World War 1 Soldier

[#1oilman]

I thought I would post a little family history, I have posted some photos of my Grandfather James Bond, a veteran of the Great War My Grandfather emigrated to Canada from Devon England in 1913, he was one of a family of 12, 7 brothers and five sisters. On January 3 1916 he enlisted in the Canadian army in Watford Ontario and became a member of the 149th Lambtons) Battalion. He was 5 foot 2 inches tall and at the time the minimum height requirement was 5 foot 4 inches. On his medical examination papers under the heading "Any Physical Disabilities" the examining doctor wrote "yes, height, recommend assignment to Bantam Corp" he was sent to Toronto where he became part of the 216 Toronto Bantams, after basic training at Camp Borden he was sent overseas where he was assigned to the Royal Canadian Artillery DAC (Divisional Ammunition Column) in support of the 3rd Canadian Division and participated in the second battle of Passchendaele, in December 1917 he was attached to the 2nd Canadian Division until the Armistice at which time he was dispatched to Germany until his discharge on May 17th 1919. The photos show him with the Lambtons on the main street in Alvinston Ontario, at Camp Borden, with three of his brothers, Stanley Frank and Archie serving in the British army and with his team of horses named Tom and Dick taken in Belgium. Another photo shows his medals, watch and a field dressing he brought home from the war. Another shows the 216 Toronto Bantams he is 3rd from the right in the second row . Those were different times and soldiers were shown greater respect I believe as evidenced in the letter he was given by the fathers of his home town in Ontario, Inwood. I will type its contents here in case it is not legible in the photo.


First photo 416 Toronto Bantams, James Bond second row third from right
Second Photo, training at Camp Borden James bond 3rd from left
Third photo James Bond far right
Forth photo James Bond
Fifth photo James Bond with team Tom and Dick
Sixth James Bond on left with brother Stanley
Seventh photo brother Archie
Eighth photo brother Frank
Field Dressing
James Bonds WW! watch
Medals
Welcome home letter from Inwood Ontario
Inwood, Ont May 21 1919
Private James Bond.
Inwood Ontario
Dear Friend
We are glad to welcome you home from scenes of danger and hardship through which we know you have so recently passed and are also thankful to have you safely back in good health and with the same old vigor and energy for the pursuits of everyday life.
We know that the experiences that must have come to you in the performance of the duties of a soldier will have made you better fitted for the duty of private life and the sacrifices made by you and others who voluntarily enlisted in the defence of our beloved Canada will always be a mark of honor to be proudly borne throughout the rest of your lives and to all right thinking men and women will be glad to show respect.
We know that it is to young men like you who did not count the cost in going to the defense of those principles of truth and honor that the world must look for future leadership and because of this and because we feel that we cannot show too much honor and gratitude to our noble soldier boys that we have asked you to be present tonight and to accept this purse as a slight mark of appreciation and that we who will ever have your interests closely at heart may not be forgotten by you.
Signed by the Towns officials.
Also have a letter given to the troops " SPECIAL ORDER OF THE DAY" Farwell message to all ranks of the 2ND Canadian Division from their commander H E BURSTALL Major-General Commanding 2nd Division, will copy that another day.
Regards


Will Add photos tomorrow I sent them from my computer at work but they disappeared before I could post them and I don't see an option to save this to post for a later date and not being a typist don't want to have to retype

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[CINDERS]

Oilman what I do if the fritz happens is get a word document blank sheet copy the stuff you wrote on it save it to desk top with suitable heading then copy and paste it back when you have the other part of your thread ready in your case the pics its a piece of cake or you can make up an e mail same same send it to yourself (from work then C & V it) Cheers