Remembering Pte. Vernon Earle - Died of Wounds July 14, 1916

Vernon Earle was the third of five children born to Edmund Paige and Louisa Clarke (Hadley) Earle. Louisa was a native of Mulgrave, Guysborough County. The couple was residing at Heart’s Content, NL, at the time of Vernon’s birth, but later relocated to Canso, where Edmund worked as a telegraphist with the Commercial Cable Company, Hazel Hill, and Vernon spent his childhood.

Vernon enlisted with the 48th Battalion at Victoria, BC on March 18, 1915. Percy Lumsden, a Canso native who was later killed in Belgium’s Ypres Salient on April 16, 1916, was among his initial comrades. The two parted ways after the 48th arrived in England, as Vernon was transferred to the 27th Infantry Battalion (“City of Winnipeg”) on September 10, 1915.

Vernon joined his new unit in the Belgian trenches on October 1, 1915, serving throughout the winter and spring of 1915-16 on rotation in the Ypres area. On July 12, 1916, Vernon was wounded in the stomach by machine gun fire while on a “ration party” and was evacuated to No. 3 Casualty Clearing Station for treatment. He succumbed to his injuries two days later and was laid to rest in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium.

Vernon is one of 72 soldiers whose detailed story is included in “First World War Honour Roll of Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, Volume I: 1915 - 1917,” available online from Bantry Publishing.

Remembering Pte. Courtney Williams - KIA July 13, 1916

Courtney Williams was born at Cole Harbour, Guysborough County on April 2, 1897, the third of ten children raised in the home of Elisha and Georgina (Harrigan) Williams. Inspired by his older brothers, Burt and Jim, who enlisted for overseas service in early 1915, Courtney attempted to join the 25th Battalion at Halifax in April 1915, but was rejected as medically unfit. Undeterred, he travelled to Camp Aldershot, NS in August 1915, enlisted with the 40th Battalion, and passed the initial medical examination. A bout of illness the following month, however, led to his discharge on medical grounds.

Determined to follow his two brothers overseas, Courtney enlisted for a third time on November 14, 1915, joining the ranks of 2nd Pioneer Battalion at North Sydney, NS. On this occasion, he succeeded in making his way to England and into the trenches of Belgium’s Ypres Salient, where he and his fellow “pioneers” constructed the various facilities required by infantry, artillery and machine gun units deployed at the front.

Pte. Courtney Williams' final resting place.

On July 13, 1916, 19-year-old Courtney Williams was killed by rifle grenade fire while on a work party near Dickebusch, Belgium. Initially buried near the location where he died, Courtney was later laid to rest in Dickebusch New Military Cemetery, Belgium.

Courtney is among the 72 soldiers whose detailed stories are included in “First World War Honour Roll of Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, Volume I: 1915 - 1917,” available online from Bantry Publishing.

Photograph of Courtney Williams' headstone and family information courtesy of Norma (Williams) Harrelson, Tucson, Arizona.

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.”