Sergt. Wellington Middleton 111617 Canadian Army Service Corps

 

Sergeant Wellington J. Middleton

8^th Canadian Mounted Rifles, Canadian Army Service Corps

Regimental Number 111617

 

Wellington “John” Middleton was born on November 1^st 1894 in Warsaw, Ontario. He was the son of William, a labourer, and Sarah (Mosser) Middleton.   
 
Wellington grew up in Dummer, but likely moved to Peterborough when he became working age.  He was working as a liveryman, when at age 20, he enlisted with “B Squadron” in the 8^th Canadian Mounted Rifles Battalion, the second contingent of men to be raised in Peterborough during the Great War. He was described as having a fair complexion, blue eyes and fair hair.  He was single, and a Presbyterian.  Middleton indicated that he had four year’s previous military service with the 3^rd Prince of Wales Dragoons, a local militia unit.  He was considered fit for military service and given the rank of Private.
 
Private Middleton and his B Squadron comrades left Peterborough on March 8^th 1915 for Ottawa, where they joined close to 1,600 other recruits from various parts of Ontario to complete the 8^th Canadian Mounted Rifles battalion (CMR).  The battalion trained there for close to two months before being moved to Barriefield Camp, near Kingston.
 
At Barriefield the Mounted Rifles continued their training and would become even more familiar with the marches, drills and physical exercises that characterized the Canadian’s notion of military training in the early years of the war.  By that time, reorganization of the Canadian Expeditionary Force was in progress and it was soon learned that the 8^th Canadian Mounted Rifles were to be broken up, with a majority of the men, including Wellington, to transfer to the 6^th Mounted Rifle Battalions.  This was a tough blow to the men, and one which was further exacerbated when they learned that they would not go to the front as horse-mounted cavalry, but rather as regular infantry.
 
After several months training at Barriefield, the men of the 6^th Mounted Rifles left Canada for England arriving there on September 5^th 1915.  Wellington was stationed at the Canadian Camp at Shorncliffe to await further training and posting to the front.  A bout of sickness and a stay at the hospital on October 11^th, sidelined him for a month.  Two weeks after his discharge, in mid-November, Middleton was reassigned to the Canadian Army Service Corps as a pay clerk and promoted to Acting Corporal. By the end of February 1917, he was reassigned to the Depot of Supply, most likely in a similar clerical role, and received another promotion a month later to Acting Sergeant.  The advancement in rank did not last long, as four days later he was transferred back to the Canadian Army Service Depot, reverted to the rank of Private and entered a military hospital.
 
Wellington was treated at three different hospitals over the course of four months before being discharged to the Canadian Army Service Depot training Depot.  After two months he was transferred to the Canadian Military Police and worked as a clerk at Shorncliffe Camp, as well as receiving a promotion to the rank of Acting Corporal.  Wellington fell ill again on May 13^th 1917 and entered the hospital for another three months before being posted back to his role with the Military Police in the Army Service Corps Depot on July 7^th.
 
Wellington continued to seek treatment at English hospitals throughout the summer of 1917.  One report in early July described him suffering from scabies and orchitis, an inflammation of the testicles.  The examiners noted that this condition might have been exacerbated when he was kicked by a mule while on duty with his battalion. The condition was treated, and though Wellington still reported pain and general weakness by the end of August, he was discharged to duty on September 25^th.  
 
By November 2^nd, a significant change in posting was in the works for Wellington, as he reverted in rank to Private for the purpose of joining the 129^th Company of the Canadian Forestry Corp.  This transfer was approved and a week later he joined the Forestry Battalion, most likely in a clerical role, in the camp at Inverness, Scotland. Wellington remained with the Forestry Corps for five months before returning to the Canadian Service Corps base at Shorncliffe at the end of April 1917.
 
He remained in England, until he was finally given orders to proceed overseas to France with the Army Service Corps on September 15^th, 1918.  Wellington served the remainder of the war in the Canadian Section of the 1^st Echelon General Headquarters, before being assigned to the Canadian Overseas Rail and Transport Depot on March 18^th 1919.
 
He returned to England in July, and served in various clerical postings, such as in the Motor Transport, and in the Pay, Duty, Rations, Clothing Department in the Military Hospital in Epsom, before being demobilized and shipped back to Canada on September 12^th.
 
Middleton sailed home aboard the SS Regina, and was formally discharged from service on September 23^rd, 1919.
 
Sources
Canada. "Military Service File of Wellington John Middleton." Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa: Record Group 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 6158-21. Item Number 189816