William Glore Knowlson
William Glore Knowlson was originally named William Glore Radway, the son of William Sumner Radway and Daisy Lee Glore. He was born 21 December 1895 in Wyoming, Ohio. His parents were married in 1892, and sometime before 1900 were divorced. In 1902, his mother married Arthur Knowlson, who officially adopted Glore shortly after the marriage and gave him his last name. The extended Knowlson family was well known throughout Lindsay and Glore would spend much of his youth in the area, living with his aunt and uncle, Robert and Charlotte Knowlson, at their home on Sturgeon Lake. His parents lived in New York City where Arthur worked in the newspaper business but came back to the area on a regular basis. Glore’s aunt Charlotte was very active in the Red Cross throughout the war, writing letters to soldiers who were prisoners of war and sending packages to the front lines, and his cousin Merritt served as a Lieutenant with the CEF.
Prior to enlisting on 26 February 1918, Glore was employed with the engineering firm of Westinghouse, Church, Kerr and Co in Cleveland OH, where he was the part of a team constructing a munitions plant. His skills as an engineer were of great value to the war effort, and he was sent to the 302nd Engineers in France a month after enlisting. In letters written home before he was killed, Glore noted the intense work that the 302nd Engineers carried out, rebuilding destroyed bridges while under fire from the enemy.
After the war in 1919, Gilbert H. Crawford wrote a history of the 302nd Engineers, and has a detailed story about the action in while Glore was killed:
As has already been noted, the village of Bazoches, on the north bank of the Vesle, held by the enemy, was a constant source of trouble for the Americans. Orders were received to capture the town and drive the Boches back from the river. To Co. "G" of the 306th Infantry was allotted this task. A squad of men from Co. "C" of the 302nd Engineers was assigned to the attacking party, for the specific purpose of bombing a supposed tunnel in the cellars of the Bazoches Chateau. This squad was made up of the following:
- Corp. Thomas F. Reilly, in charge
- Corp. Allen Stromberg
- Corp. William G. Knowlson
- Pvt. 1st Class Raymond T. Ball Pvt.
- 1st Class Arthur Georger
- Pvt. Frank Schulz
- Pvt. John Bastedo
- Pvt. Lionel Hodgkinson
- Pvt. Edward P. Morrissey
On the evening of 26th August 1918, the attacking party assembled about a kilometer northwest of St. Thibaut. Early on the morning of the 27th the attack began, covered by an intense machine gun barrage. The advance proceeded smoothly from the west toward the east. In a short time, the town was in the possession of the Americans. The engineers looked in vain for a tunnel in the Chateau. It was not there!
The American plan was to "clean up" Bazoches, and then to retire to a position south of the village until the inevitable enemy artillery fire had subsided. Everything proceed according to schedule until the latter part of the plan was put into execution. As the American troops started for their objective toward the south of the village, the enemy began a heavy counter-attack, which drove the Americans south of the river, with many casualties. Corporal Knowlson and Private Georger were instantly killed during this action.
Glore Knowlson is buried in Oise-Aisne American Cemetery, Seringes-et-Nesles, France. He was 22 years old.
