2nd Battalion (Eastern Ontario Regiment), Canadian Expeditionary Force

   The 2nd Battalion Eastern Ontario Regiment, Canadian Expeditionary Force was created in response to the First World War. The battalion comprised local militia in many regions of Ontario (and even from Quebec City). Men came from as far away as Sault Ste. Marie to join in Canada’s military endeavor. Local militia gathered at Valcartier, in August 1914 and became part of the 2nd Battalion.
The original officers were drawn from the various regiments that recruited for the battalion, including the Governor General's Foot Guards of Ottawa, the 16th Prince Edward Regiment, the 40th Northumberland Regiment, the 41st Brockville Rifles, and the 42nd Regiment (Lanark and Renfrew), among others.
The battalion boarded the S.S. Cassandra from Quebec City on 22 September 1914, but sailed only as far as the Gaspé Basin, where more troops were collected. The battalion finally left the Gaspé Basin on 3 October as part of a convoy of at least 30 other ships, carrying a combined 32,000 Canadian soldiers, which would be the first of the Canadian infantry contributions to the war.
The Cassandra landed at Plymouth on 25 October, where the battalion disembarked and began rigorous training for the European battlefield.
On 8 February 1915, the battalion was mobilized for war. They sailed out of England aboard the S.S. Blackwell, bound for France. The battalion’s first taste of battle came later that month, on 19 February, when they entered the trench system at Armentières.
Their first battle was the Second Battle of Ypres, in April 1915. When the battalion pulled out of the battle, on 29 April, the final count included 6 officers and 68 other ranks killed, 4 officers and 158 other ranks wounded, and 5 officers and 302 other ranks missing, for a combined loss of 543 men.
The 2nd Battalion also fought at the battles of Ypres, St. Julien, Festubert, Pozières, Vimy (1917), Arleux, Hill 70, Passchendaele, Amiens, and Canal du Nord, to name only a few. By the end of the war, 242 officers and 5,084 other ranks had fought with the battalion. Of those, 52 officers and 1,227 other ranks were killed in action, accidentally killed, or died of their injuries.
At 8:30 on the morning of 24 April 1919, the 2nd Battalion was officially demobilized at Kingston, Ontario.

   2nd Battalion (Eastern Ontario Regiment), Canadian Expeditionary Force saw action on the Western Front as part of 1st Canadian Brigade, 1st Canadian Division.

Oct 1914 Record

Mar 1915 Report

22nd of March 1916 Orders

3rd of April 1916 Reliefs

10th of September 1916 Orders

25th Oct 1916 Reliefs

1917 Record

5th Mar 1917 Reliefs

27th of March 1917 In Corps Reserve

31st Mar 1917 Communication Trenches

16th of April 1917 Heavies Bombard Wire

Mar 1918 Record

Mar 1918 Report

11th July 1918 Operational Order

8th August 1918 Attack Made

9th August 1918 Advance Continues

13th August 1918 Special Order

8th January 1919 The Battalion moved to the Cologne area to relieve 2nd Battalion Canadian Infantry

10th January 1919 Battalion paraded at 0700 hours to move to Seelscheld area to relieve 2nd Battalion Canadian Infantry.

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There are:20 items tagged 2nd Battalion (Eastern Ontario Regiment), Canadian Expeditionary Force available in our Library

These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.

Those known to have served with
2nd Battalion (Eastern Ontario Regiment), Canadian Expeditionary Force
during the Great War 1914-1918.

Bean Edward Roy. Pte. (d.5th September 1916)
Kelly Aringo Thomas. Pte.
Learmonth VC MC. Okill Massey. Major (d.19th August 1917)
Ling Wilson Norman. Pte. (d.12th Aug 1918)
Lott Henry Middleton. L/Cpl.
Merrifleld VC MM William. Pte
Rowlands Benjamin. Pte. (d.30th Sep 1918)
Therien James. Pte (d.3rd Jan 1919)
Toogood Wilfred Alexander. Lt.

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Records of 2nd Battalion (Eastern Ontario Regiment), Canadian Expeditionary Force from other sources.

