Wilfred Lee Badgley signature

Wilfred Lee Badgley, a tinsmith, signed up in Toronto on this day in 1917. He was born in Deseronto on July 12th, 1898, the son of Edward Badgley and Eva (née Joyce). By 1905, when Wilfred’s sister Hilda was born, the family had moved to Oshawa. They were living in Drew Street, Oshawa, when Wilfred enlisted.

Badgley joined the 71st Battery of the Canadian Field Artillery with the regimental number 342159. He was five feet six inches tall, with a fair complexion, blue eyes and fair hair. His service record shows that he arrived in England on December 17th, 1917 on the SS Megantic. spent three weeks in hospital in Aldershot, England suffering from mumps in March 1918. He went to France in April 1918 and was posted to the 13th Brigade of the Canadian Field Artillery in October 1918. In December he was admitted to hospital suffering from a fever and he spent a further three weeks in Stourbridge Military Hospital in December 1918 and January 1919 with myalgia.

Wilfred Lee Badgley arrived in Halifax on March 22nd 1919 on the SS Cretic. He was demobilized in Toronto on March 26th, 1919. He married Marguerite Edith Hallett on April 15th, 1920 in Oshawa. Badgley died in Gravenhurst on October 15th, 1939 and was buried in Oshawa Union Cemetery.