Carson, William James: Service no. 651839

Source: Duty Nobly Done Roll of Honour

Family Search: When Private William James Carson was born on 19 April 1890, in Vesta, Bruce, Ontario, Canada, his father, George Carson, was 38 and his mother, Margaret Anne McCutcheon, was 34. He lived in Bruce, Ontario, Canada in 1901 and Wiarton, Bruce, Ontario, Canada in 1916. He registered for military service in 1916. In 1916, at the age of 26, his occupation is listed as clerk in Wiarton, Bruce, Ontario, Canada. He died on 18 August 1918, in Saint-Sever, Seine-Maritime, Upper Normandy, France, at the age of 28, and was buried in Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Upper Normandy, France.

Will Carson Wounded
Word was received here from Wiarton on Saturday that Will Carson, a Bruce soldier well-known in Walkerton, was wounded in the face, He went Overseas with the 160th Bruce Batt’n. For several years he was employed by Mr. James Whitehead here and was highly thought of in town.

Source: Walkerton Telescope, August 22, 1918, p. 1

Summary of Service for Private William J. Carson, reg. no. 651839

Date	Event	Remarks
April 17, 1890	Born	Bruce County
February 29, 1916	Enlists	Enlists with the 160^th Overseas Battalion at the age of 26-years at Wiarton, Ontario. He lists his mother, Margaret Carson (Widow) of Wiarton as his next of kin. He is currently a clerk and has no military experience. At 5’ 6.75” he is average height for a recruit. He is assigned to “C” Company.
April 1916	Separation Allowance	A Separation Allowance of $20.00 is assigned to his mother.
June 15, 1916	Vaccinated
July 22, 1916	Inoculated	Anti-Typhoid
July 30, 1916	Inoculated	Anti-Typhoid
August 7, 1916	Inoculated	Anti-Typhoid
August 22, 1916	Submits Will	Submits will. Leave his personal estate to his mother and does not fill in the real estate section, perhaps as he does not own any property/land.
October 1916	Assigned Pay	Assigned pay in the amount of $20.00 per month is assigned to Mrs. Carson.
October 12, 1916	Medical Exam	Medical Exam at London, Ontario.
October 17, 1916	Embarks Canada	Embarks at Halifax, Nova Scotia to go to England.
October 28, 1916	Arrives England	Arrives in England after transiting aboard the S.S. Metagama.
May 12, 1917	Transferred	Internal transfer within the 160^th Battalion. Transferred to Field Intelligence Section.
February 23, 1918	Transferred	Transferred from 160^th Battalion to 4^th Reserve Battalion.
March 28, 1918	Posted	Posted to 18^th Battalion.
March 29, 1918	Arrives France	Arrives at Etaples, France at No. 2 Canadian Infantry Base Depot.
March 30, 1918	Arrives C.C.R.C.	Arrives at the Canadian Corp Reinforcement Camp.
April 12, 1918	Arrives 18^th Battalion	Arrives with the 18^th Battalion. The War Diary relates: “Working parties repairing and improving trenches. Lieuts. W.K. ROONEY and E.L. ADDY and 4 o.r.s. wounded during enemy shelling. 60 o.r. arrived as reinforcements.” Private Carson was one of these 60 other ranks arriving at replacements. The Battalion was in familiar territory, Vimy Ridge, at this time.
August 8, 1918	Wounded	Private Carson was one of 120 soldiers of the 18^th Battalion wounded during a major attack outlined in the War Diary.
August 9, 1918	Admitted	Admitted at No. 11 Stationary Hospital, Rouen, France.
August 12, 1918	Status Updated	Status updated to “Dangerously Ill.” This information would have been telegraphed to his next of kin.
August 18, 1918	Dies of Wounds	Died of wounds at No. 11 Stationary Hospital, Rouen, France.
August 1918	Interned	Buried at St. Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen, France at grave no. Q.IV.K.22. He is buried with 8,630 other war dead. Of these, 357 are Canadian. 3 are members of the 18^th Battalion.
July 7, 1920	War Service Gratuity	A War Service Gratuity in the amount of $180.00 is granted to Margaret Carson.