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Major Okill Massey Learmonth VC MC. 2nd Btn. (Eastern Ontario Regiment), (d.19th August 1917)

Okill Learmonth died of wounds 19th August 1917 and is buried in the Noeux-les-Mines Communal Cemetery in France.
An extract from the London Gazette, No. 30372, dated 6th Nov., 1917, records the following:- "For most conspicuous bravery and exceptional devotion to duty. During a determined counter-attack on our new positions, this officer, when his company was momentarily surprised, instantly charged and personally disposed of the attackers. Later he carried on a tremendous fight with the advancing enemy. Although under intense barrage fire and mortally wounded, he stood on the parapet of the trench, and bombed the enemy continuously and directed the defence in such a manner as to infuse a spirit of utmost resistance into his men. On several occasions this very brave officer actually caught bombs thrown at him by the enemy and threw them back. When he was unable by reason of his wounds to carry on the fight he still refused to be carried out of the line, and continued to give instructions and invaluable advice to his junior officers, finally handing over all his duties before he was evacuated from the front line to the hospital where he died."
s flynn

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L/Cpl. Henry Middleton Lott 2nd Battalion

Henry Lott was the youngest of four sons of William Abraham Lott and Elizabeth Anne York to enlist for WW1. He was born in Tamworth, Ontario 3rd Nov 1886.
Henry enlisted in the 2nd Battalion C.E.F. at Valcartier, Quebec on 22nd of September 1914. Training at Valcartier ended on 27th of September, when the troops took trains to the port in Quebec City. From here they sailed to Gaspé, where they were met by an escort of British warships. Henry and his comrades boarded the S.S. Cassandra. During World War I, the Cassandra served as a troop ship. She was part of the first Canadian troop convoy, carrying 1,199 officers and men of the 2nd Battalion (1st Brigade) and some No.2 Field Ambulance personnel, along with a cargo including rifles, ammunition, saddlery, grain and flour.
The convoy set out on 3rd of October 1914 and arrived in Plymouth on 14th October (having been diverted from the planned destination of Southampton due to sightings of German U-boats in the English Channel), and the Cassandra completed unloading on 25th of October 1914.
Private Lott was promoted to Lance Corporal on 15th of December 1914. Henry suffered a severe wound to his left upper arm, (fractured humerus) at the Somme on 9th of September 1916 and was sent to No. 4 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station for 1 week, there, two operations were performed. Then on to Boulogne, France for 1 day before being sent to the 2nd Western General Hospital in Manchester, England were he remained for 16 weeks. He was then sent to the Canadian Convalescent Hospital at Woodcote Park, Epsom for 7 weeks. Unfit for duty, Henry was sent to Liverpool where he sailed to Canada on board the H.M. Hospital Ship Essequibo on 22nd of March 1917 arriving in Halifax on the 31st. He left Quebec 7th of Apr arriving in Kingston the next day where he was admitted to the Elmhurst Convalescent Home for 3 months. Lance Corporal Lott was discharged 5th of Feb 1918 medically unfit for war service.
He married Frances Agnes Lacroix of Bogart, Hastings County, Ontario, in 1922 in Tamworth. They had 9 children, 5 boys and 4 girls. Some of the boys were in the Canadian Air Force during WWll. Henry died in March 1945 in Tamworth and is buried in the Tamworth United Church Cemetery.
Kim Proud

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Lt. Wilfred Alexander Toogood 2nd Btn. Eastern Ontario Regiment

My grandfather Alex Toogood joined the 168th Oxfords in Jan. 1916. After training in London and at Camp Borden, the 168th went by convoy on the 1st of November 1916 arriving on the 11th at Liverpool. Based at Sanderling, the 168th was ordered to be disbanded and Lt. Alex Toogood was transferred to the 39th Battalion and by January 1917 to the 6th Reserve Battalion. After more training at Cranborough, in April, 1917 he transferred to the 2nd Eastern Ontario Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Division, C.E.F.
He was severely wounded at Fresnoy (3rd Battle of the Scarpe) on 3rd of May 1917. The rest of the war was spent recovering from wounds and being medically boarded or on light duties until his discharge in 1918.

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Pte James Therien 2nd Pioneer Battalion (d.3rd Jan 1919)

James Therien was born 14 Jan 1893 in Mattawa, Ontario, Canada. He was married with three children. James, himself, was the second of seven children (five female, two male). He volunteered for service and was attested on the 12th of October 1915 in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. He was treated by 5th Canadian Field Ambulance in Nov 1916 for bronchitis, then admitted to 11th General Hospital 15th of Aug 17 with a gun shot wound to the head. Over the following eight months, he was transferred to King George Hospital in London, England (twice), 16th Canadian General Hospital in Orpington, Kent, England (twice) and 5th Canadian General Hospital in Kirkdale, Lancashire, England before being invalided out to Canada in May 1918.
In Jun 1918, he was under treatment for paralysis, monoplegia and headaches in Toronto at the Central Military Convalescent Hospital, Spadina Military Hospital, Toronto General Hospital, then back to Central Military Convalescent Hospital, before dying of an epileptic stroke in Jan 1919. He never returned to Sudbury or Mattawa.
Paul Broadbent

