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Wartime Heritage
ASSOCIATION
Remembering World War I
Yarmouth Connections
Name:
Edmund McConnell Lewis
Regimental Number:
283360
Rank:
Private
Regiment:
Canadian Infantry
Battalion:
219th Battalion/46th Battalion
Date of Birth:
June 26, 1898 (actual 1899)
Place of Birth:
Yarmouth, NS
Date of Enlistment:
April 3, 1916
Place of Enlistment:
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Address at Enlistment:
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Age at Enlistment:
17
Height: 5 feet, 7 inches
Complexion: medium
Eyes:
blue
Hair: dark brown
Prior Military Experience:
29th Battery, CFA (Yarmouth, NS) Recruit
Trade:
Machinist
Marital Status:
Single
Religion:
Methodist
Next of Kin:
Herbert C Lewis (Father), Yarmouth, NS
Discharged:
June 15, 1919 (Halifax)
Edmund was the son of Herbert Churchill Lewis and Roberta (Beals) Lewis. There were six children in the
family, three boys and three girls. Edmund’s second name, ‘McConnell’ was the family name of his
grandmother, Annie (McConnell) Lewis.
He completed his medical on March 23, 1916 and enlisted with the 219th Battalion on April 3, 1916. He
sailed from Halifax on the SS Olympic on October 12, 1916 and arrived in Liverpool on October 18, 1916.
On January 23, 1917 Private Lewis was taken on strength with the 17th Reserve Battalion from the 219th
Battalion. He transferred to the 161st Battalion at Witley Camp on February 8, 1917 and on April 4, 1917
transferred to the Western Ontario Regimental Depot at Bramshott.
He joined the 46th Battalion in September,1917 and crossed to
France. In January, 1918, while in the field, Edmund was “placed
under stoppage” (given a pay deduction) to make good the cost of a
pair of gloves “lost by neglect” while on active service. Again in June,
1918 he was sentenced to ten days of Field Punishment No 1 for
“while on active service, conduct to the prejudice of good order and
military discipline in that he when spoken to on parade by a Non-
Commissioned Officer replied in an insolent manner”. Field
Punishment No. 1, generally entailed labour duties and attachment to
a fixed object such as a post for two hours a day. Soldiers viewed Field
Punishment No. 1 as particularly degrading.
While in France, on September 8, 1918 he received a gun shot wound
to the right buttock and knee. He was admitted to No. 1 South African
General Hospital at Abberville for treatment and was released on
November 19, 1918. He returned to his unit on December 3, 1918.
Granted fourteen days leave to the UK on December 14, 1918 he spent
Christmas in England, returning to the field in France on January 5,
1919.
He was awarded the Military Medal on February 13, 1919. He departed England for Canada on the HMT
Adriatic arriving in Halifax on June 7, 1919. He was discharged at Halifax on June 15, 1919.
Private Lewis served in
Canada between March 24,
1916 and October 12, 1916;
in England between October
12, 1916 and September 26,
1917; and in France from
September 9, 1917 until
April 26, 1919. He was 20
years of age at discharge.
Edmund McConnell Lewis