207th Ottawa Carleton Battalion. 2nd
Battalion
Regimental Number 246504
Roland
Napier Kidd was born on July 14th, 1882 in Dummer Township, Ontario.
He was the son of Walter and Mary Ann (Burgess) Kidd. Roland moved out west and
was working as a ranch hand in Battleford, Saskatchewan in 1911.
He
had returned to Ontario and was living in Ottawa and working as a civil servant
when he enlisted there in the 207th Ottawa-Carleton Battalion on
June 17th, 1916. He was 34
years old, stood 5 feet, 7 inches tall and had a fair complexion, grey eyes and
brown hair. He was a Presbyterian, unmarried
and had 6 years of military experience with the 3rd Prince of Wales
Dragoons in Peterborough.
Roland
trained with his unit in Ottawa rising to the rank of Lance Corporal on June 22nd,
and full Corporal on September 1st.
After the battalion moved to Amherst, Nova Scotia in January to continue
training, Kidd was again promoted to Lance Sergeant on the 23rd of that
month. The battalion sailed from Halifax
aboard the S.S. Olympic on June 2, 1917 and landed safely in Liverpool a week
later.
The
207th Battalion went to Seaford, England and was broken up soon
after. Most of the battalion, including Roland
Kidd went to the 7th Reserve Battalion to await posting to a Canadian
unit at the front. Kidd spent close to six months in the reserves
before reverting to the rank of private, which would have made it easier for
him to join an existing battalion. The move worked, and on September 9th
1917, Roland left England for France to join the 2nd Canadian Infantry
Battalion.
He
landed in France and spent close to a month in the rear before joining the 2nd
Battalion at the front on October 18, 1917.
Kidd would have seen considerable action with the 2nd
Battalion, as he served with them through such notable battles as Passchendaele,
Amiens, Arras, and the Canal du Nord.
The
only reprieve from the front, was a two-week leave to England granted on from October
26th to the 16th of November 1918. Roland’s leave would have coincided with the
end of the War, though he did return to France to join his battalion as it
occupied Germany. During this time Kidd
was appointed a clerk in the orderly room on February 25th
1919. A month later Kidd returned to
England for demobilization. He proceeded
to Canada on April 14th and was discharged from military service on
May 8th 1919.
Roland
later married Sarah Gregory in Toronto in August of 1922. He passed away on July 28, 1928.
Sources
Archives of Ontario. Registrations of
Births and Stillbirths – 1869-1913. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Series: MS929; Reel: 61.
Library and Archives Canada. Census
of Canada, 1901. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Year: 1901; Census Place: Dummer,
Peterborough (east/est), Ontario; Page: 15; Family No: 151.
Library and Archives Canada: Year:
1911; Census Place: 21, Battleford, Saskatchewan; Page: 28; Family No: 305
Archives of Ontario; Toronto,
Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928; Reel: 602
Archives of Ontario. Registrations of
Deaths, 1869-1938, 1943-1945. Toronto,
Ontario, Canada. Collection:
MS935; Reel: 357
Canada. "Military Service File
of Roland Napier Kidd." Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa: Record Group 150,
Accession 1992-93/166, Box 8621 - 2. Item Number 211978.
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