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World War One Roll of Honour

Private Trueman Hamilton
August 21, 1917
29th Battalion C.E.F. (Tobin's Tigers)
Service Number 790876. Originally enlisted with the 131st Battalion C.E.F.
Vimy Memorial, France. Age 20
Son of Archibald Hamilton, Camp Slough R.R. 2, Chilliwack, B.C.

Trueman Hamilton was born in Rosedale, B.C. July 22, 1897 and was a farmer and member of the 104th Regiment. He joined the 131st Battalion, C.E.F. April 1, 1916 and subsequently was taken on strength by the 29th Battalion C.E.F. known as “Tobin's Tigers”, a Vancouver battalion named after its first commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel H.S. Tobin. Hamilton was reported missing in action in 1917.

 

Captain Claude Llewellyn Harris
April 9, 1917
7th Battalion C.E.F. (1st B.C. Regiment)
Arras Road Cemetery, Roclincourt, France. Age 24
Son of Thomas Middleton and Annie Harris, 14 - Rishworth St., Wakefield, England.

C.L. Harris was born at Wakefield, Yorkshire, England in 1893 and served in the British Army with the 4th Volunteer Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment. Prior to coming to Canada he played rugby for the Wakefield Union Rugby Football Club and was one of a number of players who were killed during the Great War. He was a former employee of the Bank of Montreal staff in Chilliwack. Prior to the Great War, Private Harris joined the 72nd Seaforth Highlanders of Canada in Vancouver and upon the outbreak of the war joined the 47th Battalion C.E.F. Captain Harris was leading his company during the attack on Vimy Ridge when he was killed.

 

Guillermo Fernando Harris served as William F. Harris
April 9, 1916
8th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment
Service Number 10699
Basra Memorial, Iraq
Son of William Henry and Frances Mary Harris, Chilliwack, B.C.

"William" Harris’ father was born in Liverpool, England and later lived in Peru and Chile, South America. Mr. Harris Sr. returned to England briefly until 1899 when he moved to the United States living for a short time in Missouri and Colorado. In 1901 he settled in San Francisco but following an earthquake, the Harris family, in 1906, moved to Chilliwack where they stayed until 1911. They then returned to England for two years at which time they journeyed to Australia. In 1914 they returned to Chilliwack, but moved to Vancouver in 1919. While in Vancouver Mr. Harris went to China and after his return the family moved to Snoqualimie Falls, where Mr. Harris took up permanent employment as a stickerman in a local mill. It is noted in his obituary that his son, William F. Harris born in Santiago, was killed during the First World War and it further records, "whose name appears on the Chilliwack memorial as G.F. Harris. The later was born in Chile. He was christened in Spanish which accounts for the different initials." The Cheshire Regiment lost 39 soldiers on this day.

A brother, Norman Conrad Harris served with the 14th Battalion, A.I.F. and was recommended for an award for his gallantry at Hamel Wood, France on July 4, 1918.

 

Private Harold Herne Henderson
November 6, 1917
29th Battalion C.E.F. (Tobin's Tigers)
Service Number 75500. Original member of the 29th Battalion C.E.F.
Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium. Age 24
Son of J. B. and Mary C. Henderson, 1246 Robson St., Vancouver, B.C.

Harold Henderson was the nephew of Chilliwack Doctor, J.C. Henderson. He was born in Vancouver, B.C. in 1891 and was a surveyor. When living in Chilliwack he worked, as a student, in the office of Richard Arthur Henderson, who was also killed in action. Harold joined the local militia unit, the 104th Regiment. In November 1914 he joined the C.E.F. and was severely wounded, along one side of his body, by shrapnel from head to toe but recovered from these wounds. After spending two months in hospital suffering from bronchitis, he returned to the front where he suffered a gunshot wound to the head and died later that day. Four members of his family, including Harold were lost in action overseas during the First World War.

 

Lieutenant Richard Arthur Henderson
April 11, 1917
54th Battalion C.E.F. (Kootenay) attached 11th Field Company, Canadian Engineers
Villers Station Cemetery, Villers-Au-Bois, France. Age 40
Son of John Calvin Henderson, Chilliwack, B.C.
Husband of Mary Dixon Henderson, Chilliwack, B.C.

