Private Stephen Toney—The 85th Battalion's Mi'kmaq Sniper

Stephen Toney was of Mi’kmaq ancestry, “born in a boat two miles off Little Harbour, [Pictou County, Nova Scotia,] while his parents”—Noel and Sarah Toney—“were on a voyage from Merigomish to Indian Cove.” There is considerable discussion as to Stephen’s birthdate. According to his attestation papers, he was born on July 26, 1877. The 1881 Canadian census, however, stated that he was five years old at the time its data was collected (April 1881), suggesting that he was born in 1875 or 1876. A medical document in his service file, completed prior to his discharge, claims that Stephen was born in 1872, but no available sources support this assertion.

Pte. Stephen Toney, "D" Company, 193rd Battalion photo

On March 29, 1916, Stephen enlisted with the 193rd Battalion at Pictou, NS. At the the time, he was married with at least one son, Noel, born in April 1902. Stephen listed his occupation as “cooper”—a common trade among Mi’kmaq men—and claimed to be 38 years and nine months of age at the time. A contemporary source later claimed that 12 Pictou County Mi’kmaq men served overseas with various Canadian military units during the First World War.

One of four infantry battalions that formed the Nova Scotia Highland Brigade, the 193rd recruited its personnel across northern Nova Scotia. In late May, the Brigade’s soldiers gathered at Camp Aldershot, near Kentville, NS, where they spent the summer months in training. On October 12, 1916, the four battalions departed for England aboard SS Olympic. Shortly after arriving overseas, two Brigade units—the 193rd and 219th Battalions—were dissolved and their personnel dispersed to other units.

Stephen was part of a draft of 193rd soldiers assigned to the 42nd Battalion (Royal Highlanders of Canada) on December 6, 1916. While he immediately proceeded to France, he served for a brief period with the 3rd Entrenching Battalion before reporting to the 42nd’s camp on January 2, 1917. One month later, the 85th Battalion (Nova Scotia Highlanders)—the Highland Brigade’s senior unit—crossed the English Channel to France and commenced service in the forward area with the 4th Division. On February 24, 1917, Stephen received a transfer to the 85th and joined its ranks early the following month.

During Stephen’s time in training, officers recognized his prowess with a rifle. During Stephen’s time in training, officers recognized his prowess with a rifle. He was blessed with exceptional eyesight. One story passed down over the years claims that during sailboat races on the Bras d’Or Lakes, Stephen could read from an impressive distance the names painted on their hulls. As a result, he was assigned to sniper duty with the 85th.

Private Charles R. Murray, a native of New Glasgow, NS, described his prowess in a letter home: “Stephen has been with us about three months and is a crack shot. Consequently he was one of the snipers and did good work on the day of the big drive [the Canadian Corps’ attack on Vimy Ridge]. In mud to his hips, he calmly shot a machine gunner and one… sniper.”

On another occasion, Stephen’s Company was enduring fierce machine gun fire from a position it could not locate. Under cover of darkness, he “went out into No Man’s Land…, concealed himself in a shell hole, his body pretty well covered with snow[,] and laid low. At daylight he found… and disposed of the [machine gun] nest.”

A later local news item, written following his return to Nova Scotia, described an instance in which Stephen was “out in a shell hole for six days with a barrage from both sides going on all above and about him, and he had only four hard tack biscuits to eat all that time.” On another occasion, Toney “crawl[ed] through the German wire, taking one and a half hours to do it… [and returned with] four rifles[,] leaving four dead Germans.”

Stephen logged more than three months’ service in the line without incident. On the night of June 12, 1917, the 85th relieved the 102nd Battalion in trenches near Avion, France. Its daily war diary entry described an incident that occurred as its soldiers entered the line: “During the relief [, the] enemy counter-attacked… and was driven off by our artillery and machine gun fire. The enemy used gas on our front and inflicted casualties on B and D Companies.”

Stephen was one of the soldiers exposed to poison gas during the attack. Evacuated for treatment, he was admitted to No. 20 General Hospital, Camiers, France, on June 19. Four days later, he was invalided to England and transported to North Evington Military Hospital, Leicester. Following his transfer to the Canadian Convalescent Hospital, Woodcote Park, Epsom, on July 7, medical staff performed a thorough physical examination and reported: “Chest clear. Heart normal. Appetite good. Temperature normal. Feels well.”

One week later, Stephen had recovered sufficiently to receive a 10-day pass. He remained under medical care until mid-September, when he reported to the 17th Reserve Battalion (Nova Scotia). Around that time, Stephen wrote to a Pictou County acquaintance, describing his circumstances in upbeat terms: “I am feeling ‘jake’ once more after a few weeks in the hospital. The gas does not bother me very much now and I hope to be back [in France] in a few days.”

While eager to return to the trenches, Stephen spent another two months in England before rejoining the 85th’s ranks in late November 1917. Throughout the winter months, he served a regular rotation in the line. As time passed, however, health issues connected to his gas exposure surfaced. On February 15, 1918, he reported to No. 11 Field Ambulance for treatment of “chronic bronchitis.” Transported by ambulance train to No. 7 Canadian General Hospital, Étaples, two days later, Stephen was invalided to England for a second time early the following month.

On March 6, Stephen was admitted to Birmingham War Hospital, Rednal, Birmingham, where he was diagnosed with “debility.” At month’s end, he received a transfer to the Epsom convalescent facility and was discharged from care on April 4. As medical authorities determined that there was “no disability,” Stephen was classified as “Fit D1”—fit for duty upon completion of remedial training. After completing a 12-day pass, he reported to the 2nd Canadian Corps Depot, Bramshott.

