Stephen Francis Carroll's signature

On this day in 1918 Stephen Francis Carroll, a shipbuilder, was conscripted in Oshawa under the Military Service Act. His birth was registered in Deseronto as being November 21st, 1887, although he said it was November 22nd, 1888 on his draft form. Carroll was the son of Thomas Carroll and Mary Ellen (née Murphy). The family were still in Deseronto in 1901 but had moved to Tay Township, Simcoe County by the time of the 1911 census, when Thomas and Stephen were both working in a sawmill. Carroll gave his home address as Midland in 1918.

Stephen joined the 2nd Depot Battalion of the 2nd Central Ontario Regiment with the regimental number 3317280. He was described as being five feet seven inches tall, with blue eyes, a dark complexion and medium hair. His service record shows that he arrived in England on April 19th, 1918 on the SS Metagama. He was transferred to the Canadian Machine Gun Depot in Seaford on May 25th, 1918 and went to France on November 2nd, 1918, just nine days before the end of the war. He returned to England on May 9th, 1919 and left Liverpool on the SS Belgic on June 23rd.

Carroll arrived in Halifax on July 1st, 1919 and was demobilized in Toronto on July 3rd. He married Louisa Ella Beam in Pembroke, Ontario on September 8th, 1924.