Cecil Wason 195869

Cecil Robeson Wason was born in Dummer Township on January 8, 1898 to parents William and Minnie (Robeson) Wason.  William was a grocer in the village throughout Cecil’s childhood.

Cecil enlisted with the 93^rd Battalion in Peterborough on March 29, 1916.  At the time he was living in Warsaw and working as a clerk.  He was 18 years, 2 months old, single and had no previous military experience.  He stood nearly 5 feet, 8 inches tall, had a dark complexion, hazel eyes and dark brown hair.  He was a Methodist.  His physical examination considered him fit for service.

Cecil trained in Peterborough until May of 1916, at which time he moved with his unit to Barriefield Camp, Kingston.  After another two months training there, the 93^rd left by train for Halifax where they boarded the S.S. Empress of Britain on June 15^th.  After eleven days at sea the ship arrived at Liverpool after which time the men were stationed at Otterpool Camp in West Sandling, England.

It was here that the men of the 93^rd learned their dismal fate that their beloved battalion was to be broken up and its ranks sent to various other Canadian battalions already fighting at the front.  Before heading to the front Cecil like many of the 93^rd men were first transferred to the 39^th Reserve Battalion.   

Cecil Wason (left) and unknown comrades.  

Within the 39^th Battalion, Cecil would have continued training at Otterpool for the inevitable journey to the front, but on November 28^th 1916 a rather remarkable occurrence happened.  Cecil was transferred to the 34^th Canadian Battalion, dubbed the 34^th Boy’s Battalion.  This battalion was created in response to the change of minimum age requirement of British soldiers from 18 to 19 years old.  As Cecil was still under 19, he was placed into the Boy’s Battalion where he would be safe from danger until he turned a year older.

Wason served with the Boy’s Battalion at Shoreham, England for five months, during which time he rose to the rank of Acting Lance Corporal.  Upon turning 19, Cecil was transferred to the East Ontario Regimental Depot on the 25th of April, 1917 where he would later revert back to the rank of Private. The E.O.R.D. was a reserve depot that was based at Seaford, England and was for men of Eastern Ontario to move through before being posted to the front.  Cecil spent the rest of the war bouncing back and forth between the Eastern Ontario Depot and the 6^th & 7^th Reserve Battalions in England.  It might have been his pre-war experience as a clerk which allowed him to remain in England within the reserves. 

Cecil Wason never made it to the front, and was still in England when the Armistice was declared on November 11^th, 1918.  He sailed back to Canada on December 7^th 1918 and was discharged in Kingston on January 20^th.  After returning to civilian life he would travel to Saskatchewan, where in 1921, he was working as a salesman in the district of Kindersley.  Cecil later returned to Peterborough where he married Bridie Pickering on October 2^nd 1936.

Sources:

Archives of Ontario. Registrations of Births and Stillbirths – 1869-1913. MS929, reels 143. P.20. Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registration of Marriages 1936; Reel: 19-999

Library and Archives Canada. Census of Canada, 1911. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Library and Archives Canada, 2007.  Series RG31-C-1. Census Place: 19 - Dummer Township, Warsaw Village, Peterborough East, Ontario; Page: 6; Family No: 67

 Library and Archives Canada. Sixth Census of Canada, 1921. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Library and Archives Canada, 2013. .  RG 31; Folder Number: 152; Census Place: Kindersley, Saskatchewan; Page Number: 3

Library and Archives Canada. "The Complete Military Service File of Cecil Wason (195869)." Record Group 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 10113-45. Item no. 299424.