Author's Note: During my preliminary research into the stories of Guyborough County's First World War fatalities, I came across the name "Alonzo Izzard." Born into one of the county's Black families, Alonzo served with a well-known Nova Scotia infantry battalion during the last phase of the war. This experience was a notable exception to the widely followed practice tha restricted Black enlistments to labour units.
Upon completing my work on the county's First World War fatalities, I turned my attention to stories of soldiers who had returned home and whose war experience was unique. Alonzo fell into that category, but I was unable to find out what happened to him after he returned to Canada. A breakthrough came in early 2026, when I came across a Province of Nova Scotia Delayed Birth registration for "Charles Alonzo Izzard." Partly completed in Sunderland, UK, the information matched what I had gathered on Alonzo. Further investigation finally revealed the details of Alonzo's post-war life.
According to a baptismal certificate attached to his Nova Scotia delayed birth registration, Charles Alonzo Izzard was born in Glenkeen, Guysborough County, on January 14, 1894, to Daniel Tynes and Clara Janette (Sullivan) Izzard. Alonzo’s younger brother, William Archibald “Archie,” was born on April 1, 1898, while a sister, Tressa Jane, was born on February 10, 1900. Daniel Michael “Mick”, the youngest of Alonzo’s siblings, was born on November 10, 1902.
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| Charles Alonzo Izzard (post-war - date unknown) |
Alonzo was a direct descendant of Andrew Izzard. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, around 1756, Andrew enlisted with the British Army’s wagon department during the American Revolutionary War and was part of a group of Loyalist soldiers who arrived in Guysborough in 1784. His descendants settled in Glenkeen, along the eastern shore of Guysborough Harbour, south of Boylston. Alonzo’s grandfather, Daniel Joseph “Joe” Izzard, was a well-known local fiddler.
At the time of the 1901 Canadian census, Alonzo was living in the household of David MacMaster, Manchester, where he helped with chores around the house. While his name does not appear in the 1911 census, a Grady family descendant recalls that Alonzo was living with William H. “Bill” and Eliza (Porper) Grady, Port Shoreham, at that time. He worked in the inshore fishery with the Gradys and did chores around the family farm. Alonzo soon became friends with Bill and Eliza’s son Gordon Elmer. Born on February 29, 1896, Gordon later served overseas with the 25th Battalion (Nova Scotia Rifles) during the First World War.
Alonzo was “well thought of” in the local area, where he helped look after the nearby MacMaster and Cummings properties. Bill Grady’s death on March 11, 1914, the result of tuberculosis, left his widow Eliza to provide for six young children. By that time, Alonzo considered the Grady residence his home. While serving overseas several years later, he assigned $20 of his monthly pay to Eliza.
In the spring of 1918, Alonzo and his brother were conscripted into military service. Once in uniform, the brothers’ service followed different paths. Alonzo was “called up” under the Military Service Act in autumn 1917 and completed the required medical examination at Guysborough on November 10, 1917. After spending the winter of 1917-18 in Port Shoreham, he was formally conscripted at Halifax on March 6, 1918, and departed for the United Kingdom aboard SS Metagama one month later.
Alonzo’s brother Archie completed his military attestation on April 12, 1918, and headed overseas in late June 1918. He served with No. 142 Company, Canadian Forestry Corps, in the United Kingdom and France before returning to Canada in early April 1919. The unit was involved in “aerodrome construction” throughout Archie’s time in uniform.
Alonzo’s friend Gordon Grady enlisted in Halifax on May 1, 1918, and headed to the United Kingdom aboard the same vessel as Archie. In late October 1918, he was assigned to the 25th Battalion (Nova Scotia Rifles) and joined the unit in Belgium shortly after the November 11, 1918 Armistice. He spent five months in Germany with an Allied “occupation force” and five months in the UK before returning home in late September 1919.
Upon disembarking in Liverpool, England, on April 20, 1918, Private Alonzo Izzard travelled by train to Camp Bramshott, where he was assigned to the 17th Reserve Battalion. The unit provided infantry reinforcements for the 25th (Nova Scotia Rifles) and 85th (Nova Scotia Highlanders) Battalions, which were deployed in France at the time of Alonzo’s arrival.
Briefly hospitalized with mumps shortly after his overseas arrival and influenza in August 1918, Alonzo proceeded to France on September 11, 1918, and joined the 85th Battalion in the field one week later. The Allied “100 Days” campaign that led to the November 11 Armistice had commenced in early August. The 85th suffered significant losses during the Battle of Arras (August 25 - September 3, 1918) and was rebuilding its ranks in preparation for a return to the front lines when Alonzo arrived in camp.
Alonzo logged his first combat experience at Canal du Nord (September 27 - October 1, 1918) and came through the fighting without injury. The 85th withdrew from the front lines after the battle and spent three weeks training before returning to active duty on the night of October 22/23. As its soldiers made their way to positions near Canal de l’Escaut, on the western outskirts of Valenciennes, France, a German artillery shell landed in the midst of “C” Company, killing four soldiers and wounding three others.
Upon settling into the line, the 85th found itself in a hotly contested area, near a heavily defended, German-held bridge across the canal. At 2000 hours October 23, “B” Company moved forward with orders to secure the approaches to the structure. While supported by a light artillery barrage, the soldiers immediately encountered heavy artillery, machine gun and mortar fire. Undeterred, the attacking force managed to establish a bridgehead at the southern crossing into Valenciennes.
