Rank
Pte
Service No.
724239
Unit
Battalion “B” Coy., 20th Battalion
Died
14 May, 1916
Age 39
Age 39
Buried
Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France - IV B 22
Additional Info
William James Morrison was born 13 December 1876 in Lindsay ON to James and Eliza Morrison of Queen St., Lindsay. He was the second youngest of 5 children, 4 boys and 1 girl. In 1905 William married Annie Helena Austin, and together they had a son. After Annie died of tuberculosis in December 1916, their 7 year old son was taken in by her mother, Maria Austin, as guardian. Maria died in 1922, and no further information on the child has been found.
First enlisting with the 109th Battalion in Lindsay on 14 April 1916, before being transferred to the 20th Battalion, William arrived in France less than a month before his wife would die of TB back home. Less than 6 months later, William would also lose his life.
In the period following the Vimy offensive came what is known as the Arras offensive, where the Canadians would push their way forward and out, trying to secure scattered outposts around the area. The 20th Battalion war diary notes many working parties near the Arleux Loop, northest of Arras, going through No Mans Land, collecting and burying bodies, and fortifying trenches.
There is no specific action noted in the war diary, but at some point, William was shot 7 times in the legs, chest and neck, which is detailed in his hospital record. It is not known the date that William was shot, but by the time he arrived at No 13 Stationary Hospital, some of his more serious wounds had become very infected, and William died within hours of arriving at approximately 1015am on 14 May 1917.
William James Morrison is buried in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, France. He was 40 years old.
Attestation and other Documents (pdf, 40 pages - 18.6MB)
