Dwyer Harry 195796

Harry Dwyer  195796

Harry Dwyer was born in the city of Peterborough on March 23, 1887 to parents William Dwyer and Matilda nee. Sanders.  William moved his family to Dummer Township to farm sometime before 1901, as they appear living in that township in the 1901 Census.  Harry was 22 and still living on the family farm in Dummer when he married for the first time, Ellen Sinclair of Dummer in Madoc on October 22, 1909.  Their marriage was short, as Ellen passed away sometime in 1911.  Harry re-married a year later to Mary Ann Butler of Peterborough on February 26, 1913.

The couple was living in the city of Peterborough at 470 Stewert Street when Harry, 29 years of age, attested into 93^rd Peterborough Battalion on March 10, 1916.  His occupation at the time was listed as lumberman, his religion was Roman Catholic.  He and his wife had no children.  Harry stood 5 foot seven inches tall and weighed 153 pounds, had a fair complexion, blue eyes and light brown hair.  He had no previous military experience. It is also interesting to note that two of Harry’s brothers: Charles and George, enlisted with the 93^rd with him.

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Harry accompanied the 93^rd Battalion when they left for training at Barriefield camp, Kingston on May 30, 1916.  After nearly a month and a half at Barriefield, they boarded the S.S. Empress of Britain at Halifax on July 15, and sailed ten days across the Atlantic to Liverpool, England.   Harry was stationed with the rest of his battalion at Otterpool Camp for further training and to await assignment to a new Battalion as the 93^rd was to be broken up for reinforcement.  It was at Otterpool on June 25^th, that he entered the hospital with influenza, and stayed a week recovering.  Pte. Dwyer received notice that he would be part of a small draft of 93^rd men, including his brother Charles, to reinforce the 1^st Battalion in France.  He left England on September 27, 1916 and joined the 1^st Battalion in the rear of the Somme Battlefield on October 09 1916.

Harry would have joined with his new battalion and immediately seen service in the front line trenches, which at the time were under constant shelling, attacks form snipers and enemy raids.  On the 22^nd of October, less than two weeks after joining the 1^st Battalion, Harry went over the top and joined the attack on the town of Courcellette.  The Canadians captured their objectives, though with heavy casualties.  Harry appears to survived unscathed.  The grueling trench condition did take their toll though, as Harry entered the Base Hospital on March 04, 1917 and was diagnosed with myalgia.  He was sent to the Canadian Casualty Clearing Station in Boulogne, France on April 10^th, and after close to a month there, his conditioned warranted that he be sent to further treatment at the Queen Mary Military Hospital in Whalley, England.  On May 15, his condition improved enough that he was sent to Casualty Clearing Station at  Widdifield Park, Epsom.  On June 08 1917 he was discharged from Epsom and was sent to the 4^th Western Ontario Reserve Depot from where he would wait to be sent back to France to join his unit.

Harry left England on December 22 1917, and arrived on the Canadian Base Depot in France.  Instead of rejoining his former unit, harry was posted to the 1^st Battalion in the Canadian Machine Gun Corps on March 21 1918. 

He was with this unit until April 25^th, 1918 when he entered No. 26 General Hospital in Etaples, France with trench fever.  He was invalided back to England on May 4th and was admitted into the South General Hospital in Birmingham .  He recovered and was discharged on June 28 1918 to the 5^th Casualty Clearing Station and waited reassignment with the 1^st Canadian Machine Gun Brigade.  He never returned to France, as he was in England when the War ended on November 11 1918. 

Harry was stationed at the Canadian Base Depot in Seaford on December 02 1918.  He was sent to Kimmel Park in Wales and boarded the H.M.T. Melita on December 10 for Canada.

He arrived in St John New Brunswick on December 18 1918.  Posted to Casualty Clearing Camp at Exhibition Camp in Toronto.  He was formerly discharged on January 20 1919 in Toronto, with no disability.  Harry Dwyer died on April 22, 1943.

Sources:

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

Library and Archives Canada online: (www.collectionscanada.gc.ca), Census of 1891. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. 2008. Census Place: Peterborough Town, Peterborough West, Ontario, Roll: T-6364, Family no. 189.

Library and Archives Canada online: (www.collectionscanada.gc.ca), Census of 1901. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. 2004. Dummer, Peterborough East, Ontario, Page 1, Family no.09.

Library and Archives Canada online: (www.collectionscanada.gc.ca), Census of 1911. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. 2007.  Dummer, Peterborough East, Ontario, Page 7, Family no.67.

Library and Archives Canada online: (www.collectionscanada.gc.ca), Sixth Census of Canada, 1921. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. 2013. Peterboro (city), Peterborough West, Ontario, Page 2.

Library and Archives Canada online: (www.collectionscanada.gc.ca), “Complete Service File: Dwyer, Harry”. Accessed January 20, 2016.

Peterborough Evening Examiner. “Three Brothers Who Are in the Ranks of the 93^rd Battalion.”. July 26 1916.  p.5.