Cst John Hallworth Jr. (1870-1909)

Cst Robert George MacIntosh (1882 – 1912)

Witten and researched by retired Sgt. Doug Marianchuk

Cst MacINTOSH had been a member of the Service for approximately three months. On September 4, 1912 he was on duty in Calgary, Alberta. He had been checking boxcars in the area of the Elbow River bridge when at around 9:00pm near by rail workers heard gunshots. When they came over to investigate they found the policeman laying on the ground suffering from a single gunshot to the chest area. Help was summoned and it arrived in the form of two members of the Calgary City Police, Csts BELT and DUNCAN. An ambulance was also called and the member was rushed to hospital but passed away without ever regaining consciousness. Examination revealed that the bullet, a .32 caliber one, had entered the right arm just above the elbow, passed through it and into the chest area. Cst MacINTOSH had his revolver in hand but it was not fired.

An investigation was conducted that involved members of the CPPS, Calgary City Police and Pinkertons Detective Agency. The resulting police investigation determined that, as this area had been hit by thieves in the recent past with several boxcars of alcohol being broken into, that Cst MacINTOSH had attended there hoping to surprise the thieves. This was confirmed by the investigators locating a boxcar, that had been broken into, and several bottles of whisky on the ground. It was believed at the time that Cst MacINTOSH did surprise the thieves, ordered them to halt and was subsequently shot and killed.

Earlier that day Cst MacINTOSH had been showing his fellow members a photo of his wife and three children and had remarked that he wanted to get a picture taken of himself in his dress uniform to send back home. Another significant find of the police investigation was that as he was in a rush to get to work Cst MacINTOSH had forgotten his issue sidearm at home. When he arrived at the Calgary detachment he borrowed a spare revolver. An examination of this revolver showed that it had a broken trigger spring and was incapable of being fired.

After reading the article I conducted a check on the national Canadian Police and Peace Officers Memorial site to see if he was on the memorial. He was not. In order to get him honored on the national memorial some research had to be done to ensure he met the criteria. I first had to try and locate any living relatives. As part of the article indicated he had come from the Strathy area of Scotland I sent an e-mail to the historical society there. A short time later I received an e-mail back from a lady there, Shirley SUTHERLAND, who put me in touch with a David MACKAY. David, as it turns out, is a great nephew of the deceased Cst MacINTOSH. He then e-mailed me and advised that he would check with his mother who may have information on relatives of Robert. Two weeks later I received an e-mail from Christine FELTHAM, a 73 year old lady living in Scotland. She informed me that she was the granddaughter of Robert MacINTOSH. Ms FELTHAM was a wealth of information. She was even able to unearth a photo of her grandfather and even a copy of the photo of his wife and three children that he had been showing to his work mates.

Between Christine and David I was able to put together a short history of Robert. He sailed for Canada sometime in 1911 aboard the SS CANADA, from Liverpool, England. He, and his brother-in-law, arrived in Nova Scotia and eventually made their way to Calgary, Alberta. There Robert found employment with the Canadian Pacific Police and prepared to have his family sail over from Scotland. Shortly afterwards he was murdered. Robert’s brother –in-law then returned to Scotland with Robert’s body and he was subsequently buried in Strathy. His widow, Anna, had opted for the return of his body and not the small pension from the CPR that was her other option. She continued to live in Scotland until her death in 1969.

-Sgt MARIANCHUK

DOB: 1882-03-09

DOD: 1912-09-04 

Cst Anthony Tierney (1893-1922)

On April 8, 1922 at 12:45 a.m., CPR  Cst. Tierney and Cst. Sutton were patrolling the Canadian Pacific rail yard in Moose Jaw, SK.  Both officers came across three suspects committing a break-in to a rail car.  Both officers immediately tried to apprehend the suspects. One of the suspects open fire on Cst. Tierney striking him in the heart.  Cst. Tierney succumbed to his fatal injuries before help could arrive.

A provincial wide man hunt was initiated that involved CPR Police, SK Provincial Police, RNWMP, and multiple other municipal police departments. Subsequent investigation led police to the arrest of Andrew SEMKO for the murder. A hammer, which ended up being a key piece of evidence, was recovered near the box car that was broken into. Residents in Moose Jaw were questioned if anyone recognized the  unique hammer. Witnesses eventually lead police to Andrew SEMKO whom the hammer was believed to have belonged to. Using a police agent, SEMKO was caught coaching his wife to create a false alibi. SEMKO had provided police with a false statement trying to implicant his wife’s lover as being one of the suspects. 

SEMKO was eventually acquitted of the murder of Cst. TIERNEY. SEMKO was later charged with perjury for the false statements provided to investigators. To date, none of the three suspects have been identified.

Cst. Tierney had served many years of police service in Canada. He joined the Royal North West Mounted Police in 1914. In 1917, Cst. Tierney left the RNWMP to serve  overseas with the Flying Air Corps. Cst. Tierney was honourably discharged after being seriously injured during a crash.  Upon returning to Canada, he joined with CPR Police and had 2 years and 1 month of service at the time of his death. He was original born in Prince Edward Island and moved to western Canada after enlisting in the RNWMP.  He was married with three children.

Cst James Urquhart (1885 -1930)

Written and researched by retired Sgt. Doug Marianchuk.

While conducting the research on Robert MacINTOSH I managed to come across a second member of the CPPS who was killed on duty yet not honoured on the national monument. His name was Cst James URQUHART. He was stationed with the Vancouver detachment of the CPPS. James was born on April 19, 1885 and was killed on duty on April 21, 1930. Cst URQUHART was also born in Scotland and had emigrated to Canada for a better life. Prior to emigrating he had served with the Glasgow Police in Scotland, on arrival in Canada he served with the Winnipeg City Police before transferring over to the Canadian Pacific Railway Police. During his time with the CPPS he had been released from duty to serve in the Great War, which he did for five years, and returned a decorated hero.

On the day of his death he was posted at the Columbia St crossing in Vancouver. While he was protecting the crossing Passenger Train #4 pulled out of the station, as it did so Cst URQUHART had stepped back from its path and was struck from behind by a west bound freight train and killed instantly. He had no known next of kin.