Hill 70

Rocky Mountain Rangers in France

Oct 2, 2019 | 3:11 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Members of the Rocky Mountain Rangers from Prince George and Kamloops are in France, taking part in a celebration at Hill 70. That’s where many Canadians, including Frederick Lee from Kamloops, died during the First World War. A memorial was set up at the site of that battle in honour of those Canadians and more than 30 Rocky Mountain Rangers are there today to set up a special bench in honour of Mr. Lee, who volunteered to fight for Canada in the war which was considered highly unusual because, as a man of Chinese descent, he was not even considered a Canadian.

“There’s about 35 of us from the Rocky Mountain Rangers, both from Bravo Company in Prince George and Alpha Company in Kamloops, and we’re going to act as an honour guard for one of our fallen members from the First World War, Private Frederick Lee of Kamloops,” explains Adam Davey of Bravo Company. “He was one of the first Canadian soldiers of Chinese heritage killed in the First World War. And there’s a new memorial being named after him. It’s the Private Frederick Lee pathway and it’s part of the Battle of Hill 70 Memorial Park.”

There will also be a bench set up at the memorial in his honour.