Canadian Expeditionary Force

Sapper Byron Everard Nash

~ Nick Metcalfe ~ Leave a comment

This is part of a series of essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Maine.

The grave of Sapper Byron Everard Nash

Byron Everard Nash was born on 16 May 1891 at North Beverly, Massachusetts, the only son and youngest of the two children of Dana and Ella Nash.[1] The family lived in Essex County, Massachusetts for a period, where his father was a newspaper salesman, before his mother and the two children moved to Ellsworth, Maine, near where the family originated. His mother was a telegraph operator and when Byron left school and became a telegraph linesman.

Byron Nash travelled north to Canada in April 1916 and enlisted on 25 October at Windsor, Ontario. He joined the Canadian Engineers Signal Service and was allocated the regimental number 506265. He arrived in England onboard the SS Grampian on 6 February 1917 and joined the Signal Company, Canadian Engineers Training Depot at Crowborough. Nash reported sick in March 1917 and was admitted to No. 14 Canadian General Hospital at Eastbourne suffering from diabetes. Deemed unfit for further service, he was evacuated to Canada in May 1917. On his arrival in Canada he was admitted for treatment London Military Convalescent Hospital in Ontario. In early 1918 it was determined that no further treatment was possible and was discharged from the Army in March 1918. Nash died of diabetes exacerbated by tuberculosis on 8 March 1920 at the family home on Franklin Street, Ellsworth. He is buried in the family plot in Forest Hill Cemetery, Harrington.

Private Byron Everard Nash is commemorated on page 552 of the Canadian First World War Book of Remembrance; that page is displayed on 24 November. For his war service he was awarded the British War Medal 1914-20; his medal and the memorial plaque and scroll were sent to his father, and the Memorial Cross was sent to his mother.

The Canadian Book of Remembrance showing the entry for Sapper Byron Everard Nash

Acknowledgement:

J. Fenn-Lawson on Find A Grave for the photograph of Nash’s gravestone.

1. (Back) Dana J. Nash (7 January 1869-16 December 1929) married Ella G. Leighton (25 March 1863-NK) on 25 September 1888; Jessie M. (later Howard) (24 March 1889-8 June 1949).

Private John Robert Collinson

~ Nick Metcalfe ~ Leave a comment

This is part of a series of essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Massachusetts.

The grave of Private John Robert Collinson

John Robert Collinson was born on 1 February 1896 in Keighley, West Yorkshire the only son and eldest of the two children of Isaac and Martha Collinson.[1] When he was eight his mother died and soon afterwards his father remarried.[2] The fate of that marriage is not known but in September 1907 Isaac Collinson emigrated alone to the United States, to Lawrence, Massachusetts. The two children lived with their maternal grandparents and then their mother’s brother in Leeds until they followed their father in November 1914; Isaac Collinson had remarried by the time of their arrival and over the next few years half-siblings were added to the family.[3] Having lived for a time in Rhode Island, the family settled in Methuen, Massachusetts. Prior to his enlistment, Collinson worked in a mill in Lawrence and he lived in Methuen with his wife, Fanny, who had also been born in Yorkshire, and their daughter.[4]

He enlisted on 23 January 1918 and joined the 249th Battalion, Canadian Infantry; he was allocated the number 1070011. The Battalion had been raised in 1917 and by the time Collinson joined it was preparing to travel to England. Continue reading →

Private (Joseph) Raymond Collier

~ Nick Metcalfe ~ Leave a comment

This is part of a series of essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Massachusetts.

The grave of Private Raymond Collier

Raymond Collier was one of several men who served for only a few weeks before dying while undergoing training. A French Canadian immigrant to the United States, he enlisted on 4 May 1918 in St. Jean, New Brunswick and joined the 1st Depot Battalion, New Brunswick Regiment, where he was allocated the number 3259323. After only three-and-a-half weeks he was admitted to St. John Military Hospital on 29 May suffering from pneumonia and very severe bronchitis; after a few days’ treatment he rallied but then relapsed and died at 3.00 pm on 8 June, aged 22. Continue reading →

Gunner John ‘Jack’ Cameron

~ Nick Metcalfe ~ Leave a comment

This is part of a series of essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Massachusetts.

The grave of Gunner John ‘Jack’ Cameron

Jack Cameron was born on 25 January 1885 in Glasgow, Scotland. The commonality of his name and the paucity of details in his service record preclude a detailed examination of his family or of his arrival in the United States. By the time of his enlistment in 1918 he was working as a machinist in a factory in Auburn Massachusetts, where he lived with his wife Rose; the couple had no children.[1]

He enlisted on 14 May 1918 in Montreal and began his training at 1st Depot Battalion, 1st Quebec Regiment, where he was allocated the number 3084584. He subsequently transferred to 79th Depot Battery, Canadian Field Artillery on 13 May 1918.

