Arthur Tighe

1^st Eastern Ontario Depot Battalion

Regimental Number 3059010

Arthur George Tighe was born on January 1^st, 1897 in Warsaw, Ontario. He was the son of Sarah Jane (Raynoft) and Charles Tighe. Arthur remained with his family farming in Dummer Township until at least 1911, before they moved to the Lakefield/Buckhorn area.

 Arthur was living in Hall’s Bridge (Buckhorn, Ontario) and working as a famer when he was drafted under the Military Service Act.  Tighe reported to Barriefield Camp, Kingston on May 10^th, 1917.  He was 22 years old, stood 5 feet, 5 inches tall and had a dark complexion, hazel eyes and brown hair.  Arthur was a Methodist, unmarried and had no previous military experience.

 Arthur’s service file indicates that he did not start his military training immediately, but was given a one month leave upon arriving at Barriefield.  This was not an uncommon provision for men who had been taken off the farm, as it allowed them to return to put in the crops.  Arthur returned to Kingston in June to join the 1^st Depot Eastern Ontario Regiment and begin his military training and learn basic soldiering. 

 After only a month’s training a contingent of men, including Arthur Tighe, set off from Barriefield by train to Halifax.  While waiting to board ship for overseas, Arthur became sick with the mumps and entered a hospital in Halifax on July 11^th.  After a close to two weeks in hospital he was released, but having missed his ship he was to remain in Halifax to await passage to England.  After another month lingering in Halifax, Arthur again returned to the hospital suffering from a sickness that he contracted there. It took another month to recover before being discharged on October 23^rd. 

 Arthur finally embarked Halifax aboard the S.S. Micitades and was able to arrive in England on November 18, 1918, a week after the War ended.  He was assigned to the 6^th Reserve Regiment at Witley Camp and counted time until he would inevitably be returned to Canada as the Canadian Forces in Europe slowly began demobilization.

 Arthur bounced around a little to a couple of different camps in Seaford, England and then to the Canadian Demobilization Base at Kimmel Park in Wales.  He finally sailed home on July 2^nd, 1919.  He arrived in Halifax six days later and made his way to Kingston, where he was discharged from military service on July 12^th 1919.

 Arthur Tighe returned to the Lakefield area to for a short while before travelling to Detroit, Michigan to work as an automobile mechanic.  He returned to Dummer Township in 1920 and married Mabel Lonsberry there in September of that year.   

Sources

Archives of Ontario. Registrations of Births and Stillbirths – 1869-1913. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Series: MS929; Reel: 134.

Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928; Reel: 547.

Library and Archives Canada. Census of Canada, 1901. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Year: 1901; Census Place: Dummer, Peterborough (east/est), Ontario; Page: 9; Family No: 87.

Library and Archives Canada. Census of Canada, 1911. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Library and Archives Canada: Year: 1911; Census Place: 19 - Dummer Township, Warsaw Village, Peterborough East, Ontario; Page: 7; Family No: 93

Canada. "Military Service File of Arthur Tighe." Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa: Record Group 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 9692-57. Item Number 269279.