Deseronto Archives

On this day in 1916, Guy Reginald Stratton was killed at the Battle of Mount Sorrel near Ypres in Belgium. He was a member of the 2nd Canadian Divisional Ammunition Column. He was seventeen years old and had been at the front line for seventeen days.

Guy’s father, Walter C. Stratton was a former member of the Town Council of Deseronto. The Council minutes of July 18th, 1916 noted that:

The Reeve said he supposed all the members of the Council had heard of the death on the battle field of Guy Stratton, a son of ex-councillor Walter C. Stratton. He was a resident of Deseronto up to the time of his enlistment, and the whole community, while deeply lamenting the untimely fate of the gallant boy feel proud of the fact that he died a noble death, bravely fighting for his King and Country. He moved seconded by Councillor Fox, that his Worship the Mayor and the Town Clerk, be hereby Appointed a Committee to prepare a letter of condolence to the bereaved parents and that the Mayor and Clerk do sign the said letter on behalf of the Council, and that the seal of the corporation be affixed thereto. Carried.

Stratton was buried at Bedford House Cemetery, south of Ypres, but his grave is not marked. He is commemorated on the Menin Gate memorial and in Deseronto.