Deseronto Archives

William John Wilson, a schoolteacher, signed up on this day in 1916 in Picton. He was born in Northport, Ontario on November 14th, 1896, the son of Benjamin Franklin Wilson and Henrietta (née Cryan).

Wilson joined the 155th Battalion with the regimental number 636349. He was five feet seven and a half inches tall, with a ruddy complexion, hazel eyes and dark brown hair. He had previously served with the Royal Canadian Dragoons (for 70 days). On January 23rd he was struck off the strength of the battalion, to train as an officer.

In Deseronto on April 10th, 1916 William signed an officer’s declaration paper, becoming a lieutenant in the 155th Battalion. His service record shows that he left for England on October 17th, 1916. In January 1917 Wilson was transferred to the Canadian Forestry Corps, and given the rank of Temporary Captain. He was in France in 1918 and was transferred to the Forestry Corps Depot at Sunningdale in England for duty with the Royal Air Force on August 7th, 1918. He sailed for Canada on May 14th, 1919 and was demobilized on May 26th.

Wilson married Amy Elizabeth Heywood on June 2nd, 1923 at Walkerville, Ontario.

Joseph Laheed Smart signed up in Winnipeg on this day in 1916. He was the second member of his family to join the army – his son (Joseph William Smart) had enlisted on December 8th, 1915. Joseph Laheed Smart was born in Tyendinaga on November 12th, 1871 or 1872, the son of David Smart, a Mohawk, and Jerushia/Sonora [?] (who seems to have been born in the United States, of English ancestry). He married Philomène Picard (née Rauney) in Sudbury, Ontario on June 25th, 1893.

Smart joined the 101st Battalion with the regimental number 700618. He was five feet nine and a half inches tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair. His service record shows that he left Canada on the SS Olympic on June 28th, 1916. He was transferred to the 42nd Battalion, which he joined in France in October 1916.

On April 14th, 1917, Smart received a severe gunshot wound to the left ankle at Vimy and was sent to England for three months to recuperate. In July he was treated in hospital for myalgia. He returned to France in October 1917 but was sent back to England in December as being unfit for further service in France. In January 1918 he was sent back to Canada.

A medical board in Winnipeg examined Smart on February 27th and noted that he was over age and still suffering from myalgia. He was discharged as being medically unfit on March 12th, 1918.

Notes on Joseph Laheed Smart’s file indicate that payments were stopped to his wife because she had married another man. Philomène Smart died of womb cancer on January 5th, 1918. Joseph died in Sudbury on November 30th, 1964.

On this day in 1916, Jacob Maracle enlisted in Dundas, Ontario. He was born in Tyendinaga in late 1891 or early 1892, the son of Moses Maracle and Eliza Ann (née Brant), who were Mohawks.

He joined the 129th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force with the regimental number 784113. He was five feet four and a half inches tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair.

Jacob’s service record shows that he went absent without leave from July 16th, 1916. He was struck off the strength as a deserter on August 17th.

George Brant signed up in Deseronto on this day in 1916. He stated that he was born in Deseronto in 1897, the son of Lizzie Brant.

George joined the 155th Battalion with the regimental number 636211. He was five feet four inches tall, with a dark complexion, blue eyes and black hair. His service record shows that he served for six months and then went absent without leave in May, being struck off as a deserter on June 8th. He was handed over to the civil authorities and imprisoned for nine months. On December 8th, 1916 he signed up again, this time in Kingston, joining the 207th Battalion with a new number: 246784. Three days after enlisting, he signed a form confessing that he had deserted.

Form of Confession of Desertion

I, George Brant, do hereby confess that I am No.___________ of the 155th Battalion, C.E.F.?  and that I deserted from that Corps on about May 1916.

Signed this 11th day of December 1916.

Brant arrived in England on September 15th, 1917 and joined the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry in France on December 7th, 1917.

George Brant was wounded in the left leg at the Battle of the Canal du Nord and was sent to England to recover. He rejoined his unit in France on October 22nd. He was demobilized in Kingston on March 19th, 1919.

Please comment if you can tell us more about what happened to George after the war.

On this day in 1916, Clifford Allan Myles signed up in Toronto. He was born in South Woodslee, Ontario, on May 23rd, 1895, the son of William Myles and Emma (née Brown). The family had moved to Deseronto by 1916, when William was the proprietor of the Deseronto House Hotel on Main Street (where Deseronto Public Library is today).

Myles joined the 92nd Battalion with the regimental number 193455. He had previously served as a corporal in the 46th Regiment. He was described as five feet eight and a half inches tall, with a dark complexion, grey eyes and black hair. His service record shows that he travelled to England on the SS Empress of Britain, arriving on May 29th, 1916. He was transferred to the 42nd Battalion and arrived in France on October 3rd, 1916.

