LEST WE FORGET 241 MOORE, Richard WWI Richard Moore was born in Woodville, Ontario on April 19, 1891. He listed his occupation as machinist when he enlisted in Moose Jaw on May 24, 1916, at the age of 25. At the time, he was working in Conquest. He identified his next of kin as his mother Annie Smith of Udney, Ontario. A private with the 128th Battalion, he sailed from Halifax on August 15, 1916. Richard saw significant action in France, beginning December 13, 1916. Fighting with the 50th Battalion on April 11, 1917, Richard Moore was part of the offensive that took the famous “Pimple” and drove the remaining German troops behind the Oppy-Mericourt Line. Another Canadian Private, William Pecover wrote of that offensive: “Moving forward in the full light of that clouded April morning, we learned full well the nature of the great modern battlefield. The wounded, friend and foe alike, lay everywhere about in the cold, wet mud, silent and helpless in their agony or crying out for the stretcher bearers who fanned out behind the attacking waves.” Richard Moore was reported missing in action on April 16, 1917, at Vimy Ridge. The next day he was found with severe entrance and exit wounds to the humerus bone in his right arm. After hospitalization at various places in England (Bramshott, Epsom, Sheffield and Liverpool), Richard Moore was declared medically unfit on April 11, 1919 and returned to Canada. Even after two years of hospitalization and treatment, he was unable to flex the fingers on his right hand. He returned to Canada where he was an outpatient at Whitby Hospital being treated for a chronic middle ear infection. Richard Moore was discharged at the age of 28 on April 9, 1919. His discharge papers indicated his intention to live in Uptergrove, Ontario. He died on November 19, 1958. MORTON, David Samuel WWI David Samuel Morton was born on May 29, 1881, in Springbrook, Ontario to Archibald and Margaret Morton. His parents are buried in the Outlook Cemetery. (There are conflicting birth dates for David: his service record indicates 1881, while his tombstone indicates 1879.) The parents were living in the Bratton area at the time David enlisted on February 18, 1916, in Outlook at the age of 34. He was a barber at the time. He sailed overseas aboard the SS Empress of Britain, departing on May 20, 1916. Altogether, he served 15 months with the 78th Battalion in France before being hospitalized for mustard gas poisoning on August 11, 1917 at Passchendaele. After his discharge from the hospital, he returned to the front line in France where he suffered gunshot wounds to his left thigh and both hands. The Army returned him to Canada on March 9, 1918. He received his discharge papers in Regina on April 16, 1918. His service record indicated that his “general condition is not very good.” David returned home to resume his work as a barber. He married Harriet Reid of Broderick. The couple moved to Glenside where David was the Postmaster until his death on May 10, 1949. He is buried in Glenside Cemetery.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM0NTk1OA==