Thomas O. Hawthorne, 51st Battalion, Nov. 10, 1917

Thomas Orlando Hawthorne 437150

Pte. Thomas Hawthorne

Thomas Hawthorne was born on May 26, 1889, in Dummer Township, Ontario.  His parents, Edward and Mary Ann Hawthorne, farmed Lot 15, on Concession 1 of the Township.  By 1911, Thomas had moved off the farm and was working as a labourer ( noted as doing odd jobs) in Entwistle, Alberta (Edmonton District).

Hawthorne enlisted in Edmonton on May 10, 1915.  He listed his occupation at the time as a Railwayman.  He was unmarried and had no previous military experience.  He was 26 years old, stood 5 foot 10 inches tall, had a ruddy complexion, grey eyes and brown hair.  He was a Presbyterian.

Thomas Hawthorne was listed as killed in action on November 10, 1917 in the very last attack of the Battle of Passchendaele.  He was a member of the 7^th Battalion (British Columbia regiment), who attacked at dawn behind a creeping barrage and pushed the stubborn Germans off Passchendaele Ridge.  Thomas Hawthorne was one of 132 men of the 7^th Battalion who were killed or missing during the battle. His name appears on the Menin Gate in Ypres as one of Commonwealth soldiers with no known grave.  His name appears on the Dummer Township Cenotaph in Warsaw, Ontario.

Sources

Ancestry.com.

     Canada, CEF Commonwealth War Graves Registers, 1914-1919 [database on-line]

     Ontario, Canada Births, 1869-1913 [database on-line].

     1891 Census of Canada [database on-line].

     1901 Census of Canada [database on-line].

     1911 Census of Canada [database on-line].

     Canada, Soldiers of the First World War, 1914-1918 [database on-line].

      Canada, War Graves Registers (Circumstances of Casualty), 1914-1948 [database on-line].