James Albert Higby 469228 Private “B” Company, 64th Battalion, 25th Battalion November 30, 1897 (on attestation) November 30, 1900 (actual date of birth) Yarmouth, NS August 25, 1915 18 (14 actual age) Sussex NB Yarmouth, NS 5 feet, 5½ inches Dark Hazel Brown 130 lbs. Millman Baptist Dora Hall (Mother) Yarmouth, NS January 5, 1919 at Halifax, NS (demobilization) May 9, 1980 (Arlington, Massachusetts) Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Arlington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA James was the son of Samuel Ernest Higby (b.1865) and Adorah Mae (Crowell) Higby (b.1871-1952) of Chegoggin, Yarmouth Co., NS. His father was a stove-fitter. With the death of his father, his mother remarried Harry Hall in 1913. His siblings were Mabel S. Higby (b. 1890-1919), Mildred E. Higby (1893-1918), Charles Ernest Higby (1894-1958), Ivan Vernon Higby (1895-1918), Margaret Elizabeth (Higby) Holmes (1897-1985), and John Clark Higby (1902-1977). His brother, Ivan Vernon Higby served with the 101st Infantry Regiment, 26th Division, United States Army and was killed in action in France on October 27, 1918. Another brother, Charles Ernest Higby (Service Number 734220) served with the Royal Canadian Regiment in World War I. James was one of three fourteen year old boys from Yarmouth who enlisted during World War I. He enlisted at Sussex, New Brunswick, giving his date of birth as November 30, 1897, officially aged 18. His birth date was actually January 31, 1900. He enlisted with the 64th Battalion, and sailed for France on March 31, 1916, from Halifax, arriving in Liverpool, England on April 9, 1916. At Shorncliffe Camp in England, a staging post for troops destined for the Western Front, he was transferred on June 24, 1916 to the 12th Battalion; however, on going to France, he was transferred to the 25th Battalion and joined his unit in the field on June 29, 1916. He was awarded a good conduct badge on August 25, 1917 and granted fourteen days leave to England during 1917. On July 29, 1918, the military discovering he was a minor, transferred him from the 25th Battalion to the Nova Scotia Regimental Depot at Bramshott in England and to the Young Soldier Battalion. He was returned to Canada on the SS Aquitania departing England on November 28, 1918 and arrived in Halifax on December 4, 1918. He was discharged at Halifax on January 5, 1919. James served in France with the 25th Battalion, and served with very good conduct and character while in service. At discharge he was 5 feet, 6 inches in height. Following his war service, James returned to Yarmouth where he was employed as a machinist. For a time he lived with his mother, Dora Hall, who had remarried in 1913 after being widowed. He left Yarmouth and lived in Medford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, US. He married Nellie B. (Bullerwell) Higby and they had six children. James died on May 9, 1980 at Arlington, Massachusetts. Also see: The Youngest Recruits (Yarmouth Town and County - 1914-1918)