The University of Winnipeg Archives’ latest exhibition is To Go Forward with a Man Like Lovatt: Remembering a Student’s Sacrifice. The exhibit features Private Charles Wesley Lovatt, a student at Wesley College who interrupted his studies to enlist in the Canadian Army Medical Corps and served in the First World War as a stretcher-bearer with the 12th Canadian Field Ambulance.
Lovatt’s story of service and sacrifice is told through a diary he started the day he enlisted and ceased entries two days before he died in the Battle of Passchendaele on October 29, 1917. The diary and other records documenting his life were lovingly retained by family members over the years and have recently been donated to the UWinnipeg Archives as the Lovatt Family fonds in an act of enduring remembrance.
Private Lovatt
“The diary of Charles Wesley Lovatt documents his war experience from the very beginning of enlistment and training, to travel overseas and conflict, to his unfortunate end as a casualty of war,” said Brett Lougheed, University Archivist and Digital Curator. “His diary provides insights into the mindset of a young soldier every step along the way. The breadth and scope of such a document is exceptionally rare. These records will provide an invaluable contribution to the study of the First World War and the impacts of the conflict on the people involved. We are honoured to accept these records from the Lovatt family that have been lovingly curated and preserved over time, and to continue to honour Charlie’s memory by continuing in the family’s act of his remembrance.”
Private Lovatt’s diary and other records featured in the exhibition not only illustrate his life, but also form a record of the wartime experience at Wesley College, which was one of the founding colleges of The University of Winnipeg. Private Lovatt fought in the same battle as Cpl. William Benjamin Cunningham, who was recently identified as the unknown soldier buried in Belgium. Both men were from Hayfield, Manitoba and they both died in the Battle of Passchendaele just two days apart from one another.
The exhibition will open with a reception in the Archives reading room November 7 at 12:30 p.m. It will include a short film about Private Lovatt, which was produced by his family. The exhibit will run until December 20.
