LEST WE FORGET 149 DAVIS, Joseph Clarence “Clare” WWI Clare was born on January 28, 1891, in Harriston, Ontario to parents William Currie and Sarah Ellen (Gorrell) Davis. He was the eldest of six children. He was helping farm in the Prosperity district (near Rocanville) when he enlisted in the Army on March 12, 1917, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Wearing glasses, his vision was an issue as was the limited extension of his right arm resulting from a hockey injury. Clare left Halifax on April 18, 1917, aboard the Northland and arrived in Liverpool on April 29, 1917. He arrived in France on January 26, 1918, with the Canadian Forestry Corps, No. 10 Training Depot for twelve months. He was discharged on March 29, 1919, and returned to farming in Rocanville. He later moved to town and lived with his sister Mabel until his death on December 1, 1953. He is buried at the Webster Cemetery in Rocanville, Saskatchewan. DAVIS, Ralph Edwin WWI Ralph was born on May 1, 1893, in Salford, Lancashire, England. His parents were Ralph and Elizabeth (Devereaux) Hovey. Ralph was the second oldest of six children. Ralph arrived in Canada aboard the Tunisian in May 1904 and the details of why he ended up in Saskatchewan are not known. He travelled to California at the age of sixteen and worked on construction and then joined the American Navy for three years prior to enlisting in Moosomin on December 22, 1914, with the 1st Canadian Pioneer Battalion. He gave his occupation as “sailor”, his father as “Ralph Davis”, and his address as Welwyn, Saskatchewan. Ralph left Montreal aboard the Metagama on November 20, 1915. On March 9, 1916, he embarked for France and was hospitalized for shell shock in 1916 and influenza in 1918. His records state that he was in France for 33and-a-half months, but he had frequent health issues with neurasthenia. He returned to Canada on leave from March 1 to March 14, 1919, to go to Welwyn, Saskatchewan. He was entitled to wear one gold casualty badge and four blue service chevrons. He was discharged in Regina on March 15, 1919. After the war, he went by Ralph Hovey. Ralph married Minnie King in 1920 in England and they raised a family of four children, two girls and two boys, in the Welland area in Ontario. Ralph died in 1974 and he is buried in the Niagara Cemetery.
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