On 8 October 1918, Private Cameron was admitted to the Grenadier Guards Emergency Hospital in Montreal suffering from influenza. He died of pneumonia on 16 October. His remains were returned to Massachusetts and he was buried in Hillside Cemetery, Auburn. His grave is marked with a Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone and is in Section 16 in the north-centre part of the cemetery.

The Memorial Cross, plaque and scroll were sent to his widow. He is commemorated on page 379 of the Canadian First World War Book of Remembrance; that page is displayed on 17 August.

The Canadian Book of Remembrance showing the entry for Gunner Jack Cameron

1. (Back) John Cameron married Rose L. (surname unknown) on 31 December 1916.

Private Stanley Daniel Robinson

~ Nick Metcalfe ~ Leave a comment

This is part of a series of essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Pennsylvania.

The grave of Stanley Daniel Robinson

Stanley Robinson was born in Ingersoll, Oxford County, Ontario on 22 July 1898, the sixth of the nine children, and third son, of Daniel and Annie Robinson.[1] The family was mostly born in Canada but Robinson parents and the younger members of the family came to the United States sometime after 1911; their movements over this period are difficult to trace but by 1916 his parents were living in Lowellville, Ohio.

Robinson, who was a spinner in a mill, enlisted in Woodstock, Ontario on 8 January 1916, aged 17—he gave his date of birth as 22 February 1897. He joined the newly-raised 168th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and was allocated the number 675092. On 5 May he transferred to 4th Canadian Pioneer Battalion on its formation at St. Andrews, New Brunswick.[2] Continue reading →

Private Ernest Thomas McVicker

~ Nick Metcalfe ~ Leave a comment

This is part of a series of essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Pennsylvania.

Ernest Thomas McVicker

Born in Hanley in the Staffordshire Potteries on 4 November 1884, Ernest McVicker emigrated to the United States with his parents around 1887.[1] He grew up in Pittsburgh, where his siblings were born and where he went to work in the glass industry; he was a member of the American Flint Glass Workers Union. Continue reading →

Private Cyril Henry Edward Cox & Private George Edward Dillow

~ Nick Metcalfe ~ Leave a comment

This is part of a series of essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Pennsylvania.

The graves of Cyril Cox and George Dillow

This is the tragic story of two young cousins, born in England but who grew up together in Mckeesport, Pennsylvania and who died within 24 hours of each other during the influenza pandemic. Continue reading →

Private John McGraw

~ Nick Metcalfe ~ Leave a comment

This is part of a series of essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Ohio.

The grave of Private John McGraw

John McGraw, a married man, enlisted in the United States, probably in Chicago, for service with the Canadian Expeditionary Force and travelled to Toronto to join the 1st Depot Battalion, Central Ontario Regiment. Immediately upon his arrival in Toronto on 20 February 1918, prior being attested, taken on strength and allocated a regimental number, he was admitted to the Base Hospital suffering from paratyphoid bronchitis.[1] He died from heart failure on 13 March 1918, aged 37.

His body was returned to the United States and he was buried in Calvary Cemetery, Cleveland on 18 March. His grave, in Section 42, Lot 237, is in the north-west part of the cemetery near the entrance and is marked by a flat Commonwealth War Graves Commission marker. He is one of two casualties in this cemetery: See Private Sam Corrodo. Continue reading →

Private Samuel Corrodo

~ Nick Metcalfe ~ Leave a comment

This is part of a series of essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Ohio.

The grave of Private Sam Corrodo

Sam Corrodo was born on 15 April 1897 in Oriolo, Calabria, Italy, the son of George and Carmela Corrado [also spelled Corrado].[1] His father, a tailor, arrived in the United States in 1901 and the family followed between 1907 and 1909. While his parents and three brothers remained in New York, Sam Corrodo moved to Chicago where he worked as a floor-layer.

He enlisted on 27 February 1918 in Chicago (he stated that he was a Canadian by birth) before travelling to Toronto to join the 2nd Depot Battalion, 1st Central Ontario Regiment for training as an infantryman; he was allocated the number 3232427. Continue reading →

Private Charles M. Altman

~ Nick Metcalfe ~ Leave a comment

This is part of a series of essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Ohio.

The grave of Private Charles Altman

Charles Altman was born in Rhode Island on 15 July 1898 into a Jewish family of German extraction. His father, Philip, who had served for six months during the Spanish-American War, was from New York and had German parents, and his mother, Sadie, had been born in Germany.[1] In 1901, Charles Altman’s younger sister was born and sometime before 1910 the family moved to Cleveland, where his father worked for a clothing manufacturer. He later started his own business in Canton. While the family business remained in Canton, the family spent some time in California and Arizona, probably related Charles Altman’s bouts of bronchitis and pneumonia.

Altman enlisted for service with the Canadian Expeditionary Force on 5 January 1918 at Victoria in British Columbia and was taken on strength of the 2nd Depot Battalion, British Columbia Regiment. Continue reading →