William Edmund Sterling signature

On this day in 1916, William Edmund Sterling signed up in Ottawa. He was born in Deseronto on May 19th, 1894, the son of Irvine Sterling and Phoebe (née Thompson). He was a watchmaker when he enlisted.

Sterling’s regimental number was 311872. He was described as five feet eight inches tall, with a fair complexion, blue eyes and fair hair. His service record shows that he arrived in England on the SS Olympic on September 25th, 1916 and was transferred to France to join the 6th Brigade of the Canadian Field Artillery on March 18th, 1917. On May 8th he was gassed and was moved back to England to recover. He was discharged from hospital in November and went back to France to join the 5th Brigade in April 1918. He was wounded again on September 7th by a mustard gas shell and sent back to England. On December 21st he left England, arriving back in Halifax on board the SS Carmania.

Sterling was demobilized in Ottawa on January 24th, 1919 and married Alice Annetta Story in Ottawa on May 19th, 1919. He died of a cerebral haemorrhage (which was deemed to be a result of his war service) on April 18, 1941 in Windsor, Ontario. He was buried in the cemetery at South March, Ottawa.