Remembering Private Joseph Ernest Worth—Died of Sickness February 4, 1919

Joseph Ernest Worth was born at Ogden, Guysborough County, on October 29, 1896, the second of Katherine Ann “Kellie” (McCallum) and Edward King Worth’s 11 children. Sometime after 1911, Ernie relocated to Pictou County, where he obtained employment at the Trenton steel mill.

Pte. Joseph Ernest Worth's Headstone

On May 9, 1917, Ernie enlisted with the Nova Scotia Forestry Draft at Truro, NS. The draft’s recruits departed Halifax, NS, aboard SS Justicia on June 17, 1917, and arrived at Liverpool, England, after a 10-day voyage. Upon disembarking, Ernie and his comrades reported to the Canadian Forestry Corps (CFC) Headquarters, Sunningdale, England.

As the summer passed, the new arrivals were assigned to existing CFC units in the United Kingdom and France. On August 11, 1917, Ernie was transferred to the CFC’s No. 72 Company. The following day, he crossed the English Channel to Bordeaux, France. Two months prior to the unit’s arrival on the continent, other CFC units had commenced work in a large pine forest and wetland south of the French city.

By summer’s end, a total of seven CFC Companies were operating in No. 12 District (Bordeaux Group), enduring extremely hot conditions. In mid-September, Ernie was hospitalized for treatment of an unspecified ailment. While discharged on October 6, he returned to hospital four days later with a “slight” case of bronchitis. On November 8, Ernie returned to work alongside his No. 72 mates and experienced no further health issues during his time in France.

The CFC’s Bordeaux operations continued throughout the first 10 months of 1918. While timber harvesting activities ceased shortly after the signing of the November 11, 1918 Armistice, processing operations continued into the following month. On December 19, 1918, No. 12 District began evacuating its personnel to the United Kingdom as its Bordeaux operations gradually ceased. During the first month of 1919, equipment was dismantled and the remaining CFC soldiers departed the area.

On January 18, 1919, Ernie returned to England with the last group of No 72 Company personnel. One week later, he began to experience a “head-ache, sore chest, dry cough, [and] pain in [his limbs”—the same symptoms that had apparently occurred shortly after he arrived in France. Admitted to No. 14 Canadian General Hospital, Eastbourne, on January 29, medical staff determined that he was suffering from a combination of “Influenza and Pneumonia.”

Two days after Ernie’s admission, doctors noted “suppressed” breathing in the lower lobe of one lung. The condition spread to his second lung within 24 hours and staff soon noticed blood in his sputum. Ernie’s respiratory function quickly declined and he passed away at 3:00 a.m. February 4, 1919. Medical staff attributed his death to a combination of influenza and pneumonia. Private Joseph Ernest Worth was laid to rest in Seaford Cemetery, Seaford, East Sussex, UK.

Seaford Cemetery, Seaford, East Sussex, UK

Ernie’s story is one of 64 profiles contained in Bantry Publishing’s First World War Honour Roll of Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, Volume II: 1918 - 1937, available for purchase online at bantrypublishing.ca .