David Walulzy Gerow was born on July 11, 1884 at Round Lake,
Belmont Township to parents Frank and Hannah (Ketch) Gerow. He was listed a farming in Dummer in 1909
when he married Anna Wildman on September 15th. The couple later moved Nippissing District and
were recovered living and farming there
in the 1911 Census.
By 1916 Gerow was living and working as a farm labourer in Warsaw, Ontario. He was still married to Annie and at the time the couple had three young boys: Joseph 6, Wolsley 3, and George 1. On June 21st 1916, he made the short trip to nearby Norwood and enlisted at the recruiting office of the 93rd Peterborough Battalion. He was 31 years of age, stood 5 foot 4 inches tall, and weighed 128 pounds. He had a dark complexion, grey eyes and dark hair. He indicated that he had no previous military experience and that his religion was Salvation Army.
Gerow trained with the 93rd at Barriefield camp,
Kingston, until embarking Halifax on July 15, 1916 aboard the Empress of
Britain. He arrived safely in Liverpool
on the 25th and marched to Otterpool Camp. The 93rd was broken up and Gerow
was one of a draft of men transferred to the 5th Canadian Mounted
Rifles (C.M.R.) on September 07 1916.
He left for France shortly after and joined the 5th
C.M.R.’s in the field on October 02 1916.
He served with them for a little over one month when he
proceeded to the hospital with P.U.O., medical notation for Trench Fever, on
April 4th 1917. He was evacuated across the channel and spent the
next three months in British hospitals.
He was finally discharged on June 27 1917 to the Canadian Reserve Depot
at Bramshott.
Gerow left England on November 1st and rejoined the 5th
Mounted Rifles at the front 8 days later.
He served with that unit throughout the winter of 1917 and spring of
1918 until he was wounded on August 28th with a shrapnel wound to
his left arm. He was evacuated to the No.7
Canadian General Hospital at Etaples France.
After treatment there, Gerow was sent to England where he was treated
and recovered from his wounds. He was
posted to a series of reserve depots and eventually rejoined his unit in France
on September 25, 1918. He served until
the end of the war, being issued 14 days leave on November 4, 1918, he was on
leave when the war ended .
Gerow returned to England on February 13th and sailed
for Canada on March 8 1919. He was
demobilized on 10 days later in Montreal.
David Gerow died in 1939.
Sources:
Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Ontario Marriages
1826-1936. P. 14.
Archives of Ontario. Registrations of Births and
Stillbirths – 1869-1913. MS 929, reels 1-245. Toronto, Ontario,
Canada: Archives of Ontario. Archives of
Ontario; Series: MS929; Reel: 72
Library and Archives Canada. Census of Canada, 1911.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Library and Archives Canada, 2007. Census
Place: 101 - Matheson, Carr, Nipissing, Ontario; Page: 8;
Family No: 50
Canada. "Soldiers of the First World War
(1914-1918)." Record Group 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 4930 - 35.
Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa.
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