George Henry Graham was born on March 15, 1894 in Dummer
Township, Ontario to parents William Thomas and Mary Jane Graham.
Graham was living and working in Dummer as a lumberman at the time of his enlistment in the 93rd Peterboro Battalion on January 5th 1916. He was 21 years, 9 months of age, stood 5 foot 6 ½ inches tall, and weighed 128 pounds. He had a fair complexion, blue eyes and light brown hair. He indicated that he had no previous military experience and that his religion was Baptist.
Graham trained with the 93rd at Barriefield camp,
Kingston, before 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 Graham
was one of a draft of men transferred to the 52nd Canadian Infantry
Battalion on the 4th of October 1916. He made the trip across the Channel and
joined the 52nd Battalion at the front a day later.
Pte. Graham served three weeks in France before being sent back to England on October 26th
with an injured knee. Upon medical
inspection it was discovered that the injury was largely precipitated by a flat
left foot and an axe wound to the leg incurred 5 years prior to enlistment. Graham was given a category A.3 rating which
meant he was capable of base duty. He
remained several months at the Canadian Base in Seaford England, until being
assigned to the 18th Reserve Battalion on February 13, 1917. Close to two months would pass before Graham
was again transferred, this time to the Canadian Forestry Battalion at Dibgate
Camp, England on April 30, 1917.
Graham proceeded to France being assigned to 37th
Company of the Canadian Forestry Battalion and arrived there on May 18th.
He served with the Foresters until being struck down with influenza on December
14, 1917, which put him in a Rouen hospital for two weeks before being sent to the
casualty clearing camp. He was
discharged and joined his unit in the field on February 19th , 1918.
Pte. Graham continued to serve with 37th Company for
the duration of the war, except for a two week stay in the hospital with
scabies, (July 06-20, 1918) and two weeks of leave (July 27-August 17 1918).
Pte. Graham was left France for England on January 18 1919 and
remained in England for a month before sailing to Canada aboard the H.M.T. Empress
of Britain on February 17 1919. He was
formally discharged from service on March 22, 1919 at Kingston Ontario.
Sources:
Archives of Ontario; Toronto,
Ontario, Canada. Ontario, Canada,
Marriages, 1826-1936. P.203.
Archives of Ontario. Registrations of
Births and Stillbirths – 1869-1913. Series: MS929;
Reel: 123. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Archives of Ontario. P.68.
Canadian
Expeditionary Force. CEF Personnel Files for George Henry Graham, 1914-1918.
Accession 1992-93/166. Record Group 150. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa,
Ontario, Canada. Volume: Box 3701 – 21
Archives
of Ontario. Registrations of Deaths, 1869-1946. Archives of
Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Reference Number: RG 80-08-0-2379.
P.80.
No comments:
Post a Comment