Source: Officiated first Church Parade on August 13, 1917 in the Lens Sector.
Family Search: When Major Channing Gordon Lawrence was born on 15 September 1885, in Dumfries, York, New Brunswick, Canada, his father, George W Lawrence, was 33 and his mother, Ida May Gunter, was 23. He married Josephine Delores Lavers on 25 September 1912, in Amherst, Cumberland, Nova Scotia, Canada. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 1 daughter. He lived in York, New Brunswick, Canada in 1901. He registered for military service in 1916. He died on 30 April 1962, in Port Hope, Durham, Ontario, Canada, at the age of 76, and was buried in Saint John’s Anglican Church
Channing Gordon Lawrence (1885-1962), M.A., was a schoolteacher and priest in the Anglican Church and the editor of “Canadian Churchman”. He became the rector for Trinity Church, Saint John, New Brunswick, in 1924.
I am most grateful for this opportunity to share some information about my grandfather, Major Channing Gordon Lawrence. He left his posting as the Rector of Kingston Parish, Kings County, New Brunswick after enlisting in February 1916 in the 104th Battalion CEF at Sussex. He was 31 years old. The 104th Battalion was authorized in late 1915 and recruited right across New Brunswick before embarking for Britain on 28 June 1916, where, on 18 July 1916, its personnel were absorbed by the 17th Reserve Battalion and the 32nd Battalion, CEF, to provide reinforcements for the Canadian Corps in the field. Captain Lawrence was an exception and was instead sent to the battle-weary 18th Battalion which had already been in France for 15 months and in need of a Chaplain. He would turn out to be a perfect padre for the job with a United Empire Loyalist ancestral perspective on life and duty that harmonized with the spirit and determination of the 18th, a battalion which endured a devastating casualty rate over the duration of hostilities.
Surviving the war he would return to New Brunswick, rising to become Rev. Canon C.G. Lawrence, Rector of Trinity Church in St. John. Finally, for 10 years beginning in 1950 Canon Lawrence would serve as Chaplain of Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ontario. During this period, approximately 1 in 5 graduates annually would gain admission to Royal Military College in Kingston. It was also during this period in July,1959 that Canon Lawrence would lead a morning service for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip at St. Mark’s Church in Port Hope at which his friend, Vincent Massey, Governor General of Canada was a parishioner.
Per post at 18th Battalion Facebook Group by family member.
History of the 18th Battalion CEF, "The Fighting Eighteenth" 