Pte. Percy Drain 6th Canadian Res. Oct. 28, 1918

Percy Drain in uniform

Pte. Percy Harold Drain  3057138

Percy Harold Drain was born in April 09, 1896 in Dummer Township to David and Matilda Drain.  The Drains were farmers on Lot 29, Concession 4 in the Northern part of the Township called Clarina.  Death Registers show that in 1914, David died and left 18 year old Percy to take over the farm.

 Percy would have been working the farm in October of 1917 when he received the summons to report to the city of Peterborough for a medical examination under the regulations of the Military Service Act.  He was 21 and ½ years old.  His attestation papers describe him as 5 ft 6 ½ inches tall, of fair complexion, with blue eyes and light hair.  He listed his occupation as farmer and his religion as Methodist.  On March 9^th, 1918 he reported to Kingston and was conscripted into the 1^st Depot Battalion, Eastern Ontario Regiment.

 Pte. Drain sailed to England sometime after that and was assigned to the Eastern Ontario Regiment, 6^th Reserve Battalion to await transfer to another battalion currently fighting at the front.  He waws never to complete this journey.  During his time in England, he contracted Influenza & Lombar Pneumonia and died at No. 14 Canadian General Hospital on October 28, 1918.  He was buried in Seaford Cemetery, Seaford, close to the hospital in which he died.

St. Mark's Cemetery, Warsaw Ontario.

 About 6 months later, an unusual occurrence took place by World War I standards.  Percy’s body was one of a very small number of WWI soldiers remains in England to be repatriated back home.  On his mother Matilda’s initiative and dollar, Percy’s remains returned  to Canada aboard the S.S. Batsford Apr. 26, 1919. He was buried in his home town of Warsaw, Ontario in St. Mark’s Cemetery.  He is commemorated on the Dummer Township Cenotaph.

Sources:

Library and Archives Canada. Census of Canada, 1901. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Library and Archives Canada, 2004. Series RG31-C-1. Statistics Canada Fonds. Microfilm reels: T-6428 to T-6556.
Library and Archives Canada. Census of Canada, 1911. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Library and Archives Canada, 2007.  Series RG31-C-1. Statistics Canada Fonds. Microfilm reels T-20326 to T-20460.
Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; War Graves Registers: Circumstances of Death; Record Group Number: RG 150, 1992-93/314; Volume Number: 251.
Library and Archives Canada. War Graves Registry: Circumstances of Death Records. Record Group 150, 1992–1993/314, Boxes 145–238. Library and Archives Canada. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.