Cridland John Henry 195712

John Henry Cridland                195712

John Henry Cridland was born in Burseaugh Bridge, Liverpool, England on March 2^nd 1888.  His parents were Frank and Annie Cridland.  Census records show that the family immigrated to Canada in approximately 1910.  In 1911, John Cridland shows up on the Ontario census as a lodger with John and Christina Crowe in the west of Douro township.

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At the time of enlistment, on February 16 1916, he was living and working as a farm labourer in Warsaw, Ontario.  He attested with the 93^rd Peterboro Battalion in that city.  He was assigned to C Company and would later serve in the Cook’s staff of that company.  He was nearly 28 years old, weighed 130 pounds and stood 5 foot 9 ½ inches tall.  He had a fair complexion, brown eyes and light brown hair. He was single and listed his religion as Methodist.

After training with the 93^rd in Peterborough during the spring of 1916, Cridland sailed out of Halifax with his battalion on July 15 1916 on the S.S. Empress of Britain.  Upon arriving in England, the 93^rd was sent to Otterpool Camp, where they learned the dismal fate that they were to be broken up and reassigned to existing Canadian Battalions already fighting at the front.  Cridland was one of a few assigned to the 1^st Canadian Infantry Battalion.  He joined the Battalion at the front in France on March 26 1916.  Cridland’s record shows that he served with the 1^st Battalion through the duration of the war, including prominent battles such as the Somme 1916, Vimy Ridge 1917, Passchendaele 1917, all without receiving a scratch.  During close to three years at the front, he only received one, 14-day leave.

With the Armistice was signed and there was a cessation of hostilities, Cridland remained in Germany or France until he was ordered back to England on March 25th 1919.  He was demobilized and waited in English barracks at Bramshott until April 14^th, when he sailed back to Canada aboard the S.S. Olympic.  He returned to life in Peterborough, and was living with his parents at 862 George Street in 1921.   A year later he married Lillian Emma Melton in the city.    John Henry Cridland passed away on July 31 1978 in Peterborough, Ontario at the age of 90.

Sources:

Library and Archives Canada online: (www.collectionscanada.gc.ca), Census of 1911. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. 2007.

Library and Archives Canada online: (www.collectionscanada.gc.ca), Sixth Census of Canada, 1921. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. 2013.

Library and Archives Canada online: (www.collectionscanada.gc.ca), “Complete Service File: Cridland, John”. Accessed November 29, 2014.

Ontario, Canada, Select Marriages. Archives of Ontario, Toronto

Peterborough Evening Examiner.  “ Ptes. J.H. Cridland and N. Green.” December 23 1916  p.10.