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World War One Roll of Honour

 

W

Private James Watson
November 1, 1918
47th Battalion Battalion (New Westminster)
Service Number 826314. Originally enlisted with the 143rd Battalion C.E.F.
Auberchicourt British Cemetery, France. Age 42
Son of Peter Watson, Partick, Glasgow, Scotland

Born in Scotland, James "Scotty" Watson joined the 143rd (B.C. Bantams) Battalion C.E.F. He received a serious head wound on October 31st, 1918 and was recommended for the award of the Military Medal. He lived in the Vedder River area.

 

 

Private Hayward Vernon Wedrick
March 16th, 1917
47th Battalion C.E.F. (New Westminster)
Service Number 790262. Originally enlisted with the 131st Battalion C.E.F.
Vimy Memorial, France. Age 19
Son of Mr. and Mrs. A.O. Wedrick, Gull Lake, Saskatchewan, formerly of Sardis, B.C.

The 131st (New Westminster) Battalion C.E.F. accepted several enlistments from Chilliwack who were members of the Chilliwack Company of the 104th Regiment (Militia). V.V. Wedrick was one member of these enlistments.

 

Private Harold Milton White
September 29, 1917
54th Battalion C.E.F. (Kootenay)
Service Number 504873. Originally joined Canadian Engineers Training Depot
Les Baraques Military Cemetery, Sangatte, France. Age 21
Son of the Rev. James H. White, D.D., and Sarah R. White, Sardis, B.C.

Harold White died, in a Calais military hospital, from wounds received in action on September 6/7, 1917 during the battle of Lens. White originally enlisted in the 6th Battalion, Canadian Engineers from Vancouver, as evidenced by his attestation papers. However his service number though engineer’s related, is from Military District 3, #2 Cable Section, Ottawa, Ontario. Subsequently H.M. White joined a mechanical transport section, started training with motorcycles when drafted to an infantry battalion. Prior to the war, he taught in West Langley. Two brothers, George and Arthur served with Canadian Artillery during the First World War. Their father, James, was the superintendent of missions for the Methodist Church in British Columbia. A memorial service for several fallen Sardis soldiers, including Harold Milton White, was held at Carman Church, October 21, 1917.

 

Private William George Willis
October 30, 1917
72nd Battalion C.E.F. (Seaforth Highlanders of Canada)
Service Number 1015876. Originally enlisted with the 231st Battalion C.E.F.
Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium. Age 35
Parents resided at Park, Ontario
Husband to Jenette Willis, Vancouver, B.C. formerly of Chilliwack, B.C.

William Willis joined the second battalion of Seaforth Highlanders formed in Vancouver and known as the 231st Battalion C.E.F. Like many of its members, when that unit was disbanded he joined the first battalion, the 72nd. Willis was a former member of the 104th Regiment that was organized in Chilliwack and operated from the Princess Street Drill Hall. Before enlisting in the militia in early 1915 he resided in Chilliwack since 1910, and served on home guard duty until October 1916. Private Willis was married to Mrs. Jenette Willis, whose sister was married to Mr. R.H. Love of Chilliwack.  The couple had one son who was ten when his father was killed. William Willis’ parents lived in Park, Ontario but William and his two brothers next lived, for several years, at Dauphin, Manitoba prior to William moving west.

 

 

Lieutenant Arthur Stafford Wilson
August 25, 1916
2nd Battalion, Rifle Brigade
Vermelles British Cemetery, France. Age 24
Son of J. Grant and Mabel K. Wilson, Homelands, Clevedon, Somerset, England

On May 22, 1915 Lieutenant A.S. Wilson first served in France initially as a Private with the Shropshire Light Infantry. Commissioned November 18, 1915 into the Rifle Brigade, it was F.M. Collins of Edmonds, B.C. who informed the Chilliwack Progress of Lieutenant Wilson’s death. Lieutenant Wilson was a resident and property owner in the valley for some time prior to enlisting in the British Army. A sanctuary chair was donated in his memory by his parents to St. John the Baptist Anglican Church. The chair records his death near Vermelles. He is further commemorated on the roll of honour at the Parish of Clevedon Saint Andrew, Somerset, England.

 

 

 

Chilliwack Museum and Archives 45820 Spadina Avenue, Chilliwack, BC, Canada V20 1T3 [604.795.5210]