Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 157 continued ... of the war there were close to 100 companies working in England and France. Finlay’s company, the 28th, arrived in France only a couple of days before Finlay. He remained attached to the 28th Company in France for the rest of the war. On November 11, 1918, the day the war ended, Finlay was promoted to the rank of sergeant. His service documents indicate that he was promoted from private directly to sergeant. After the war ended, Finlay returned to Canada, via England, on the passenger liner SS Belgic. He disembarked in Halifax on April 23, 1919, and was discharged the same day. Finlay returned to Pictou County and operated his own auto mechanic business. In 1928 he married Margaret MacKenzie MacNaughton and they had one daughter together. During the Second World War, Trenton Industries, in nearby Trenton, produced artillery and naval shells. Finlay was foreman of the shell finishing department. At the time of his retirement, Finlay was employed with the Nova Scotia government in the Department of Highways. Finlay passed away on April 8, 1979 in New Glasgow. He was 85 years old. He and his wife Margaret, who died in 1997, were both laid to rest, side by side, in Castle Hill Cemetery in McLellans Brook. Pte. Thomas Graham WWI Thomas Graham was born in Sydney Mines, NS, on November 18, 1898, the son of Francis and Helen Graham. He became a coal miner at an early age. On March 13, 1916, at the age of 17, Thomas left the mines and enlisted in the 185th Battalion (Cape Breton Highlanders). He was issued the service number 877398. At the time, the 185th Battalion was mobilizing in the abandoned mining town of Broughton, near Sydney. Two months later Thomas and his new unit relocated to the large prewar military training camp at Aldershot, NS, where they joined the other battalions of the newly formed Nova Scotia Highland Brigade. After intensive training in Aldershot during the summer and early fall, the brigade departed Canada for England in October, 1916, on the RMS Olympic, a large ocean liner turned troop ship. At the end of December, 1916, two months after arriving in England, Thomas was transferred to the 193rd Battalion (Nova Scotia Highlanders), one of the other three battalions of the Nova Scotia Highland Brigade. Just after his transfer, word was received that the brigade was to be dissolved and two of the battalions, including Thomas’ 193rd Battalion, were to be disbanded and used for reinforcements for units already at the front. As a result, Thomas was transferred to the 17th Canadian Reserve Battalion at Bramshott, England. On May, 2, 1917, he was transferred again, this time to the Canadian Forestry Corps’ base camp located in Sunningdale, England, where he was soon posted to the newly formed 37th Company, Canadian Forestry Corps. The company disembarked at Le Havre, France, on May 18, 1917. Their primary job was to cut and mill timber to supply the massive amount of lumber required for the front lines. Thomas may have been transferred to the Canadian Forestry Corps, a non-combat unit, due to his young age. He was only 18 at the time. On October 4, 1918, Thomas was transferred to an infantry unit at the front. He joined the 44th Battalion (New Brunswick). They were originally recruited in Manitoba and were designated the 44th Battalion (Manitoba), but they had sustained so many casualties and since most of the new reinforcements were coming from the Maritimes, they were re-designated with the new name. Thomas was only with his new battalion a little over a month before the war ended. continued ...
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM0NTk1OA==