L/Sergt. Roland Kidd 246504

207^th Ottawa Carleton Battalion. 2^nd Battalion

Regimental Number 246504

Roland Napier Kidd was born on July 14^th, 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 207^th Ottawa-Carleton Battalion on June 17^th, 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 3^rd Prince of Wales Dragoons in Peterborough.

Roland trained with his unit in Ottawa rising to the rank of Lance Corporal on June 22^nd, and full Corporal on September 1^st.   After the battalion moved to Amherst, Nova Scotia in January to continue training, Kidd was again promoted to Lance Sergeant on the 23^rd 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 207^th Battalion went to Seaford, England and was broken up soon after.  Most of the battalion, including Roland Kidd went to the 7^th 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 9^th 1917, Roland left England for France to join the 2^nd Canadian Infantry Battalion.

He landed in France and spent close to a month in the rear before joining the 2^nd Battalion at the front on October 18, 1917.  Kidd would have seen considerable action with the 2^nd 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 26^th to the 16^th 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 25^th 1919.  A month later Kidd returned to England for demobilization.  He proceeded to Canada on April 14^th and was discharged from military service on May 8^th 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.