Source: January War Diary research.
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Family Search: When Private James Lester Leask was born on 28 September 1898, in Sonya, Victoria, Ontario, Canada, his father, James Henry Leask, was 38 and his mother, Mary McMillan, was 32. He lived in Ontario, Canada in 1898 and Ontario, Ontario, Canada for about 10 years. He registered for military service in 1915. In 1915, at the age of 17, his occupation is listed as student in Sonya, Victoria, Ontario, Canada. He died on 4 January 1917, in Béthune, Pas-de-Calais, France, at the age of 18, and was buried in Lapugnoy Military Cemetery, Lapugnoy, Pas-de-Calais, France.
Underage: Gave his date of birth as 25 September 1897 when it was 25 September 1898.
Private James Lester Leask, reg. no. 745118.
This young man (18) enlisted with the 116th Battalion on 29 November 1915, at Port Perry, Ontario. He was a student practicing the Presbyterian faith.
He sailed with the 116th Battalion on 23 July 1916, from Halifax, Nova Scotia and arrived at Liverpool on 31 July 1916.
He served in England until he was transferred to the 18th Battalion on 5 October 1916, which required him to transit to the Continent for service with this battalion. He arrived at No. 1 Canadian Base Depot at Harve, France, on the next day and arrived “in the field” on 22 October 1916.
He served with the 18th Battalion until he took ill. He contracted lobar pneumonia and was transferred to No. 5 Canadian Field Ambulance on 29 December 1916. He was then transferred to No. 23 Casualty Clearing Station on the next day, and his condition was rated as “seriously ill”.
He died from this illness on 4 January 1917.
History of the 18th Battalion CEF, "The Fighting Eighteenth" 