECOGNITION OF THE 160 ANNIVERSARY, 2001. -
Attestation papers
Attestation Papers: Alexis Helmer -
Document
CWGC documents show Alexis Helmer's body was originally buried at 28 C. 19.c.25.0.5 and later moved to the White House Cemetery at St-Jean-Le-Ypres in Plot 3 Row X Grave 29. -
Burial Report
CWGC documents show Alexis Hanmer's body was originally buried at 28 C. 19.c.25.0.5 and later moved to the White House Cemetery at St-Jean-Le-Ypres in Plot 3 Row X Grave 29. -
Memorial Plaque
This memorial plaque was installed at Dominion Methodist Church, now Dominion United Church "In loving memory of Alexis Hannum Helmer Lieut 2nd Battery 1st Field Artillery Brigade Canadian Expeditionary Force Fell in action near Ypres May 2nd 1915 Aged 22 years "Be God's gentleman and the King's gentleman"" -
Biography
Lieut Alexis Hannum Helmer, Obit, Ottawa Collegiate Institute (now Lisgar Collegiate Institute). -
Memorial
Panel 10 of the Menin Gate - August 2012 … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Honour Roll
From the "McGill Honour Roll, 1914-1918". McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, 1926. -
Commemorative plaque
This plaque is dedicated to Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, whose death inspired the 'Flander's Fields' poem. -
Inscription on Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial
Detail from panel 10 on the Menin Gate, Ypres, Belgium, where Alexis Helmer is commemorated. Picture by the Dover War Memorial Project, England -
Photo of PRO DEO ET PATRIA
Pro Deo Et Patria Erected by the Royal Military College Club of Canada Anno Domini 1923. Ex-cadets are named on the Memorial Arch at the Royal Military College of Canada. 841 Lieut Alexis Hannum Helmer (RMC 1912) was the son of Brig. Gen. R. A. Helmer and Elizabeth I. Helmer, of Gilmour St., Ottawa, Ontario. He served with the Canadian Field Artillery, 1st Bde. Early on Sunday morning, May 2, 1915 Lieutenant Helmer left his position to check on a Canadian Battery who had positioned themselves on the bank of the Yser Canal near St. Julien close to the France-Belgium border. He had only gone a few yards when a six inch, high explosive canon shell burst. Lieutenant Helmer was killed instantly. He is remembered on the Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial Belgium. -
TRUTH DUTY VALOUR
On their 50th anniversary the class of August 1915 at the Royal Military College of Canada have placed this memorial stained glass window to honour their fallen classmates. 841 Lieut Alexis Hannum Helmer (RMC 1912) was the son of Brig. Gen. R. A. Helmer and Elizabeth I. Helmer, of Gilmour St., Ottawa, Ontario. He served with the Canadian Field Artillery, 1st Bde. Early on Sunday morning, May 2, 1915 Lieutenant Helmer left his position to check on a Canadian Battery who had positioned themselves on the bank of the Yser Canal near St. Julien close to the France-Belgium border. He had only gone a few yards when a six inch, high explosive canon shell burst. Lieutenant Helmer was killed in action instantly. He is remembered on the Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial Belgium. -
Menin Gate Memorial
841 Lieut Alexis Hannum Helmer (RMC 1912) was the son of Brig. Gen. R. A. Helmer and Elizabeth I. Helmer, of Gilmour St., Ottawa, Ontario. He served with the Canadian Field Artillery, 1st Bde. Early on Sunday morning, May 2, 1915 Lieutenant Helmer left his position to check on a Canadian Battery who had positioned themselves on the bank of the Yser Canal near St. Julien close to the France-Belgium border. He had only gone a few yards when a six inch, high explosive canon shell burst. Lieutenant Helmer was killed in action instantly. He is remembered on the Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial Belgium. -
Photo of In Flanders Fields
Dr. McCrae records Lt. Helmer's last entry in his diary, Saturday May 2nd... "It has quieted a bit,I shall try to get a good sleep..." -
Photo of Sympathy With Helmer
Toronto Star clipping 1915 May 5. -
Memorial Stairs
Memorial stair, Royal Military College, Kingston, On -
Memorial
Memorial arch, Royal Military College, Kingston, On -
Memorial Doll
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Panels
Inscription on the Menin Gate - August 2012 … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Memorial
Banner commemorating Alexis Helmer at Lisgar Collegiate Institute where he went to high school (Called Ottawa Collegiate Institute at the time) . Banner will go up prior to each Remembrance Day and come down a week later. Designed by Dave O'Malley.
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant Alexis Hannum Helmer
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant Alexis Hannum Helmer
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant Alexis Hannum Helmer
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant Alexis Hannum Helmer
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant Alexis Hannum Helmer
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant Alexis Hannum Helmer
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant Alexis Hannum Helmer
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant Alexis Hannum Helmer
Digital gallery of
Lieutenant Alexis Hannum Helmer
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 18 of the First World War Book of Remembrance.
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MENIN GATE (YPRES) MEMORIAL Belgium
The Menin Gate Memorial is situated at the eastern side of the town of Ypres (now Ieper) in the Province of West Flanders, on the road to Menin and Courtrai. It bears the names of 55,000 men who were lost without trace during the defence of the Ypres Salient in the First World War. Designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and erected by the Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission, it consists of a Hall of Memory", 36.6 metres long by 20.1 metres wide. In the centre are broad staircases leading to the ramparts which overlook the moat, and to pillared loggias which run the whole length of the structure. On the inner walls of the Hall, on the side of the staircases and on the walls of the loggias, panels of Portland stone bear the names of the dead, inscribed by regiment and corps. Carved in stone above the central arch are the words:
TO THE ARMIES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE WHO STOOD HERE FROM 1914 TO 1918 AND TO THOSE OF THEIR DEAD WHO HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVE.
Over the two staircases leading from the main Hall is the inscription:
HERE ARE RECORDED NAMES OF OFFICERS AND MEN WHO FELL IN YPRES SALIENT BUT TO WHOM THE FORTUNE OF WAR DENIED THE KNOWN AND HONOURED BURIAL GIVEN TO THEIR COMRADES IN DEATH.
The dead are remembered to this day in a simple ceremony that takes place every evening at 8:00 p.m. All traffic through the gateway in either direction is halted, and two buglers (on special occasions four) move to the centre of the Hall and sound the Last Post. Two silver trumpets for use in the ceremony are a gift to the Ypres Last Post Committee by an officer of the Royal Canadian Artillery, who served with the 10th Battery, of St. Catharines, Ontario, in Ypres in April 1915."
For more information, visit Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
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