45^th Season History:  Harvey Jackson Memorial Park

Harvey Jackson Memorial Park was donated to the community by the Jackson Family as a memorial to their son, who was killed during the Great War.  An archway, two gates, and a WWI machine gun (stolen in the eighties) were erected at the entrance to the park in June of 1926.  Kendal ball players and fans have been entering the park through this monument ever since.

James Harvey Jackson was born June 9^th, 1894, a year before the birth of baseball legend Babe Ruth.  The same year the New York Giants defeated the Baltimore Orioles to win the Temple Cup, the American League and World Series had not yet been conceived.

Jackson was the son of farmers Abraham and Mary Ellen Jackson.  For most of his life he went by the name Harvey and hence it is this name that we drive through upon entering our park.  His youth was spent on the family farm in Kendal where he attended Kendal Public School.  Jackson was relatively well educated for this era; he graduated from Port Hope High School and then received a B.A. in Math and Physics at Victoria College, which had recently become part of the University of Toronto.  On May 1^st, 1916, Harvey enlisted in 67^th University of Toronto Battery, Canadian Field Artillery and was drafted over seas the next month. 

Jackson started off his service as a Gunner and was assigned to the 18^th Battery C.F.A., in France.  He served with the 18^th in the battles of the Somme, Ameins, Arras, Drocourt-Queant, and Cambrai.  In April of 1917, Jackson manned his gun in Canada’s proudest hour during the Battle of Vimy Ridge.  At Vimy, for the first time all four divisions of the Canadian Corps fought together as a cohesive national unit and captured the ridge.  On July 6^th, 1917 he was wounded at Bois de Rollencourt.  He returned to serve in the battle of Passchendaele, made famous by the recent motion picture of the same name.  In June of 1918, Jackson was promoted to Corporal.  He was recommended for a Military Metal for carrying a wounded comrade to safety while under fire near Buissy, on September 27^th, 1918. He witnessed one of the strangest battles of the war, the Battle of Iwuy.  Jackson would have seen the last charge of the Canadian Mounted Cavalry and an attack led by German tanks, the only time tanks attacked Canadian Forces in WWI. 

On October 18^th, 1918, Jackson was killed at the young age of 24, while in action after the battle of Iwuy.  He was killed instantly by shrapnel from an exploding shell while manning his gun.  He is buried in Naves, a small community about 300km south of Paris.

After years of driving through an archway dedicated to an unknown local soldier, you now know that the arch is a memorial to a Canadian hero.  Jackson’s life is an inspiring story of a young man who gave his life to protect Canadian values, rights, and freedoms.  So the next time you arrive at the Harvey Jackson Memorial Park, take a second as you pass through the gates to think of James Harvey Jackson and the many other brave men who gave their lives to make our lives better.

"Baseball Day in Kendal" will be held on Saturday June 13, 2015  to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Kendal Eagles. There will be an Alumni Game at 12:30pm and a Eagles game at 2:30pm. We are going to be organizing baseball games in all 4 of our divisions through-out the day to display the talent of our "future" Eagles to the community. All proceeds raised will being going towards the continued development of the Kendal Royals Baseball Organization. We hope to see you out there!