Winter 1917

Pte. Lee Elburn Hodgins
Mentioned: January 4, 1917; February 22, 1917
Status: Youngest son of the late Pte. David Hiram Hodgins. He enlisted with the 77th Battalion at age 14 and transferred to the 87th Battalion. Initial reports in January suggested he had survived and was in the hospital wounded, but letters from his brother Laurence later confirmed he was killed in action on November 18, 1916, at age 14 years and 9 months. A memorial service was held for him at St. Paul’s Church.

Mr. Kilday
Mentioned: January 4, 1917
Status: A returned soldier who was noted to be spending the weekend in town visiting friends.

Pte. D. Woodsbery
Mentioned: January 11, 1917; February 8, 1917
Status: Attached to No. 2 Co., 207th Battalion in Ottawa. He placed a notice searching for a lost homing pigeon that left Shawville.

Corporal Norman Thomas Mentioned: January 11, 1917 Status: A native of Ramsay and graduate of the local high school. He won distinction on the battlefields in France after his five comrades were killed, successfully capturing Germans and escaping unharmed. He was recommended for the military medal

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Captain Dykes Bredin
Mentioned: January 11, 1917
Status: The commanding officer of Corporal Norman Thomas, who led the volunteer venture and was also recommended for the military medal.

Pte. D. R. Hornbe
Mentioned: January 25, 1917
Status: A soldier with the 4th Co., 222nd Battalion. The paper published a letter he wrote to his mother describing his troopship voyage to England and his positive impressions of the English countryside and training camp.

Pte. W. (Billy) Brooke
Mentioned: January 25, 1917
Status: Son of Mrs. C. J. Brooke of Ottawa. Captured at Langemarck and held at the Saltau prison camp in Germany, he was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment on a charge of mutiny for allegedly refusing to make munitions.

Wilfrid Tripp
Mentioned: February 1, 1917
Status: Described as one of the « town boys. » He traveled to Kingston to join the 74th Battery and was expecting to undergo training in Ottawa.

Hally Horner
Mentioned: February 1, 1917
Status: Another of the « town boys » who traveled to Kingston alongside Wilfrid Tripp to join the 74th Battery.

Sergt. J. C. Mann
Mentioned: February 15, 1917
Status: A soldier with the 249th Battalion. He was arrested at Pembroke on a charge of bigamy for allegedly marrying four different women, and was subsequently sentenced to two years imprisonment.

Pte. Harold Armstrong
Mentioned: February 15, 1917
Status: A local soldier at the front who wrote a letter to a relative recounting a harrowing escape where he was completely buried and nearly suffocated by the explosion of a « Jack Johnson » shell.

Pte. David H. Hodgins
Mentioned: February 22, 1917
Status: Father of Pte. Lee Elburn Hodgins. He enlisted in British Columbia with the 48th Battalion, served five months in the trenches, and was killed on March 11, 1916, at age 39.

Pte. Laurence Hodgins
Mentioned: February 22, 1917
Status: Brother of Lee Hodgins. He was serving at the front and wrote letters home to his father, Mr. Alex Hodgins, containing the sad news that confirmed his brother’s death.

Capt. F. C. Smyth
Mentioned: February 22, 1917; March 15, 1917
Status: An officer with the 149th Battalion. He visited his wife and young son in Shawville for a few days before expecting to depart overseas.

Private Willie Crick
Mentioned: February 22, 1917; March 22, 1917
Status: Went overseas with the 38th Battalion. Initially reported in February to be getting along well, but word later reached the town in March that he had been seriously wounded in recent severe fighting.

Private S. Harris
Mentioned: February 22, 1917
Status: Mentioned briefly as getting along well at the front alongside Willie Crick.

Pte. Loren P. Hodgins
Mentioned: March 1, 1917
Status: Second son of Mr. and Mrs. R. A. Hodgins of the 7th line. He enlisted in March 1916 with the 130th Battalion and was killed in action on February 22, 1917. A memorial service was held for him at St. Paul’s Church.

Carleton R. Wainman
Mentioned: March 1, 1917
Status: Son of Mr. and Mrs. Chas. H. Wainman and a former student at the local Academy. He enlisted with the 77th Battalion and was reported missing after the severe engagements of June 2nd and 3rd at the Ypres salient. The casualty lists updated his status to « Believed to have been killed ». 

Corporal Paul Landry
Mentioned: March 15, 1917
Status: A local soldier whose mother received a letter stating he had been promoted to the rank of Corporal. He was later listed among the wounded in the casualty lists.

Pte. Henry Howard
Mentioned: March 22, 1917
Status: The first of the community’s invalided soldiers to reach home. He suffered a badly fractured leg in an accident at the front which incapacitated him from further service. He was met at the station by a cheering crowd and presented with an address of welcome and a $25 cheque.

Austin H., Alfred J., and Gordon H. Smith
Mentioned: March 22, 1917
Status: Three brothers, sons of James Smith, who were formerly residents of Starks Corners before moving West. All three boys enlisted together in the Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve.

Pte. Clifton Woodley
Mentioned: March 22, 1917
Status: He was held as a prisoner of war in Germany for 22 months and wrote a letter to his father stating that the conditions in the prison camp had improved somewhat.

Lieut. Reid and Lieut. Manning
Mentioned: March 29, 1917
Status: Officers of the 235th Battalion (Ottawa) and 240th Battalion (Renfrew) who arrived in Shawville on a recruiting mission and took up an offertory collection for patriotic purposes.

Pte. E. Amy
Mentioned: March 29, 1917
Status: A soldier whose wife resided in the village. After being slightly wounded several months prior, his name appeared in the casualty lists as having been wounded again.

L.-Corp. Ernest Geo. Allen
Mentioned: March 29, 1917
Status: Enlisted with the 77th Battalion and was transferred to the Montreal Highland regiment. He earned his corporal stripe on the field. After serving seven months in the trenches, he appeared in the casualty lists among the wounded. His wife resided in Morehead, Que.