During the operation, one soldier was killed and 13 others wounded, including the 85th’s Commanding Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel J. L. Ralston. It was the fourth occasion on which he had been struck by enemy fire. Alonzo was among the men admitted to No. 12 Canadian Field Ambulance on October 23, having received a shrapnel wound to his left shoulder. It is not known whether the injury occurred during the previous evening’s advance or the October 23 attack. His injuries proved minor and he returned to duty five days later.
Alonzo served in the line with the 85th throughout its advance to Mons, Belgium, and remained on the continent during the winter of 1918-19. On April 29, 1919, he was admitted to No. 2 General Hospital, Le Havre, France, for treatment of a laceration to his left wrist. The cause of the injury is unclear. One entry in a medical document states that he accidentally cut his wrist while travelling by train to the French port. A second entry claims that he “cut [his] knuckles on [a] bed board,” suggesting that an incident had provoked feelings of frustration or anger.
On May 4, 1919, Alonzo was invalided to the United Kingdom, where he was admitted No. 4 British General Hospital, Basingstoke. Three weeks later, he was transferred to No. 12 Canadian General Hospital, Bramshott. By that time, the cut on his hand had become infected, resulting in swelling and considerable discomfort.
Alonzo remained in hospital until mid-June, when he was transferred to a Military Convalescent Hospital in Epsom. He was discharged on June 28, only to be re-admitted to No. 16 Canadian General Hospital, Orpington, Kent, the following day. Alonzo spent another week under medical care before returning to duty on July 8.
Alonzo departed for Canada aboard SS Saxonia on August 13 and arrived in Halifax 10 days later. Discharged from military service on August 28, 1919, he returned to Port Shoreham, where he remained for an unknown period of time before heading west. His name does not appear in the 1921 Canadian census. In June 1922, Canadian military authorities dispatched his First World War service medals to Kalevala Lake, Manitoba. Located approximately 160 kilometers north of Winnipeg, the area is known for its farms and cattle ranches.
While Alonzo may have headed west in search of employment, his time there appears to have been brief. United Kingdom marriage records indicate that he married Lillian Isabel Hooper, a native of Bromley, Kent, England, in a ceremony that took place in the Parish Church, St. Mary Cray, north of Orpington, on August 2, 1924. Lillian was the youngest of 11 children—three boys and eight girls—born to Charles and Elizabeth (Whitehead) Hooper, Bromley, Kent.
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| Charles Alonzo Izzard & Lillian Isabel Hooper on their wedding day |
The circumstances in which Alonzo and Lillian met are unclear. UK family descendants state that they met during Alonzo’s time in hospital after his return from the continent. As British nationals were not part of Canadian military hospital staff, they may have met while Alonzo was a patient in No. 4 British Hospital, Basingstoke. There is no evidence that Lillian was part of the hospital’s staff. The 1921 UK census lists Lillian Isabel Hooper, age 28, born in Orpington, Kent, working as a “general domestic servant” in the home of Mostyn Randal and Katharine Eleanor Gardner, Middlesex.
At the time of their 1924 marriage, Alonzo was living at 30 Stamsby Road, London, while Lillian’s residence was listed as 250 Ladbroke Grove, London. Alonzo was working as a “seaman,” while Lillian was employed as a “domestic servant.” Lillian’s older brother, Eli James Hooper, was one of the witnesses to the ceremony.
On August 3, 1927, Lillian gave birth to a son, Charles James “Jimmy,” in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, UK. Alonzo was working as a “journeyman carpenter” at the time. By the mid-1930s, the family had relocated to Sunderland, approximately 450 kilometers north of London. While residing there, a “Mr. Jas. Elliott, Sunderland, England,” filled out a delayed Nova Scotia birth registration on behalf of Charles Alonzo Izzard.
The document appears to then have been sent to Boylston, where it was notarized by Christopher MacDonald, Guysborough Justice of the Peace. Sarah A. Anderson, a Boylston resident whose husband operated a store in the community, completed and signed the form’s affidavit portion in November 1933. While known as Alonzo or “Lon” during his time in the Boylston area, Alonzo’s UK descendants referred to him as Charles or “Charlie,” the first name on his delayed birth registration.
On February 4, 1935, Lillian was admitted to Royal Infirmary, Sunderland, for a routine procedure to address a prolapse of the uterus. Tragically, Lillian “died under chloroform which had been administered for the purpose of performing an operation.” Widowed with a young son, Charlie married Emmie Adams, a native of Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent, England, in April 1935.
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| Emmie (Adams) & Alonzo Izzard with son Alan Derek (date & location unknown) |
Emmie had a daughter, Pamela Marguerite, by a previous marriage. Alonzo and Emmie established residence in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, where Alonzo continued to work as a carpenter. Their only child, Alan Derek, was born in Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshire, on December 22, 1938. Emmie passed away there on September 3, 1975, while Alonzo died in Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Aylesbury, on May 1, 1985, at 91 years of age.
Alan Derek Izzard married Rosemary Alison King in a ceremony that took place in St. Gile’s Church, Standlake, Oxford, on October 10, 1959. The couple raised a family of two children—a son and a daughter—who still reside in the UK. A public school teacher by profession, Alan Derek Izzard passed away in Wardington, UK, on May 11, 1994. His step-brother Jimmy—the informant on Alan’s death certificate—married but did not have children. He passed away in Malden, UK, on December 1, 2007.
Special thanks to Alonzo's grand-daughter Karen, who resides in the United Kingdom and graciously provided images and information crucial to assembling the story of his post-war life.
