Guysborough County Enlistments - July 10, 1916

Two Guysborough County natives attested for service with Canadian Expeditionary Force units on July 10, 1916. Neither return from the battlefields of the Western Front.

Roland “Rollie” Ash was born at Guysborough on September 6, 1894, the oldest of James Stanley and Esther (Parris) Ash’s 11 chlidren. Several years after Rollie’s birth, the family relocated to Antigonish, where Rollie married Reta Jackson, a native of Boston, MA, on May 27, 1915. A little more than one year later, Rollie attested for overseas service with the 106th Battalion (Nova Scotia Rifles) at Truro, NS. His younger brother, Norman, had joined the same unit four days previously.

One of a handful of infantry units to accept African Canadian soldiers into its ranks, the 106th departed Halifax for England on July 15, 1916 but was disbanded several months after its overseas arrival. Rollie and Norman were amongst a group of 106th soldiers transferred to the 26th Battalion (New Brunswick), “brigade mates” to the 15th (Nova Scotia), on September 27, 1916.

The reinforcements arrived in the 26th’s camp in early October 1916, as the unit rebuilt its decimated ranks following combat at both Courcelette and Regina Trench in the previous weeks. In mid-October, the battalion relocated to the Lens Sector, where Rollie served a regular trench rotation throughout the autumn and winter of 1916.

Private Rollie Ash was killed on January 16, 1917, while participating in a trench raid near Angres, France. His younger brother, Norman, was later killed at Hill 70, near Lens, on August 15, 1917. Neither brother’s remains were recovered from the battlefield.

The Ash brothers' names on the Antigonish Cenotaph.

Albyn R. Smith was born at St. Francis Harbour, Guysborough County on August 10, 1894. His family background remains a mystery, as Albyn was adopted by Jeffrey and Charlotte Parker, Larry’s River, sometime before 1901.

Albany enlisted with the Halifax Composite Battalion at Halifax on July 10, 1916. He was transferred to the 60th Battalion (Victoria Rifles of Canada) after arriving in England, serving with the unit in France from November 1916 until its dissolution in late April 1917.

Albyn was subsequently transferred to 5th Battalion Canadian Mounted Rifles (CMR). He served with his new unit throughout the summer of 1917, and was killed in action at Passchendaele, Belgium on October 30, 1917. His remains were never recovered from the battlefield.

Albyn Smith's name (488357) on the Menin Gate, Ypres, Belgium.

 Rollie’s and Albyn’s stories are among the 72 detailed profiles included in Bantry Publishing’s “First World War Honour Roll of Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, Volume I: 1915 - 1917.”

Guysborough County Enlistments - July 7, 1916

Two Guysborough County natives enlisted for service with Canadian military units on July 7, 1916: 

Pte. E. J. "Ted" MacIntosh

1. Edward James “Ted” MacIntosh was born at Stillwater, Guysborough County on November 29, 1898, son of William A. and Olive (Hingley) MacIntosh. Ted enlisted with the 193rd Battalion at Camp Aldershot, NS on July 7, 1916 and departed for England with the Nova Scotia Highland Brigade in October 1916. No further details on his overseas services available at present, as Ted’s service record is not yet available online. According to Ted’s son, Edward, he participated in an exhibition match against a professional boxer while serving in France—no word on how Ted performed!

Edward James "Ted" MacIntosh (post-war).

Ted returned to the Stillwater area after the war, earning a reputation as a skilled trapper, salmon fisherman and sporting guide. In fact, he held the record for the greatest weight in salmon caught by fly in one day. Ted was also an excellent shot with a rifle, a talent that no doubt served him well in the trenches.

Ted salmon fishing on the St. Mary's River.

Ted married Anna Beulah Jack on August 18, 1936, the couple subsequently raising six children—four daughters and two sons. Tragically, Ted passed away at Sherbrooke on December 24, 1942. While the primary cause of death is listed as myocarditis, the contributing factors listed on his death certificate—acute bronchitis and laryngitis—suggest that exposure to poison gas during military service contributed to his death at the age of 44.


2. George Rufus MacKenzie was born November 17, 1876 at Whitehead, Guysborough County, son of John and Susan Caroline (Grover) MacKenzie. John’s first wife, Henrietta, gave birth to two children Malcolm (1898) and William (1902), but passed away a year after her second son’s birth. In 1904, George married Clara Ethel Scranton of Manchester, sister of John Scranton, who was later killed in action in Belgium on July 5, 1916. The couple subsequently had three children—Carl (1907), Margaret/Marjory (1908) and Helen (1915).

 As George’s age and family circumstances virtually eliminated the possibility of overseas service, he enlisted with the “Home Service” at New Glasgow, NS on July 7, 1916, two days after his brother-in-law’s death in combat Sometime after the war, George and Clara relocated to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where George passed away around 1950.

Remembering Private John Samuel Scranton - Killed In Action July 5, 1916

Born at Manchester, Guysborough County on June 23, 1879, John Samuel Scranton was raised in the home of his grandparents, William and Jane Scranton. Both passed away prior to the outbreak of the First World War, at which time John relocated to Pictou County and found work in the local coal mines.

Pte. John Samuel Scranton's final resting place.

John enlisted with the 40th Battalion (Halifax Rifles) at New Glasgow on May 1, 1915 and travelled to England aboard SS Saxonia in October 1915. The following spring, he was transferred to the 25th Battalion (Nova Scotia) and joined his new unit in Belgium’s Ypres Salient on March 19, 1916. The following month, John and his comrades received their first major introduction to trench warfare when German forces attacked the 25th’s line, located in a series of mine craters near St. Eloi, Belgium. Eighteen “other ranks” (OR) were killed and 42 wounded during the three-day mid-April tour.

John survived the experience, serving with the 25th in the treacherous Ypres Salient throughout the following two months. On June 28, the 25th encamped near Dickebusch, Belgium, providing work parties, repairing the front line trenches. Artillery fire was a common occurrence during these nightly sessions, posing a constant threat to the soldiers’ safety. On July 5, 1916, Private John Scranton was killed in the line, presumably during German shelling of the sector where he was working. He was laid to rest in Bedford House Cemetery (Enclosure No. 2), Zillebeke, four miles south of Ypres, Belgium.

Bedford Place Cemetery, Zillebeke, Belgium

A detailed story of John’s family background and war service is available in First World War Honour Roll of Guysborough County, Volume I: 1915 - 1917, available online from Bantry Publishing.