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

Henry Peno was born in Georgia, Vermont in 1885 the eldest of the nine children of Peter and Josephine Peno, both of whom had also been born in Vermont.^[1] He worked as a labourer at a concrete company and later with the Central Vermont Railway engine shops at St. Albans. On 28 October 1907 he married Rena Martin in St. Albans. Their son, Roy, was born the following year and a daughter, Dorothy, was born in 1910.^[2]

Peno travelled to Canada in December 1916. He returned home briefly in January 1917 (informing his wife that he was leaving her) and enlisted at Renfrew, Ontario on 11 January. He joined the 240^th Overseas Battalion, which had been raised in the region in June 1916, and joined ‘A’ Company, being allocated the service number 1042779. The following month in Renfrew he married bigamously, causing some confusion amongst the pay staff after his enlistment!^[3]

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

Emery John Larocque was born on 20 February 1893 at Barton, Vermont. His father, Louis Larocque, was born in Massachusetts into a Québécois family and later lived in Acton Vale, Quebec, where he married Marie Huard, also born in the United States into a Québécois family. The couple returned to the United States in the late 1880s (having lost their three children in infancy) and farmed land near Barton, Orleans County, Vermont. The family later moved to Westmore and then to Brownington. Louis and Marie would go on to have another 13 children, all but one of which would survive childhood.^[1]

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

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.

Acknowledgement:

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

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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).

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

As is always the case in attempting to research someone with a common name, the early life of James Brennan has been difficult to put together. It is known that he was born in Blackburn, Lancashire on 30 March 1883, the only son and second child of John and Lucy Brennan. His father died when he was very young and his mother remarried. Sometime in 1893 James Brennan, his mother, sister and step-sister emigrated to the United States and settled in Fall River, Massachusetts, where his step-father, James Green, had been living since his arrival a few years earlier. There James and Lucy Green had four more children. When they were old enough, most of the family went to work in the local cotton mills.^[1] James Brennan’s Canadian service record indicates that he served in the United States Army for seven years, which has not been verified. He later worked as electrician. In 1909, he married Mary Garside in Fall River; the couple had two children—a son, James, and a daughter, Dorothy.^[2]

Brennan enlisted for service with the Canadian Expeditionary Force at Montreal on 16 January 1918 and joined 1^st Depot Battalion, 1^st Quebec Regiment; he was allocated the number 3081563. After his initial training, he sailed for England on 12 February and on his arrival joined 23^rd Reserve Battalion. On 21 June, he was posted to France to the 24^th Battalion (Victoria Rifles) in 5^th Infantry Brigade, 2^nd Canadian Division. Continue reading →

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

This is a most tragic story about a young man, unsuitable for military service, who should not have been enlisted.

Henry Louis Gerow was born on 2 February 1895, the son of John and Matilda Gerow.^[1] He was the fourth of six sons and he had four sisters. His parents were from New York, where they had married and started a family before moving to Beaugrand, in Cheboygan County, Michigan. His father was a farmer and in 1917 he was killed in an accident when a pile of logs that he was taking to the mill fell and crushed him. Continue reading →

This essay is about the single First World War casualty commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Wyoming.

Fred Lewis was a British immigrant who settled with his mother and two of his sisters in Wyoming. His father was a regular soldier in the Corps of Royal Engineers and Fred was born in Alexandria, Egypt, where his father was serving, on 3 August 1894.^[1] He was the fifth of six children, and the eldest of two sons.^[2] His father was a quartermaster sergeant when died at the Station Hospital in Gosport, Hampshire in 1896. After his death the children were sent in different directions, with the youngest four attending St David’s orphanage in Mumbles, Glamorganshire. Fred’s movements over the next decade are not known.

His elder sister, Alice, emigrated to the United States in 1907, destined for Big Horn, Wyoming, where she married. His mother followed in 1910; she remarried in 1916.^[3] Fred Lewis arrived in Canada on 23 December 1911 and also travelled to Sheridan County, where he became a ranch hand. His sister, Ethel, joined them in October 1912. Continue reading →

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

Michael Francis Moynihan served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force under the name Francis Henry Chapman. He was born on 24 March 1892 in South Manchester, one of the twelve children of Michael and Julia Moynahan.^[1] His parents were both Irish immigrants, and his father and most of his siblings worked in the Cheney Brothers’ silk mill in the town; Moynihan worked as a clerk and stenographer. Continue reading →

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

Winfield George Haviland was a United States citizen, whose service with the Canadian Expeditionary Force was limited to service in Canada as a result of illness. He was born on 4 February 1893 at Stamford, Connecticut, the only child of William and Eliza Haviland.^[1] His father died in 1897 and in 1900, when he was seven years old, he was sent to Connecticut School for Boys;  the establishment provided an education for juvenile offenders and orphans. Continue reading →

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

George Henry Chamberlain was born on 1 August 1894 at Orono, Maine, the son of John and Mary Chamberlain and the middle of their seven children.^[1] His family were French Canadians from New Brunswick, who had emigrated to the United States in 1888. His father was a machinist in the local mill of the Orono Pulp and Paper Co. Some of his brothers worked there too but George Chamberlain learned to drive and became a chauffeur. Continue reading →