chrisharley9 Posted 13 November , 2005 Share Posted 13 November , 2005 Just been having a look at his attestation papers here There are 2 sets of papers with different DOBs. One set has a DOB of 31 Jan 1879 with him being attested 3 May 1916 at Fort William, Ontario. The second set has a DOB of 31 Jan 1875 with his declaration & oath being completed on 25 Apr 1916, but the magistrates certificate not being signed until 13 Jan 1917. There is also a note regarding his fittness for overseas duty. Can any one give any suggestions as to what went on here please as I'm confused. All The Best Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhill Posted 13 November , 2005 Share Posted 13 November , 2005 I cannot explain the mystery, but some extra detail might go like this: The regimental number is in the sequence issued to the 212th Battalion (Winnipeg Americans). This was part of the so-called "American Legion", meant to be made up of Americans. The fact that your fellow was not, apparently, an American is not an issue; the recruiter for the 212th was probably the only recruiter in Port Arthur at the time, so that is the unit he joined! The 212th does not seem to have been sent overseas; it was disbanded due to poor enrollments. This is not surprising since by May, 1916 all recruitment had started to dry up. The second attestation paper seems to be a copy made in Seaford in England. I can only speculate that , through some paperwork foul-up, his paperwork had not accompanied him to England and officialdom was trying to recreate it from memory. We note "97th Bn" is noted on the second paper. The 97th battalion was the "Toronto Americans" of the American Legion so it is an easy guess that the 212th men were transfered to the 97th before leaving Canada. I believe they left Canada in September, 1916. I am afraid I am resorting to speculation in a lot of this. Perhaps someone else has better references. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisharley9 Posted 13 November , 2005 Author Share Posted 13 November , 2005 James Many thanks for your answer. It all makes sense, but I will sit on it for a while to see what turns up. It looks like he was a victim of the air raid on the 1st Canadian General Hospital at Etaples on 19th May 1918. All The Best Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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