Deseronto Archives

On this day in 1918 Arthur Joseph Marlow was conscripted into the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Camp Barriefield, Kingston. He stated that he was born in Deseronto on June 24th, 1894. There is no record of his birth in the Deseronto registrations for that year, although there was a birth of a Gertrude Marlow in Deseronto in 1897. Her parents were Joseph Marlow and Elenora (née Furnier), and it is probable that these were Arthur’s parents, as there is a record of baptism in Loyalist Township, Lennox and Addington for Arthur, son of Joseph and Aldore on January 20th, 1895. An Eldora and a Gerty Marlow died in Deseronto in 1898, while Joseph Marlow died in the town in 1902. They all had tuberculosis.

When he was drafted, Arthur was living in Glenburnie, Ontario, where he was working as a farmer. He gave his next of kin as his friend, George Compton. Marlow was described as five feet six inches tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair. He enlisted with the 1st Depot Battalion of the Eastern Ontario Regiment, with the regimental number 3059779. His service record shows that he arrived in England on July 22nd, 1918 on the SS Tunisian. He served with the 6th Reserve Battalion in England and returned to Canada on the SS Carmania in July 1919. He was demobilized in Kingston on July 15th.