LEST WE FORGET 159 HILTS, Walter James WWI Ira and Madeline Beatrice (Lindsey) Hilts came west from Collingwood, Ontario in 1889 and first settled in the Spring Creek area before moving with their eleven children to the Elgin District between Moosomin and Rocanville. Twins, Walter and William Hilts, were born in Moosomin on August 12, 1895. Walter, his twin brother, and his sister, Ina, attended Northfield School in Rocanville. Both boys were on the 1912 Rocanville hockey team. Walter listed his occupation as harness maker when he enlisted on April 18, 1916 in Moosomin with the 217th Battalion. He was hospitalized with measles in Regina on March 20, 1917. He left Halifax on June 2, 1917 aboard the Olympic. In England, he was absorbed into the 19th and 15th Reserve Battalions. He went to France on November 8, 1917 with the 46th Battalion. In his will, Walter left all his possessions to his twin brother and $20 from each pay cheque went to his younger sister, Miss Ina Hilts. Walter received a Good Conduct Badge on June 10, 1918. Private Walter Hilts was killed in action on September 2, 1918. “He was shot through the head and instantly killed by an enemy sniper’s rifle shortly after reaching the objective during an attack on enemy position near Dury.” His medals were sent to his brother, Willie; the Memorial Cross to his mother, and the scroll to his father. He is buried in the Dury Crucifix Cemetery, Pas-de-Calais, France. He is also remembered on the cenotaph at Rocanville and on a gravestone in Webster Cemetery. HILTS, William Edward “Willie” WWI William was born on August 12, 1895, in Moosomin, to Ira and Madeline Beatrice (Lindsey) Hilts who had come from Collingwood, Ontario. The family first lived in the Spring Creek District and then moved to the Elgin District (between Moosomin and Rocanville). Willie and his twin brother and younger sister Ina attended Northfield School (1908). He and his brother were on the Rocanville hockey team in 1912. Willie listed his occupation as farmer when he enlisted in Regina on June 22, 1918 with the 1st Battalion Depot. Unfortunately, after a short training in Regina, he was declared medically unfit due to valvular heart disease (heart pain/murmur on exertion) caused by childhood rheumatic fever. Unable to join his twin brother on the battlefield in France, Willie married Mabel Davis who had three brothers who enlisted with the 217th Overseas Battalion. Shortly after their marriage, in February 1922, Willie was playing hockey in Esterhazy and he died from heart issues. Walter James and William Edward are both remembered on a headstone at Webster Cemetery in Rocanville.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM0NTk1OA==