veterans

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May 10, 2017

100 years ago: Philip Maracle presumed dead

Posted by Amanda Hill under 1910s, veterans, war dead, World War I
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On this day in 1917, Philip Maracle was reported wounded and missing and was later assumed to have died in the trenches west of La Coulotte (southwest of Lens), France. The war diary kept by the 44th Battalion for May 10th describes the situation he faced.

44th Battalion war diary entry for May 10th 1917, courtesy Library and Archives Canada

LA COULOTTE 10/5 Enemy shelled front and support areas during day and made extensive use of rifle grenades and gas shells. In spite of this our advanced posts and captured trenches known as the TRIANGLE were retained. Casualties 4 O.R. [Other Ranks] Killed. 44 O.R. Wounded

Maracle’s body was never found. He is commemorated on the memorial at Vimy and in Deseronto.

May 8, 2017

100 years ago: Edmund Vincent McNeill died

Posted by Amanda Hill under 1910s, veterans, war dead, World War I
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On this day in 1917, Edmund Vincent McNeill was killed in action in the trenches west of Fresnoy in France. German forces retook the village of Fresnoy on May 8th during the Battle of Arras. The war diary of the 19th Battalion describes the attack and the unit’s withdrawal (page 1, page 2, page 3). On the day following the attack, the men of the four companies of the 19th Battalion were re-formed into two companies.

McNeill’s body was never found. He is commemorated on the Vimy memorial and in Deseronto.

May 3, 2017

100 years ago: William Pinn died

Posted by Amanda Hill under 1910s, veterans, war dead, World War I
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William Pinn was killed in the same attack on Fresnoy as Richard Brant.

War Graves Registers: Circumstances of Death, courtesy of Library and Archives Canada

As was the case with Richard Brant, William’s body was not recovered after the attack. He is commemorated at Vimy and on Deseronto’s war memorial (as William Penn).

May 3, 2017

100 years ago: Richard Brant died

Posted by Amanda Hill under 1910s, veterans, war dead, World War I
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Richard Brant was killed on this day in 1917 at the Third Battle of the Scarpe in France. The extract below from the 2nd Battalion’s war diary shows the orders issued to the Battalion on May 1st, planning the attack on the village of Fresnoy in which Brant died.

Extract from war diary of the 2nd Battalion: plan of attack at Fresnoy, courtesy of Library and Archives Canada

Brant’s body was not recovered after the attack. He is commemorated at Vimy and on Deseronto’s war memorial.

April 30, 2017

100 years ago: Keith Sharpe enlisted

Posted by Amanda Hill under 1910s, veterans, World War I
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Keith Sharpe enlisted in Toronto on this day in 1917. He was born in Deseronto on September 12th, 1899, the son of Philip Sharpe and Sarah (née Smith). When he joined up (claiming to have been born in 1898), he was living with his parents at 334 Adelaide Street, Toronto. His four elder brothers, Ernest, Alfred Nelson and Harry and James Wilmont had already enlisted.

Keith joined the Canadian Mounted Rifle’s Depot Regiment with the regimental number 226925. He was described as five feet four inches tall, with a medium complexion, grey eyes and fair hair. His service record shows that he left Canada on the SS Scandinavian on October 22nd, 1917. He joined the Fort Garry Horse on April 11th, 1918 in France. In February 1919 he was injured when the little finger of his left hand was crushed in a pair of clippers. An x-ray on his file shows the damaged bone at the end of the finger.

Sharpe left Liverpool on the troopship Caronia on August 9th and was demobilized on August 19th, 1919 in Toronto. He married Maude Mary Shaw (née Evans), a widow, in Napanee on March 4th, 1921. Keith died in April 1978 and was buried in the Deseronto cemetery, in plot 137A.

April 30, 2017

100 years ago: Daniel Webster Kingsbury enlisted

Posted by Amanda Hill under 1910s, veterans, World War I
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On this day in 1917 Daniel Webster Kingsbury signed up in Toronto. On his attestation paper he stated that he was born in Campbellford on May 23rd, 1898. In 1901 his parents gave his year of birth as 1899; they were living in the village of Hastings in Northumberland County at that time. His parents were Daniel Kingsbury and Mary (née Logan). When he enlisted, Daniel was living in Deseronto.

Webster joined the Canadian Mounted Rifles with the regimental number 226924. He was five feet nine and three quarter inches tall, with a medium complexion, blue grey eyes and light brown hair. His service record shows that he was discharged as being medically unfit due to tuberculosis and being under age on November 30th, 1917. The report of a medical board at Camp Borden in August 2917 noted that he was five feet eleven and a half inches tall and weighed 107 pounds: “poorly nourished”.

Daniel married Christina King Dale, a nurse, on August 23rd, 1920 in Brighton, Ontario.

April 12, 2017

100 years ago: George Mark Maracle died

Posted by Amanda Hill under 1910s, veterans, war dead, World War I
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George Mark Maracle (who enlisted under the name Hill) was killed on this day in 1917 in the trenches near Bois de la Ville during the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

His body was not recovered. He is remembered on the Vimy memorial and in Deseronto. A letter of condolence was sent to his mother, Annie Maracle, in Point Anne on June 14th, 1917.

April 10, 2017

100 year ago: Orval Johns enlisted

Posted by Amanda Hill under 1910s, veterans, World War I
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Orval Johns enlisted in Toronto on this day in 1917. He stated that he was born in Deseronto on June 6th, 1894 and he named his mother, Sarah Johns, as his next of kin. He was living at 48 Duncan Street in Toronto when he signed up and was working as a sawyer. Charles and Sarah John (note different spelling of the surname) were living in Tyendinaga in 1901 and in Prince Edward County in 1911 and 1921. They were both Mohawks: Sarah’s maiden name was Smart.

Johns had originally signed up on April 10th, 1916 with the 216th (Bantams) Battalion (regimental number 273404), but was discharged as medically unfit on June 27th, due to having flat feet. In 1917 he enlisted again, this time joining the Canadian Forestry Corps. He was five feet tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair. His service record shows that he arrived in Liverpool on May 14th, 1917. He crossed the Channel to France on June 17th and served there until 1919. Orval returned to Canada on the RMS Empress of Britain in March 1919. He was demobilized on April 1st, 1919 in Toronto.

April 10, 2017