In early June, Stephen was assigned to the 17th Reserve Battalion, where he completed training in “rapid wiring” before month’s end.  His anticipated return to France, however, proved to be overly optimistic. In early July, Stephen was transferred to the Nova Scotia Regimental Depot, Bramshott, and at mid-month reported to Buxton, “pending embarkation to Canada for disposal.”

On September 22, Stephen departed for home and was posted to the Casualty Company, Military District No. 6, Halifax, upon arrival. Subsequent medical documents shed light on the reasons for his return. Following his transfer to the Hospital Section (Camp Hill) on November 14, medical staff described his health issues as “myalgia and loss of vision.” A “Case History Sheet” in his service file provided further details:

“Patient is 46 years of age and appears to be even older than that. He was gassed a year ago in June and since that [time] his eyes have troubled him and excessive secretion of tears occurs. No cough at present. Heart and lungs are normal. Pulse rate 66. Arteries are not widely hardened for age.”

A “Medical History of An Invalid” report, dated December 4, 1918, listed Stephen’s date of birth as July 26, 1872, and elaborated on his health issues. At the time, he was experiencing “pain in both shoulders, especially at posterior parts, [symptoms that became] worse in wet weather.” His left shoulder “causes more pain on movement than [the] right and raising the arm causes much pain.”

While Stephen reported “catching a cold” easily, he was not suffering from a cough at the time of the examination. The June 1917 gassing, however, “affect[ed his] eyes chiefly so that he was obliged to give up his sniping duties.” As the medical report concluded that Stephen’s disability was “permanent,” he was placed in Category E—“medically unfit for service.”

On December 25, 1918, Pte. Stephen Toney was formally discharged from military service and rejoined his wife Annie, who had taken up residence at Upper Musquodoboit, NS, during his absence. At some point following his homecoming, Stephen travelled to New Glasgow, NS, where Mayor H. G. Grant and a group of town representatives presented three recently returned Pictou County Mi’kmaq “soldier boys”—Stephen, Noel Francis and Teddy Knockwood—with a Scroll of Honour.

A contemporary news item about the ceremony referred to Stephen as a “redoubtable sniper” who possessed “great skill as a lead shot,” and described him as “stolid, keen [and] strong-faced…, very swarthy, and with all his features strongly marked, and with a very dark, swarthy face…, [a] determined mouth and chin, and with a great development above the eyebrows, showing his great and keen powers of observation.”

According to the 1921 Canadian census, Stephen and Annie Toney were residing on a Mi’kmaq reserve at Musquodoboit, Halifax County, their dwelling’s only occupants. Stephen’s occupation at the time was listed as “trapper.” It also appears that on occasion he also spent time in Pictou County. Helen MacLeod Haines, a present-day resident of Abercrombie, Pictou County, recalls that he had a small camp in woods near her family home at Six Mile Brook.

While residing there, Stephen frequently visited Helen’s parents, Neil Scott and Christie Jane (MacDonald) MacLeod, whose home was nearby. He would bring along his violin and play a few tunes during visits. Stephen also played cribbage with Helen’s mother, who provided him with a cup of tea and biscuit. At that time, Helen recalls that he was making cane seats for chairs.

The connection to the Six Mile Brook MacLeod family was no coincidence. Neil Scott’s brother—Helen’s uncle—Lieutenant John Owen MacLeod, enlisted with the 85th Battalion on October 5, 1915, and was later transferred to the 193rd, where Stephen made his acquaintance. Lt. MacLeod joined the 85th in France in early June 1918, by which time Stephen had been invalided to England. Tragically, Lt. MacLeod was killed in action at the Battle of the Scarpe on September 2, 1918.

After returning to Nova Scotia, Stephen assisted Lt. MacLeod’s widowed mother, Mrs. Hugh (Annie) MacLeod, with chores on her Six Mile Brook farm, as his camp was located along the brook not far from the property. Stephen also worked for a time at a local sawmill.

According to a note on his service medal card. Stephen had relocated to Mount Stewart, PEI, sometime before December 1927. In fact, provincial marriage records available at the Public Archives of Prince Edward Island list the marriage of Stephen Toney, widower, to Mrs. Rose Mitchell, a 47-year-old widow, on October 11, 1926.

At the time of the ceremony, Stephen was 49 years old, which corresponds with the 1877 birth year listed in his service file. The record gives his parents as Noel Toney, Pictou, and Jannette Pane. Stephen’s second wife was born on Lennox Island, PEI, the daughter of Joseph Francis and Susan Louis. Rose was living on the Scotchfort Reservation, PEI, at the time of her marriage.

Stephen Toney died in Fort Augustus, PEI, on August 11, 1943. His provincial death record indicates that he was a widower, living in nearby Mount Stewart. According to the register, Stephen was 62 years old at the time of his passing. He was buried in St. Bonaventure’s Roman Catholic Cemetery, Grand Tracadie, PEI.

Special thanks to Clyde Macdonald, New Glasgow, NS, who shared notes from a June 1, 2022 interview with Helen MacLeod Haines, Abercrombie, NS. Clyde also received information on Stephen Toney through e-mail correspondence with Bill Sinclair. Francis Handrahan, Archivist Assistant, Public Archives of Prince Edward Island, provided Clyde with information on Stephen’s second marriage and death. (This post was last updated on January 28, 2023.)