Wynn Bagnall

Captain Wynn Bagnall MC (10 February 1890 – 7 March 1931), was a Canadian soldier who distinguished himself in World War I. A recipient of the Military Cross, Bagnall's war record was the inspiration behind a statue in Winnipeg, Canada, by James Earle Fraser, designed to honour the heroism of Canadians who had fought and often died. Bagnall was the model for the statue which was dedicated in December 1923 and 'inspired memory and reverence for lost Canadian soldiers in all the years it has stood'.

On 11 March 1931, Bagnall was buried with full military honours at Cypress Hills Cemetery, Long Island. He was educated as a boarder at Bedford Modern School. After school, in 1906 Bagnall emigrated to Canada to become a rancher in Calgary, returning to England in 1909 and then back to Canada to join the Bank of Montreal as a clerk in July 1910. Shortly after arriving in France, he wrote a letter to his old school to express his initial experience of trench warfare: The citation to his Military Cross read:

After the war, Bagnall returned to the Bank of Montreal.

Bagnall moved to New York City in 1920 to continue his career in finance. In the latter years of his life he was associated with S. W. Straus and the Fred F. French Company describing himself as a financial salesman and accountant.

Bagnall married Adelaide A. Clough in 1926 but they divorced in 1930. He died in New York City, on 7 March 1931, aged 41, and was buried on 11 March 1931 with full military honours at Cypress Hills Cemetery, Long Island. He was survived by his mother, Mrs. George Bagnall of Selsey-On-Sea, Sussex, England, together with two sisters and two brothers. His obituary in The New York Times described him as a Canadian War Hero.