Charles Henry Adams
Charles Henry Adams was born 13 October 1890 in Lindsay ON. His parents, Charles H and Hannah Adams lived at 417 Pearl Avenue, Peterborough, ON and had 4 children. Brother W.H Adams was the local manager of A.P. Footer Co Chartered Accountants, and sisters Evelyn and Elsie were listed as “living at home”. Charles was known as “Tal” to his family and friends.
He enlisted with the 106th Battalion in Winnipeg, where he had been living and working for several years as an electrical engineer. He was transferred to the 10th Battalion in France, and in the last letter written to his sister Elsie dated April 21st, he mentioned that he was recently transferred to the machine gun section.
The 10th Battalion took very serious casualties during the action at Langemarck, with several names on the cenotaph having lost their lives in that area of the war, including Captain James Nasmyth of the 10th Battalion. On the War Grave Register for Charles Adams, the circumstance of his death is clarified: “This man formed one of the crew of a machine gun stationed in a house in St. Julien at the time of the German attack at night 22/23rd April. The gun crew continued working the gun until the position became untenable and the order was given for each man to look to himself. None of the gun crew surviving or at present with the Battalion appear to have seen or heard of him since. It was, however, definitely stated by one of the survivors when the roll of the Battalion was called after the action that he had seen this soldier lying dead.” His official date of death is listed as 23 April 1915.
Charles Adams’ name is on the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing, in Ypres, France, commemorating the British and Commonwealth soldiers who were killed in the Ypres Salient of World War I and whose graves are unknown. He was 25 years old
