There are four men represented by sequential regimental numbers that are tied by their common experience and their relationship to each other. Two men were brothers and three men were Barnardo Boys. The fourth man shared the experience of serving with them and their act of enlisting tied them together until their ultimate fates. The... Continue Reading →
Private David Knight Died Because of His Service
Creating the 18th Battalion Facebook Group has paid dividends in many ways. In this specific case a member of the group forwarded an image that officially recognizes the illness of Private David Knight, reg. no. 888057 as being directly related to his service. Private Knight attested to the 186th Battalion on March 7, 1916 and... Continue Reading →
Casualty List: January 1917
Surname Forename Date of Death Rank Reg. No. CALVERT HUGH 03/01/1917 Private 226535 LEASK JAMES LESTER 04/01/1917 Private 745118 MOSS STANLEY 10/01/1917 Private 226623 SHORT ROBERT WILLIAM 25/01/1917 Private 769243 TAYLOR ISAAC 08/01/1917 Private 195959 WILSON ROBERT THORNTON 05/01/1917 Private 745220 Note: The title of subsequent casualty list posts will be changed as the old... Continue Reading →
The Harvard Class of ’19 Student: Private David Sidney Laird
Question 10 on the Attestation Paper filled out for each man that enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force asks: Have you ever served in any Military Force? If so, state particulars of former Service. In the majority of cases this question, if answered, involves a recruit’s involvement in either the Canadian Militia or in the... Continue Reading →
A Painful Duty
Form letter informing Mrs. W. Maberley that one of her sons has died. A full transcription of this letter at the end of this entry. Some time shortly after April 7th, 1917 Mrs. W. Maberley, the mother of Private Henry Kiddle, reg. no 745109, was informed of his death from pneumonia on April 2nd, 1917.... Continue Reading →
3 Boys From Blenheim
3 boys of Blenheim, Ontario, did not come home. All of them served with the 18th Battalion and one of the other connections they share is the display of their original grave markers at the Blenheim and District Freedom Library and Museum. This discovery all began with entering the data for Private James Peter Pegg,... Continue Reading →
Until the Shadows Flee: The death of Private Harry Phillips
During a recent casualty search in relation to the recent post about an action the 18th Battalion was involved in near Telegraph Hill in the Arras Sector the list of Canadian soldiers killed on July 18th, 1918 had one soldiers place of burial stand out. Switzerland. How, during the First World War did a Canadian... Continue Reading →
History of the 18th Battalion CEF, "The Fighting Eighteenth" 