William Herbert Gamble signature

On this day in 1916, William Herbert Gamble, an automobile mechanic, signed up in Napanee. He was born in Deseronto on November 15th, 1894, the son of William Gamble and Mary Ann (née Gowan). He married Blanche Howie in Deseronto on August 27th, 1915.

Gamble joined the 80th Battalion with a regimental number of 220408. He was five feet ten and a half inches tall, with a fair complexion, brown eyes and brown hair. His service record shows that he arrived in England on the SS Baltic on May 29th, 1916. He was transferred to the 72nd Battalion, which he joined in France in August.

In November 1916 Herbert received a serious shrapnel injury to his right hand. He was treated in various hospitals in England and discharged on April 27th, 1917, with a remaining weakness in his hand. He then served with various Canadian Forestry Corps units in England until departing on the RMS Celtic on May 7th, 1919. He was demobilized in Toronto on May 17th.

Gamble got married again in 1928 to Edith Gutteridge.