Plug Street

Plug Street was declared a memorial on July 31, 2009, to Islanders that served in the Ypres Salient or the area of Ploegsteert, Belgium, commonly referred to by soldiers as Plug Street during the First World War. It is believed that Plug Street was named circa 1919/1920.

Retired Colonel J. D. Murray, one of the people behind the memorial, asserted that Plug Street was named for Ploegsteert in Belgium. Canadians and English-speaking soldiers stationed near Ploegsteert during the Great War could not pronounce the word and called it Plug Street. Some of those soldiers returned home to Malpeque and it is believed that Corporal George Ellwin Champion named the road. It was dedicated to all Islanders who served in the First World War, not just those killed in action.

Colonel Murray was a Canadian Forces Veteran of several peacekeeping missions in the Middle East was Chair of the Commemoration Committee at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 9 in Kensington, Prince Edward Island. He convinced the provincial government to rededicate the provincial highway, Route 2, as Veterans Memorial Highway with accompanying memorial signage.

On 3 August 2014, a Plug Street memorial – draped in a large Union Jack flag – was officially unveiled at a small ceremony attended by a variety of government officials and dignitaries. The true memorial remains the road itself, but the site is now marked by a street sign featuring a red poppy and an accompanying granite memorial faced with Island stone.

Prince Edward Islanders at the Front:

1st Contingent

Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians)
Lieutenant L. H., Beer,
Private John E., Clarkin

1st Divisional Signal Company
Corporal Ernest G. Weeks
Corporal Glen Norton
Private John F. Norton
Private George W. Gardner
Private Herbert Ross Large
Private Vernon H. McLeod
Private Hugh Ronald Stewart
Private Harry H. Whitlock

Divisional Engineers
Major Alexander MacPhail
Sapper Stephen F. Robinson
Sapper John M. McPherson
Sapper Jeffery B. McPhail

2nd Infantry Brigade, 7th Battalion
Lance Corporal Joseph Cook
Private Charles S. Beaton
Private John Alex Beaton
Private John Eldon Aldous
Private Donald F. Campbell
Private William H. Turner
Corporal Ambrose Cosgrove
Private High McDonald
Private Walter Ronahan
Private Daniel R. McQueen
Private William Alec McQueen
Private Peter A. Hughes
Private Norman McKenzie

11th Battalion
Private Harry Riley
Private Spencer Stuart
Private Chas. Leland Coffin
Private Gamaliel Gillis
Private Leroy Bell Kielly

12th Battalion
Lieutenant Frederick B. MacRae
Capt A. R. B. Duck
Private F. Alexander
Private Harold Beairsto
Private Thomas Burns
Private Arthur Collett
Private Arthur Corney
Private Parker H. Crockett
Private William C. Crosby
Private C. Delaney
Private Joseph DesRoche
Private Robert H. Duvar
Private Charles Duffy
Private Francis Gaudet
Private Harold Gillis
Private Louis L. Jenkins
Corporal James L. Marshall
Private Warren Myers
Private Chas Henry McKenzie
Private John McLaren
Private Bruce McLellan
Private E. Chester Robertson
Private David M. Robinson
Private Joseph J. Simons
Private Wylie Sudsbury
Private James Sudsbury

Sunset over Malpeque Bay was originally written by J. Harold Burns in the trenches of Flanders in 1917:

Oh, `tis long since I have wandered from the place of many boats,
Oh, `tis many years since I have been away,
And my heart is hot with longing,
And my eyes with tears are dim,
Just to see the sun go down o'er Malpeque Bay.
Oh, the redness!
Oh, the calmness!
Oh, the beauty of the hour!
Curtain Island dressed in golden-bright array.
Still I see the old Sir Louis fast upon the middle-ground,
When the sun sank gently down on Malpeque Bay.
I remember Captain Willie, Captain Levi, Captain Roach,
Tidy's houses perched crazily upon the quay,
I remember the old "Corporal" with the smell of tar and ropes,
And the evening sun upon a glassy bay.
Oh, there was a wildness in the white caps,
There was madness in the foam,
There was temper in the tempest all the day,
When the oyster boats beat gamely in against a gathering storm.
Oh, I've had my share of happiness,
of worldly goods - a wealth,
Success has crowned my efforts all the way,
But I'd give it all, and welcome,
Just to be back home tonight,
To watch the sun set over Malpeque Bay.

[street sign/plaque de rue]

Rue Plug Street

[memorial/monument]

(needs further research/recherche incomplète)