John William Armstrong (1883 - 1918)

Born 10 Feb 1883 in Bayham, Elgin, Ontario, Canada

Ancestors

Biography

John (age 24), son of John A Armstrong & Sarah C Brandow, married Florence Mowers (age 16) on 22 May 1907 in Aylmer, Elgin, Ontario, Canada.^[1]

Notes

Died during WWI

Alternate birth date 10 Feb 1882

Joined the military at the age of 32 years and 11 1/2 months JOHN WILLIAM

ARMSTRONG

Private

189819

58th Bn., Canadian Infantry (Central Ontario Regt.)

who died on

Sunday, 13th October 1918. Age 36.

Additional Information: Son of John and Sarah Armstrong; husband of Florence

Armstrong, of 142, Sheridan Avenue, Toronto.

Commemorative Information

Cemetery: ETAPLES MILITARY CEMETERY, Pas de Calais, France

Grave Reference/

Panel Number: LXVII. J. 24.

Location: Etaples is a town about 27 kilometres south of Boulogne. The Military

Cemetery is to the north of the town, on the west side of the road to Boulogne.

Historical Information: During the First World War, the area around Etaples was the

scene of immense concentrations of Commonwealth reinforcement camps and

hospitals. It was remote from attack, except from aircraft, and accessible by railway

from both the northern or the southern battlefields. In 1917, 100,000 troops were

camped among the sand dunes and the hospitals, which included eleven general, one

stationary, four Red Cross hospitals and a convalescent depot, could deal with 22,000

wounded or sick. In September 1919, ten months after the Armistice, three hospitals

and the Q.M.A.A.C. convalescent depot remained. The cemetery contains 10,769

Commonwealth burials of the First World War, the earliest dating from May 1915.

Hospitals were again stationed at Etaples during the Second World War and the

cemetery was used for burials from January 1940 until the evacuation at the end of

May 1940. After the war, a number of graves were brought into the cemetery from

other French burial grounds. Of the 119 Second World War burials, 38 are

unidentified. Etaples Military Cemetery also contains 658 German burials and a few

war graves of other nationalities. The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

44

This week I visited the National Archives of Canada, and reviewed the WWI Miltary

Service Records of JW Armstrong. They are no longer protected and open to the

public. I photocopied some of his documents. In particular, here is some of the more

interesting information:

He enrolled 6 Jan 1916

Trained in Canada until 3 May 1917

Arrived Liverpool 14 May 1917

Arrived France 16 Feb 1918

Monthly pay:

His military will left all to his wife Florence.

Also from his records:

Medical Form: At Dannes-Camiers (France) 20 General Hospital - "GSW [I

interprete to be gun shot wound] Right Thigh, 3 Oct 1918"

Cable Form: To Florence on 7 Oct 1918 - "Dangerously Ill"

Casualty Form: 13 Oct 1918 - "Died of wounds received in action"

Note: Penecillin wasn't invented until 1929...

A bit of history

Before JW Armstrong arrived in the 58th battalion:

According to Kevin Shackleton, the 58th arrived in France in Feb 1916. They missed

the earlier battles altogether. The 58th was in the attack that re-captured most of the

Canadian line at Mt. Sorrel June 13. They participated in several atacks on the

Somme, particularly the attack on Regine Trench Oct. 8. Then they moved to the Vimy

sector. they were in support on April 9 1917, but in the front line as the attack

continued. They were not involved at Hill 70, but were in the area. The 58th were in the

attack at Passchendaele on Oct 26, 1917 and then they held Vindictive Crossroads

north west of the village in early November. They were back in the Lens area after

that.

After he arrived:

At Amiens they led the attack on the first day and then were in reserve for a couple of

days before moving to the front before the attack wound down. At Arras they were in

the attack on the second day and stayed on the attack to the end of August. They

followed through after the Canal du Nord was crossed and were fighting in the

outskirts of Cambrai till Oct 1, 1918. That was their last action before the end of the

fighting.

Terry

More About John William Armstrong:

Medical Information: 5 foot 4 1/2 in tall chest measurment 36 in and expands to 39

Military service: died in first world war

Religion: Baptist

Sources

1. ↑ Marriage: "Canada, Ontario Marriages, 1869-1927"
   citing registration , Aylmer, Elgin, Ontario, Canada, Archives of Ontario, Toronto; FHL microfilm 1,871,704
   FamilySearch Record: KSZH-541 (accessed 25 August 2023)
   FamilySearch Image: 9Q97-Y391-XXL Image number 00906
   John W Armstrong (24) marriage to Florence Mowers (16) on 22 May 1907 in Aylmer, Elgin, Ontario, Canada.

• WikiTree profile Armstrong-1467 created through the import of NicklasReum.ged on Dec 29, 2011 by William Reum. See the Changes page for the details of edits by William and others.