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Pte. Aringo Thomas Kelly 2nd Battalion

Aringo was born in Brockville, Ontario. He became a machinist and toolmaker in civilian life, having served in the Canadian Mounted Rifles in South Africa from 1902.
He enlisted in the 2nd Battalion, CEF, the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force. He was 33 years of age, 5'6", with brown hair and blue eyes, he possessed a distinguishing tattoo on his left arm.
Later, having initially been unofficially reported as missing in action, when records came to light, he became an official Prisoner of War in Giessen, on the banks of the Lahn river, north of Frankfurt, Germany and was later moved to Stuttgart, which had two camps, one in the city in an abandoned factory building, the other in a disused factory three miles outside and, just before Christmas [unknown year] he was transferred to Rest Camp, Dover, before being returned home to Ottawa.
Paul G Pratt

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Pte. Edward Roy Bean 2nd Battalion (d.5th September 1916)

Roy Bean, was born June 22nd, 1892, in Belleville, Ontario. He grew up in Stirling, Ontario with his father John Bean. After finishing school, he worked as a farmer, until the Great War began in 1914, and he decided to enlist in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces. After signing the attestation papers on September 24th, 1914, Roy joined the 2nd Battalion, Regiment no. 8066.
The CEF 2nd Battalion loaded onto the S.S. Cassandra on September 22nd, 1914, in Quebec City, Quebec. They stopped to pick up more troops at the Gasp Basin, then departed with a fleet of approximately thirty ships as the first of the Canadian infantry that contributed to the Great War. Over 32,000 Canadian soldiers were aboard those ships. The fleet reached England on October 25th, 1914 and immediately began training for battle.
The 2nd Battalions first battle was the Second Battle of Ypres in April of 1915, which was the first time chlorine gas was utilized in combat. They then went on to fight in the Battles of St. Julien, and Festubert. Though these battles, particularly his first, took many casualties, Bean was not among them and did not even require a stay in the hospital for injuries. However, in January of 1916 Bean contracted tonsillitis, and was confined to the hospital for a stint of time. Fortunately, he recovered well and was no worse for wear after the fact.
Beans final battle was the Battle of Pozieres, which took place in the summer of 1916. The battle ended on the 3rd of September, and poor Roy Bean almost made it through another battle relatively unscathed.
Unfortunately, he was wounded during the last few days of the war, and died of wounds in the hospital on September 5th, 1916. He is buried at Puchevillers British Cemetery in Somme, France. His headstone reads, in loving memory of my beloved husband killed in action, a testament from his wife Mabel Bean, who resided in Toronto. It is unclear upon reading documents when the two met, as his initial attestation papers state that he is single, but after his death his money and personal effects were sent to his wife Mabel.
Mia Hobson

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Pte. Wilson Norman Ling 2nd Btn. (d.12th Aug 1918)

Wilson Ling was executed for desertion on 12/08/1918, aged 22 and buried in Cerrsy-Gailly Military Cemetery, Cerrsy, France. He was the son of Albert E. and Fanny Ling, of 1125, Dovercourt Rd., Toronto, Ontario.
s flynn

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Pte. Benjamin Rowlands 2nd Btn. Eastern Ontario Regiment (d.30th Sep 1918)

Benjamin Rowlands, served in the 1st Battalion, Eastern Ontario Regiment, Canadian Infantry. He died age 23 on the 30th September 1918 and is remembered at Jarrow Library, he is buried in Niederzwehren Cemetery.
Benjamin was born in Stockton 1895, a native of Jarrow, son of Robert and Elizabeth Rowlands, 131 Bede Burn Road, Jarrow. In the 1911 census the family were living at 27 Elm St, Jarrow with father Robert(47) a steelworker in steel plant and mother Elizabeth(40) married for 16 years having had 6 children of whom 5 survived. Benjamin(16) the eldest appears to be a number taker at a goods yard for N.E. Railways, Robert (13), David Thomas(11) and Edward(8) are students. The youngest is Blodwin the only daughter aged 3.
Vin Mullen

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Those known to have served with
2nd Battalion (Eastern Ontario Regiment), Canadian Expeditionary Force
during the Great War 1914-1918.