Alexander Roderick Pye signature

Alexander Roderick Pye was conscripted under the Military Service Act in Toronto on this day in 1917. He was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, the son of John Pye and Mary (née Stewart) on April 30th, 1889. When he was called up he was working as a bank clerk at the Bank of Montreal in Deseronto.

Bank of Montreal (now Deseronto Town Hall)

He gave his next of kin as his sister, Effie Pye, of Herne Bay, Kent, England. Pye had previously served for three years as a corporal in the 13th Royal Regiment. He was five feet five and a half inches tall, with a dark complexion, dark brown eyes and black hair. He joined the 69th Overseas Battery with the regimental number 340350. His service record shows that he arrived in Scotland on the SS Lapland on February 24th, 1918. He went overseas to join the Canadian Field Artillery in France on October 27th, 1918. He left England to return to Canada on March 19th, 1919 and was demobilized in Toronto on March 30th.

Alexander married Sophie May Jolley in Hamilton on July 3rd, 1923. He died on August 28th, 1958.