Source: August 1918 casualty.
Family Search: When Private James Edwin Willan was born on 17 April 1899, in Staples, Leamington, Essex, Ontario, Canada, his father, Isaac Hugh Willan, was 37 and his mother, Etta Samantha Hooker, was 33. He lived in Essex, Ontario, Canada in 1911. He registered for military service in 1916. In 1916, at the age of 17, his occupation is listed as farmer in Staples, Leamington, Essex, Ontario, Canada. He died on 26 August 1918, in Vis-en-Artois, Pas-de-Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France, at the age of 19, and was buried in Tilloy-lès-Mofflaines, Pas-de-Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France.
Cousin is Clifford Charles Willan , reg, no. 880490. They both died in action one year apart. It was originally reported that these men were brothers.
History of the 18th Battalion CEF, "The Fighting Eighteenth" 