Earl Cotey
William Earle Cotey was born 21 January 1884 in Linsday ON, the youngest of 4 sons from John and Mary Cotey of Lindsay ON. He married Florence Little and together they had 2 children; Lester in 1913 and Josephine in 1914. After his death, Florence remarried and relocated to the Missouri and then California. Both of their children returned to Canada at some point, and were both married in the 1930’s in Toronto.
As a member of the 45th Victoria Regiment, Earle enlisted on 20 May 1915 in Lindsay with the 109th Battalion, and was transferred to the 38th Battalion upon arriving in England, as were several of the original 109th recruits. In his attestation paper there is a note that he was part of C Company, but also a note that he was a Bugler with the 109th.
The 38th Battalion war diary places Earle in the trenches at Vimy Ridge from Feb 17 until Feb 25th. On Feb 22, he is reported to have volunteered to participate in a major raid on German positions that resulted in 40 dead and 40+ wounded German soldiers, 6 dugouts bombed, and left wire and trenches “in bad condition”. The 38th battalion was divided into 5 parties for the raid, which left 1 officer dead and another wounded. On the 26th, 3 new officers were brought in, and the battalion was at Villers du Bois and the Bijoli line. On March 1st, fear of German counter attack was noted, as was heavy fog in the morning hours on the day that Earle Cotey was fatally wounded.
In a letter home, Earle’s friend Pte R Sandercock noted that he
“had a fine record in the 38th Bn and just several evenings previous volunteered to go on a raiding party to Fritz’s lines. About 100 men went over all told and after came back none the worse, only to get it a couple of days later. He survived for a short while after and was brought out behind the lines, where he is buried. He is buried in a little graveyard close by a quaint old French village. He is greatly missed among all the boys that new him.”
Earle Cotey is buried in Villers Station Military Cemetery just outside of Villers-Au-Bois, France. He was 23 years old.