Richard Henderson, at the beginning of the war, served at the Chilliwack Drill Hall signing on new recruits. He was a member of the 104th Regiment and originally enlisted in the 131st Battalion C.E.F.

Born in Baldwin City, Kansas, U.S.A. March 30, 1877, Richard Henderson came to Chilliwack with his parents when 8 months old. He attended public school in Chilliwack and high school in Vancouver where he excelled in mathematics. Afterwards he attended McGill University, Montreal and studied science for three years. He became a B.C. provincial land surveyor and railway construction engineer. In Chilliwack, he was a member of Ionic Lodge, No. 19, A.F. & A.M. and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. At the time of his death, he was married to Mary Dixon Henderson and they had three children. A memorial service in his honour was conducted at Cooke's Presbyterian Church, May 6, 1917. A private memorial to him is located in Little Mountain Cemetery.

 

Lieutenant Dennis Peter Hepburn
November 3, 1918
47th Battalion Battalion (New Westminster)
Service Number 790264. Originally enlisted with the 131st Battalion C.E.F.
Etaples Military Cemetery, Etaples, France. Age 21
Son of John and Isabella Thorburn Scott Hepburn, Sardis, B.C.

Hepburn was born at Shapansey on the Orkney Islands, November 19, 1897, and came to Chilliwack with his parents when he was nine years old. He was one of five sons of John and Isabella Thorburn Scott Hepburn of Sardis. Their three surviving sons [two died in Scotland] served in the First World War, Charles Scott Hepburn, who was a former member of Chilliwack’s 104th Regiment originally joined the 131st Battalion C.E.F. and was wounded in the left leg. Thomas Hepburn, of the 7th Battalion C.E.F., was severely wounded at Ypres and Dennis their younger brother died of wounds received in action at Cambrai on October 11, 1918. Lieutenant Hepburn joined the 131st Battalion and was commissioned after three years service. He died at the 20th General Hospital, Dames Camiers, France.

 

Lieutenant Geoffrey Hornby
7th Battalion C.E.F. (1st B.C. Regiment)
May 24, 1915
Vimy Memorial, France. Age 35
Son of the late Robert M. and Lucy Hornby, 1631 Robson Street, Vancouver, B.C.

Born in Shropshire, England May 29, 1880 Hornby served as a member of the South African Constabulary amd became a veteran of the second Boer War, in South Africa. Geoffrey and his brother William owned property in East Chilliwack and their parcel of 80 acres was located at the corner of Gibson and Prairie Central Roads. Hornby, one of the first officers of the 104th to go to the front wrote to the Chilliwack Progress in April 1915, "It was awful - casualties were very, very heavy and there are only about half of my men left…The boys were simply splendid. When you have been fighting side by side for a week, sharing a biscuit or tin of bully [beef], or digging a trench to get into, you begin to know all about them.". In a letter to Samuel Cawley published at the same time as Hornby's death announcement he wrote in reference to his earlier battles, "I shall never know how I got through that week at times it simply hailed lead, the shells were something awful." A memorial service was conducted for him in St. Thomas Anglican Church that was attended by several of his Masonic brethren. An alms dish in his memory was consecrated at St. Thomas' November 12, 1916 and the Geoffrey Hornby War Relief Circle was created in his honour. The Circle conducted fund raising activities that raised cash contributions and accepted material donations of socks, handkerchiefs and towels.

 

Sergeant Samuel McLean Houston
April 13, 1917
47th C.E.F. (New Westminster) Battalion
Service Number 790346. Originally enlisted with the 131st Battalion C.E.F.
Barlin Communal Cemetery Extension, France. Age 22
Son of Samuel and Catherine Houston, Chilliwack, B.C formerly Scotland.

A former member of the 104th Regiment, Houston had served in Nanaimo on home defence duty. He was wounded in the face when with the 47th Battalion, February 26, 1917, and later rejoined his battalion only to be mortally wounded. Born in Ayrshire, Scotland Houston came to Chilliwack in 1912. A younger brother, James, served as a Corporal with a unit if the C.E.F. and after his brother's death informed his parents who were living in Chilliwack the nature of Samuel's injuries. Samuel Houston was born in Ayrshire, Scotland in 1894.

 

 

 

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