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Soldier Information Cards - World War One
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Baetz, Walter Edward
Enlisted May 1, 1916 with the 118th Battalion.
He left England for France May 26, 1917 and joined the 2nd Canadian Pioneer Battalion, which became the 5th Battalion, Canadian Engineers. He took part in the battle for Hill 70 on August 15, 1917. He proceeded to Ypres Salient and acted as stretcher-bearer at Passchendaele from October 17, 1917 to November 13, 1917. He was south-east of Arras during the enemy's drive in the spring of 1918. He landed on the Amiens front for the colossal drive of August 18, 1918 and followed the advance until August 27, 1918. He returned to the Arras front and followed up advance through Cherisy, Bourlon Wood, Cambrai, Valenciennes until the breakup on November 11, 1918.
Marched to Germany and visited most of the important cities of the Rhineland.
He was never wounded.
Born October 31, 1895.
Methodist.
He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Baetz, 85 Elgin St., Kitchener.
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Soldier Information Cards - World War One
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Baird, Robert Charles
Corporal.
Enlisted December 28, 1915 at Toronto with Signal Company of Canadian Engineers.
He transferred to 1st Tramway Company Canada and England.
Presbyterian.
Born at Galt, Ontario, March 14, 1894 and educated at the Public School and Collegiate Institute there.
He married Kate Fleming Saunders of Glasgow, Scotland.
He was discharged February 25, 1919 and lives at 203 Margueretta St., Toronto.
Mrs. R. C. Baird of Hespeler is his mother.
He served overseas from May 18, 1916 to December 20, 1918. Wounded at Amiens on August 20, 1918.
Jean M. Baird, Drawer M. Hespeler, Ontario.
Bender, Louis Cornelius
Private.
Private Louis Cornelius Bender, son of Rosina Seck (Heck, Hecke) and Adam Bender, was born on a farm just outside Bamberg, Ontario on November 11, 1887. Louis was the 7th of 10 children. He was baptised Ludwig Bender on November 20, 1887 in St. Agatha Roman Catholic Church, St. Agatha, Ontario by Rev. J. Schweitzer. Sponsors for his baptism were Louis Strauss and Maria Strauss.
Louis was working for Mr. J. Lister as a gas driller and lived in Byng, Ontario, when he enlisted in the Canadian Army on April 26, 1916. According to his Attestation Paper he was only 5' 31/2" tall, had a fair complexion, blue eyes and fair hair. His father Adam Bender is listed as next of kin.
On October 31, 1916 Louis sailed from Halifax on the S.S.Caronia. He served with the 114th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Forces in Canada, Britain and France. Private Louis Bender fought in World War I in the Canadian Infantry Central Ontario Regiment in the 4th Battalion. He was recognized by his regimental number: 739340.
Louis was killed in action on Friday, August 9, 1918, on the 2nd day of the Battle of Amiens. He was one of a Lewis Gun crew and was temporarily engaged on patrol work, when he was hit in the head by a bullet from the rifle of an enemy sniper and almost instantly killed at the Hindenburg Line. Louis was buried in Bouchoir New British Cemetery in Somme, France, Plot 2, Row A, Grave 32. He was bestowed with the British War Medal and Victory Medal. His name is on the Wellesley Cenotaph located in Linwood, Ontario.
An extended version of this biography, prepared by the students of Megan Lowe's Grade 5 class of Forest Hill Elementary School (Kitchener), is available upon request in the Grace Schmidt Room of Local History.
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Soldier Information Cards - World War One
Transcription
Bender, Louis
Private.
Killed in action.
His home was in St. Clements.
Bissett, John McKessor (also spelled MacKessor)
Private.
Service Number: 402255
Private John McKessor Bissett was born on July 8, 1892 in Aberdeen, Scotland. He enlisted at Berlin, Ontario on January 30, 1915, at age 22. His occupation was stone cutter.
He was the son of James Macdonnell Bissett and Nellie Bissett, and the husband of Edith Minerva Bissett, of Bridgeport, Ontario.
He was killed in action on August 17, 1918.
Additional information about this soldier can be found in the Grace Schmidt Room of Local History.
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Soldier Information Cards - World War One
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Bisset, John McKessor
Private.
Belonged to 1st Canadian Battalion (formerly of the 34th).
He was killed in action at Amiens August 17, 1918 at the age of twenty-six. Buried in Beaufort Cemetery, France.
He lived in Kitchener.
He was born in U.S.A. His next of kin is Mrs. Nellie Bissett, 8 Dill St., Kitchener or 146 Peter St.
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Soldier Information Cards - World War One
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Booty, George William
Private.
Wounded August 23, 1918 at Amiens.
Son of Mr. and Mrs. George Booty, 95 Spruce St., Galt, Ontario.
He enlisted with 111th Battalion November 4, 1915 with the Machine Gun Section.
Baptist.
Born May 24, 1897 and educated at Central School, Galt.
He was discharged January 21, 1919.
Cora Hutcheson, 23 Shade St., Galt.
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Bruce, Roy Berton
Private.
