James Gerald Embury signature

On this day in 1916, James Gerald Embury, a clerk, signed up in Peterborough. He was born in Deseronto on October 28th, 1898, the son of Thomas Embury and Nora (née Meagher).

Embury joined the Canadian Field Artillery with the regimental number 320877. He was described as having a dark complexion, dark grey eyes and dark brown hair. His service record shows that he spent a week in hospital in Petawawa suffering from syncope before he left Canada for England in September 1916. He joined the 1st Brigade of the Canadian Field Artillery in France on March 18th, 1917. On April 10th he was admitted to hospital with appendicitis, rejoining his unit on June 8th. On September 29th, 1917 he reported sick after having been injured by poison gas at Lens on the 19th and he spent another month in hospital in England, before being transferred to a reserve brigade. He went overseas again in March 1918, where he served until February 1919, when he was again hospitalized, this time with impetigo.

James left England on July 5th, 1919 and was demobilized in Kingston on July 16th. Embury departed Canada for Rochester, New York on March 21st, 1924. He married Dolores Reulbach in Rochester in 1930 and by 1940 was living in Hempstead, New York, with Dolores and one son. A note on his service file records that he died on June 3rd, 1957.