LEST WE FORGET 293 POLLARD, Marcus Smith “Mark” WWI Mark was born on August 6, 1872, in Adolphustown, Ontario, to Charles and Mary Hester (Young) Pollard. He was the oldest of nine children, six boys and three girls, but several of his younger siblings died of diphtheria before 1900. Mark married Ida May Frederick in 1894. After her death, he married Alice Victoria Garrison. He had military training with 3rd Battalion before moving west where he and his wife worked at the Imperial Hotel (1906) in Cupar, Saskatchewan. They moved to Rocanville where Mark trained with the 16th Light Horse in Moosomin. Mark and his wife operated the King Edward Hotel in Rocanville and he owned a house. He listed ‘carpenter’ as his occupation when he enlisted in Moosomin on August 12, 1914. Wanting to go overseas with an earlier (and mounted) contingent, Mark travelled to Valcartier, Quebec to enlist on September 24, 1914 and go overseas with other members of the 16th Light Horse under the leadership of J.M. Currie as part of the 5th “B” Company. (Lieutenant Currie signed his attestation papers). Mark was a tall man (5’9”) and he was relatively old for a soldier at 42 years of age. Mark’s name appears on the 5th Battalion Nominal Roll that sailed aboard the “Lapland” on October 3, 1914. It was one of the first western cavalry mounted units to head overseas with the large convoy departing the Gaspe coast. He soon went to France with the 5th Battalion on October 17, 1914. Mark suffered with chronic rheumatism from being wet and cold in the trenches near Ypres. Soon after returning to France on February 25, 1915, Mark was hit by a flying piece of metal on the upper lip and lost three teeth. He was granted a Good Conduct Badge on January 12, 1917. After serving eight months in France, he changed occupation on medical order. He became a Special Guard for the C.M.P.C. and was granted a furlough to Canada from February 27, 1918 to May 22, 1918. He was kept in Canada for duty and was promoted to Corporal (1919) and to Sergeant (1920) with the Canadian Military Police. Mark was discharged in Halifax on April 14, 1920. Mark and his wife lived in Toronto where he was employed as an elevator operator. He died on April 17, 1948, at the age of 76, at Sunnybrook Military Hospital in Toronto. He was buried in St. John’s Norway Cemetery in Toronto. PORTER, John Herbert WWI Private John Herbert Porter was born in Carrackance, Inch Island, County Donegal, Northern Ireland on January 4, 1892. His parents were Thomas and Elisa Ann (Doherty) Porter. He came to Canada in 1912, settling in Conquest area. Porter enlisted with the 1st Depot Battalion in Regina on June 27, 1918. The Armistice on November 11, 1918, meant that he never saw service overseas. He was demobilized in Moose Jaw on February 6, 1919. In 1918, he married Laura Belle Thompson. They had a son William and a daughter Abigail. In 1925, the Porters moved to Saskatoon where John lived until his passing on January 7, 1967, at the age of 72. He is buried in Hillcrest Memorial Gardens, Saskatoon.
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