William Gordon Kent
William Gordon Kent was born 25 May 1898 in Lindsay ON. His parents, George and Loretta Kent had 1 other child, Pearl, who was 2 years younger than Gordon. His parents were listed as his next of kin.
He enlisted on 29 May 1916 in Bowmanville with the 235th Battalion, and was transferred to the 134th before finally being attached to the 75th Battalion in France. Before enlisting, Gordon worked for Dundas and Flavelles as a drygoods clerk.
On 3 Sept 1918 he was listed as dangerously ill with a fractured skull. The 75th Battalion war diary details the very heavy action that took place 2 Sept 1918, battling through the Droucourt line of trenches and that the battalion:
“…was to attack behind a creeping barrage at 5am next day jumping off from the sunken road the battalion had just vacated; the objective being the one laid down for the 2nd which had not been achieved. At 1230am the order received at a late hour on the 2nd was cancelled and the battalion was ordered to stand fast and await further instruction. At 1030 orders were received to move forward as aeroplanes reported that the enemy were retiring to the Canal du Nord, a distance of 4 miles west.”
After holding this position, the war diary notes that
“this position remained unaltered during the day. Our casualties were very light although subjected to enemy artillery fire, 3 other ranks only being wounded.”
Gordon spent several weeks in the No 14 General Hospital in Wimereux after being evacuated from the front on 5 September 1918 with serious head wounds. On 20 October 1918, the assistant Matron, W.C. Watson, wrote a letter to the family informing them of his serious condition, stating that “he cannot speak at all”. Gordon Kent died of his wounds on 28 October 1918 at No 14 General Hospital.
Gordon Kent is buried in Terlincthun British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. He was 19 years old.