Enlisted March 1, 1916 at Hespeler with the 111th Battalion.
He was born in Canada and his next of kin is Mrs. Fanny Bruce, Hespeler, Ontario.
He won a Military Medal at Amiens, France while rushing a machine gun front.
He came through without a scratch and was not sick a day. He arrived in Hespeler, May 21, 1919.
George Brock Chisholm was born on May 18, 1896 in Oakville, Ontario, Canada to parents Frank Herbert Chisholm, a Canadian militia officer, and Lizzie Annette McCraney. The family had strong ties to the military and to their hometown of Oakville, which was founded by his great-great-grandfather in 1827.
On May 26th, 1915, at 18 years of age, Chisholm joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force, serving in the 15th Battalion as a cook, sniper, machine gunner, and scout. He rose to the rank of Captain, was injured once - a gunshot wound to the left thigh - and returned home in 1919. He was awarded the Military Cross for his efforts in a battle outside of Lens, France on October 18, 1917; and the Bar to M.C. in 1918 for his efforts at the battle of Amiens. The Military Cross was awarded for "conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty." He organised a defensive flank, working with a company that had lost its officers, and then later led a party to repulse a counter-attack. He showed great coolness and determination, leading his men with great skill and complete disregard of personal safety.
He earned a medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1924. He then married Grace MacLean Ryrie Chisholm, whom he had met before the war. Their daughter, Catherine Anne Chisholm, was born in 1928 in London, England, while Chilholm was on an internship specialising in psychiatry. They also adopted a son, Brock Ryrie Chisholm. After six years of general practice in Ontario, Chisholm attended Yale University where he specialized in the mental health of children.
In WWII he served as a psychiatrist dealing with psychological aspects of soldier training, before rising to the rank of Director General of the Medical Services, the highest position within the medical ranks of the Canadian Army. He was the first psychiatrist to head the medical ranks of any army in the world. In 1944, Chisholm became the first person to occupy the position of Deputy Minister of Health, which he held until 1946. Chisholm became the first Director-General for the World Health Organization in 1948, where he remained until his retirement in 1953.
In 1956 he became the honorary president of the World Federalists of Canada. He co-founded the World Federation for Mental Health and was its president from 1956-1957. In 1959 the American Humanist Association named him Humanist of the Year. In 1968 Chisholm became the first honorary president of the Humanist Association of Canada.
George Brock Chisholm, died on February 4th 1971, at Victoria's Veteran's Hospital in British Columbia due to pneumonia.
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Soldier Information Cards - World War One
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Chisholm, G. Brock
Lieutenant.
Was a student at the Galt Collegiate Institute.
He was the Military Cross with a bar.
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Drinkwater, William J.
Gunner.Enlisted December 6, 1915 with the 35th Battery.
Presbyterian.
Born in Galt, June 28, 1893, and educated there.
Single.
After serving three years overseas he has returned and lives with his mother at 177 Water St. S., Galt.
He won the Military Medal at Amiens.
He arrived in England March 13, 1916 and left March 17, 1919.
Mary Spencer, 27 Chalmers St., Galt.
Born April 5, 1896 in Birmingham, England, Harold Dudley immigrated with his family to southern Ontario in 1906. From that time until Harold enlisted in the army, the family lived in various communities including Washington (Oxford County), New Toronto (later part of Etobicoke), and Berlin (later Kitchener).
As a young man, Harold worked as a teamster. It was in September 1914, while serving with the 24th Regiment Grey's Horse militia that Harold enlisted. He joined the Canadian Infantry, Western Ontario Regiment, 1st Battalion. At this time, Harold was living on Woodside Avenue, Berlin with his parents, John Charles (who was employed at Lang Tannery, Berlin) and Mary Davies and brothers Charles, Walter, and Thomas Frank.
It was on August 9, 1918, during the Battle of Amiens, that Harold was killed. He died while on transport duty during military operations in the vicinity of Beaufort, killed by a bomb dropped from a plane. He is buried at the Cerisy-Gailly Military Cemetery, France.
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Soldier Information Cards - World War One
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Dudley, Harold
Private.
His relatives live at 54 Mill Street, Kitchener, Ontario.
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Soldier Information Cards - World War One
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Erb, William Otto
Private.
He enlisted with the 1st Central Ontario Regiment at Toronto in the service of the infantry.
He was transferred to the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles on the Amiens front.
He is a faithful adherent of the Methodist Church, New Hamburg, Ontario.
He was born January 4, 1893 in New Hamburg.
He received his education in New Hamburg, Kitchener and Kingston.
He resides at present in New Hamburg, having been discharged April 11, 1919.
His nearest of kin is Mrs. J. W. Erb, New Hamburg, Ontario.
Private Erb left for England February 14, 1918 arriving there March 4th.
On May 29th of the same year he was sent to France.
He was wounded at Cambrai, September 30, 1918.
He was sent to England during the fore part of January 1919. He sailed for Canada on the S.S. Saturnia, March 31, 1919, arriving in Toronto, April 11th and in New Hamburg April 12.
Homer K. Forrest, New Hamburg, Ontario
