Fairly frequently the Commonwealth War Graves Commission posts appeals for relatives — a search to locate the next of kin for soldiers who fell in wars. While they're usually for UK soldiers the most recent includes Private Herbert Victor Cantrill (2688544) serving with the Canadian Army Service Corps. He died on 11 October 1918. His remains are in the Coventry (Winmill Road) Cemetery where the Commission is in the process of producing a new headstone.
His service file gives an address on attestation in Trenton, New Jersey with birth in Coventry on 1 August 1892. He's found in the 1901 and 1911 censuses in England with his parents and brother, arriving in New York in October 1913, registered for the US draft in June 1917, came to Canada in July and attested immediately. As he died while shipboard enroute to England his connection to Canada was fleeting. Nevertheless, he is remembered in Canada's First World War Book of Remembrance.
I spent a few hours this morning researching Herbert Victor Cantrill and have found a 2x great niece who is descended from Herbert's brother Harry Cantrill. Info has been emailed to CWGC.
ReplyDeleteDonna Gagnon Pugh, WeGoBack family research