Royal North-West Mounted Police Sgt. Donald Forbes (Reg. No. 4800) will be immortalized on the National Police and Peace Officers' Memorial at Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Sept. 24, nearly a century after he was killed on duty in the Battlefords.
Forbes was originally from the United Kingdom where he worked as a bookkeeper for a shipping company. Forbes was engaged by the RNWMP on Nov, 23, 1908 at Regina.
Forbes was posted to Battleford where he continued to serve until his death on July 17, 1920. He was often responsible for patrolling from the Battlefords out to Little Pine, Paynton, Maidstone and Waseca on horseback regardless of weather conditions.
Forbes married a woman from Wilkie named Mabel. They had two sons, Donald and Norman, who were four and three years old when their father died.
On the morning of July 17, 1920, Insp. Sweetapple of Fort Battleford tasked Forbes with investigating an illegal still that had been reported by Inland Revenue Officer R.M. Daniels.
Forbes received permission from Sweetapple to ride his own horse to North Battleford.
A Canadian National Railway worker observed Forbes riding near the A. Stanley Jones factory at approximately 7:30 p.m. The worker reported that Forbes was riding slowly at first, but that his mount then broke into a fast run. The worker described Forbes’ horse as becoming startled, which resulted in Forbes being thrown from his mount into a telegraph pole, killing him instantly.
Forbes was buried with full military honours at Battleford.
It is believed that both of Forbes’ sons remained in the Battlefords area and went on to serve in the military during the Second World War.
