Deseronto Archives

George Brant signed up in Deseronto on this day in 1916. He stated that he was born in Deseronto in 1897, the son of Lizzie Brant.

George joined the 155th Battalion with the regimental number 636211. He was five feet four inches tall, with a dark complexion, blue eyes and black hair. His service record shows that he served for six months and then went absent without leave in May, being struck off as a deserter on June 8th. He was handed over to the civil authorities and imprisoned for nine months. On December 8th, 1916 he signed up again, this time in Kingston, joining the 207th Battalion with a new number: 246784. Three days after enlisting, he signed a form confessing that he had deserted.

Form of Confession of Desertion

I, George Brant, do hereby confess that I am No.___________ of the 155th Battalion, C.E.F.?  and that I deserted from that Corps on about May 1916.

Signed this 11th day of December 1916.

Brant arrived in England on September 15th, 1917 and joined the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry in France on December 7th, 1917.

George Brant was wounded in the left leg at the Battle of the Canal du Nord and was sent to England to recover. He rejoined his unit in France on October 22nd. He was demobilized in Kingston on March 19th, 1919.

Please comment if you can tell us more about what happened to George after the war.