Stephen S. Emmorey 195749

Stephen Emmorey was born in Toronto, Ontario on February 19^th 1894 to parents Charles Emmorey and Margaret Davis.  The family moved to Belmont Township and farmed on the 9^th Concession.

Stephen enlisted into the 93^rd Peterborough Battalion on February 21^st 1916.  He was 22 years old, stood 5 feet 7 ½ inches tall, and weighed 130 pounds.   He had a dark complexion, brown eyes, and dark brown hair.  He was a Presbyterian and a farmhand/labourer by occupation. He was single, had no previous military experience, and was living in Hall’s Glen, in Dummer Township at the time of his enlistment.

Pte. Emmorey left with the Peterborough 93^rd for Barriefield Camp, Kingston for training.  After five months there, the battalion boarded the S.S. Empress of Britain in Halifax on June 15, 1916 and sailed for Britain.  They docked in Liverpool ten days later and camped at the Canadian base at Shorncliffe.  Pte. Emmorey was transferred to the 18^th Battalion on September 9^th when the 93^rd Battalion was broken up.  He joined the unit in France on October 3^rd 1916.

Pte. Emmorey served at the front with 18^th Battalion throughout the Somme Offensive and later in the attack on Regina Trench.  As the grand offensive drew to a close, he was sent on a two-week training course for the use of trench mortars.  He returned to the 18^th Battalion on November 11^th and was later attached for duty with the 4^th Canadian Trench Mortar Battery on December 12, 1916.

Emmorey was serving with the Trench Mortars when he entered the No.7 General hospital with a case of the mumps on January 18, 1917.  He spent nearly three weeks in hospital before being discharged to base camp.  He returned to hospital a few days later suffering from headaches, as well as aches and pains in right leg and knees.  He was diagnosed with myalgia, spending another three weeks in hospital.

He recovered sufficiently to return to his unit on March 14, 1917.  Emmorey would have been present for the attack on Vimy Ridge on April 9^th, 1917, and the subsequent holding of the ridge.  His good health did not last and he returned to hospital with another bout of the mumps, which sidelined him for close to a month.  He returned to his unit on May 25^th and remained in the trenches until November 4^th, when he was rewarded with a two week leave to England.  He returned to his unit after the leave without incident.

Emmorey, surprisingly was transferred out of the Trench Mortars and back into the infantry, this time to the 19^th Canadian Battalion on February 17^th  1918.  He served with the 19^th until August 28 1918, when he was slightly wounded by a gunshot to the right arm.  He was sent to hospital for three days and a convalescent camp for two weeks, before returning to the trenches on September 20^th 1918.  He spent another two months at the front, until October 31^st, when he entered a Canadian Field Hospital again suffering from myalgia. He spent two weeks recovering and by then the war was over.  Emmorey was part of a Canadian contingent which stayed in France as an occupying force until at April 1919, as he entered a Canadian Field Hospital at that time with myalgia.  He was sent back to England sometime after and continued his trend of requiring to be hospitalized for ailments.  He formally discharged from military service on July 28^th 1919 in England.

Sources

Archives of Ontario. Registration of Births and Stillbirths, 1858-1913. MS 929, reel 124. Archives of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. P.213.

Library & Archives Canada The Military Service File of Stephen Samuel Emmorey.  Ottawa, Ontario. RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 2905-29. NO.378048. P5-8..

LAC. Census of Canada, 1911. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: 2007. Census Place: 5 - Belmont and Methuen Townships, Peterborough East, Ontario; Page: 8; Family No: 79. P.8.