Driver George R. Hyde 291832

222^nd Canadian Infantry Battalion / 14^th Battery Canadian Field Artillery

Regimental Number 291832

George Richard Hyde was born in Warsaw, Ontario on October 10^th, 1892 to parents, Richard Hyde and Barbara Kerr.  Richard was Presbyterian minister in the community.  Sometime after 1911, the family moved to Regina, Saskatchewan.

George was working as a bank clerk in Boissevain, Manitoba when he enlisted there with the 222^nd Canadian Infantry Battalion on January 6, 1916.  He was nearly 23 years old, stood just over 5 feet, 8 inches tall, and had a fair complexion, light hair and blue eyes.  He indicated that he had no previous military service and that he was a Presbyterian.  On his attestation file there is a hand written note on the bottom that reads: “Transfer to Artillery promised by Col. Lightfoot.”

Pte. Hyde trained with the 22^nd Battalion in Canada throughout most of 1916.  He sailed from Halifax on November 14 1916 aboard the S.S. Olympic, arriving in England a week later.  The 222^nd was sent to the Canadian Camp at Shoreham, England where it was broken up and its ranks used to reinforce other existing Canadian battalions already fighting at the front.  George was transferred to the 19^th Reserve Battalion to await further assignment.  Notice came on April 19^th 1917 to proceed to France to join the 2^nd Division Ammunition Column.  This assignment meant that George was assigned the job of driver and would be charged with transporting ammunition to the front by horse.  He arrived at the front on April 21^st and was posted to the 18^th Battery of the 5^th Brigade of the Canadian Field Artillery.

George served as a driver with the 18^th Battery throughout the war.  During the battle of Passchendaele he was treated for gas poisoning at the Casualty Clearing Station for two days, November 2-3, 1917.  He returned to his unit and served throughout the rest of 1917 with them.  He was granted a two week leave from January 16^th to February 2^nd 1918.  He returned to fight in the bloodiest year of the war and through the relentless push known as the Last Hundred Days.  He was lucky to come through unscathed, and except for a 3-week bout of dysentery from August 8^th to September 12^th 1918 he remained relatively healthy.

With the war ended, George returned to England on April 14^th 1919, nearly two years to the day since he left for France.  He embarked Liverpool, England aboard the H.M.T. Cadrie on May 5^th 1919 bound for Canada where he was formally discharged from military service.

After the war, George moved back to Canada and lived in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and worked as an accountant.  He married Eileen Tatvhell in 1922 in Oak Bay, British Columbia.  George Hyde died on September 11, 1982 in Vancouver, British Columbia.  He was 89.

Sources

Archives of Ontario. Registrations of Births and Stillbirths – 1869-1913. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: MS 929, reel 112, page 42.

Library and Archives Canada. Census of Canada, 1901. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada:  Census Place: Dummer, Peterborough (east/est), Ontario; Page: 2; Family No: 15

Library and Archives Canada. Census of the Northwest Provinces, 1906. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Census Place: 27, Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan; Page: 15; Family No: 137.

Library and Archives Canada. Census of Canada, 1911. Ottawa, Canada: Census Place: 75 - Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan; Page: 33; Family No: 192.

Canada. "Census returns for 1916 Census of Prairie Provinces." Statistics of Canada Fonds, Record Group 31-C-1. Census Place: Saskatchewan, Regina, 03D; Roll: T-21943; Page: 23; Family No: 272

Library and Archives Canada. Sixth Census of Canada, 1921. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada:  RG 31; Folder Number: 161; Census Place: Saskatoon (City), Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Page Number: 15.

Canadian Expeditionary Force. CEF Personnel Files 1914-1918.  The Military Service File of George Richard Hyde.”  Accession 1992-93/166. Record Group 150.   Accession 1992-93/166, Box 4674 – 3.  Item 487252.