Myles was awarded the Military Medal on March 26th, 1917 and a Bar to this medal on May 26th of the same year, when he was serving as a lance corporal in the 42nd Battalion near Vimy. The citation for the Bar explains the context of this award:

Honours and Awards Citation Cards, Library and Archives Canada (image courtesy of Ancestry.ca)

BAR TO MILITARY MEDAL

On 1st. April 1917 N.B.Neuville St. Vaast during a successful daylight raid this N.C.O. led his party with marked coolness and skill 100 yards along enemy’s front line bombing enemy dugouts with Stoke’s and No.5. Mills and establishing and maintaining a block to cover withdrawal of another party from enemy’s second line. He was granted a Military Medal for outstanding bravery displayed in a previous and equally successful raid on February 13th. 1917, A.F.W. 3121 1-4-17

The unit’s official war diary describes the February 13th (page 1, page 2, page 3) and April 1st (page 1, page 2, page 3) raids in some detail and mention Myles by name.

During 1917 Myles was treated in England for shell shock and he stayed in England for the rest of the war. He was promoted to corporal in June 1918. Myles left Scotland on the SS Saturnia in May 1919 and was demobilized in Kingston on May 22nd.

Clifford married Bertha May Connors on November 1st, 1922 in Colborne, Ontario, when he was working as an electrician. He died on February 4th, 1969.

On this day in 1916, Gerald Clifton King signed up in Ottawa. He was born on September 15th, 1899 in Deseronto, the son of John King and Lily (née Morrison).

King’s regimental number was 541593. He was five feet seven inches tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair.

King’s service record shows that he arrived in England on March 25th, 1916. He was sent to France in November. In May 1917, his true age was discovered (there is a copy of his birth certificate in the file) and he was sent back to England as he was only 17 and too young to be serving overseas. He served in England until March 1918, when he was sent home to Canada. He was discharged as medically unfit in Kingston on July 18th 1918, due to a hernia caused by falling off a horse and a heart condition.

Gerald married Vera Milburn Riddell on October 8th, 1928 in Ottawa, when he was working as a civil servant. A note on his service file records that he died on February 3rd, 1970.

On this day in 1916, Harold McAfee joined up in Deseronto. He was born in Napanee on May 2nd, 1890, the son of John McAfee and Hester March.

Harold joined the 155th Battalion with the regimental number 636210. When he signed up he was described as five feet three and three quarter inches tall, with a dark complexion, blue eyes and black hair. His service record shows that he left Canada on the SS Northland on October 17th, 1916.

He was transferred to the 21st Battalion and joined that unit in France on December 8th. In January he was admitted to hospital and on February 16th he was invalided to England, suffering from dysuria. He did not come home.

On this day in 1916, Wilbert Smith signed up in Deseronto. He was born in the town on February 10th, 1897, the son of Alfred Smith and Addie (née Patton).

Wilbert joined the 155th Battalion with the regimental number 636186. He was five feet five and three quarter inches tall, with a fair complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. His service record shows that he sailed from Halifax on the SS Northland on October 17th, 1916 and joined the 21st Battalion in France on December 8th, 1916. On April 10th, 1917 he was injured in the right side of his face and neck by a piece of shrapnel. He spent the next seven months in hospital in England and then served with reserve battalions in England until the end of the war. He was suffering from ‘nervous debility’ in July 1918 and classified as B2 in terms of fitness.

Smith left England on the SS Aquitania at the end of November 1918. He was discharged as physically unfit for further service on January 20th, 1919 in Toronto. He married Marie Aletha Baker on November 24th, 1919 in Napanee and he died in Whitby, Ontario on January 21st, 1956.

On this day in 1916, Harry Sharpe joined the army in Deseronto. He was born in Deseronto on March 19th, 1889, the son of Philip Sharpe and Sarah (née Smith). He married Flossie Milligan on March 10th, 1911 in Napanee and was working as a baker, when he enlisted. His younger brother Alfred Nelson Sharpe had signed up on the previous day.

Like his brother, Harry joined the 155th Battalion. His regimental number was 636183. Harry was described as having a dark complexion, with black eyes and black hair. His service record shows that he arrived in England on October 28th, 1916 on the SS Northland. He joined the 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles in France on December 29th, 1916 and a week later was admitted to hospital suffering from deafness. He was discharged back to duty on January 17th, 1917. In February he was in hospital again, with a hernia, and was sent to England in March for an operation to repair it. He was discharged in June and transferred to the 8th Reserve Battalion.

The hernia recurred in 1918 and Sharpe returned to Canada on the SS Carmania on December 30th, 1918. He was discharged in Toronto on January 29th, 1919 as being medically unfit for further service. In 1921, he was living with Flossie and their three children in Fourth Street, Deseronto. He left Canada for Detroit on April 30th, 1924. Harry’s great-neice, Sharon Sharpe, tells us that he was murdered in America during the 1920s.

On this day in 1916, Lyle Egbert Davis signed up in Deseronto. He was born February 18th, 1898, the son of John Leslie Davis and Theresa (née Howard).

Davis joined the 155th Battalion with the regimental number 636185. He had a fair complexion, blue eyes and brown hair and was five feet five inches tall.

Lyle’s service record shows that he was in the army for only 38 days before being discharged due to being under age. He was 17 when he signed up and the minimum age for serving overseas was 19.

2. The above-named man is discharged in consequence of
being under Military age as per affidavit of Leslie Davis (father)
3. Conduct and character while in the service have been, according to the records, etc.
Good

Lyle died in 1967 and was buried in the Deseronto cemetery.