Hilson, Thomas Frederick

SOLDIER DETAILS:

Hilson, Thomas Frederick
Private 87th Battalion 3314330
September 30, 1918
Vimy Memorial
Born in Milton, Ontario Canada
Maple Leaf Legacy Project

Haltonville Cenotaph
R. Laughton

Vimy Memorial
Commonwealth War Graves

Private Hilson has no known grave and is remembered on the Vimy Memorial.

A record of the Milton men on the Vimy Memorial has been create on Google Earth.

Other Links:

	CEFSG Matrix Unit Information
	Library and Archives Canada 87th Battalion
	Nicholson Chapter XIV (pg 451) and Map 13

The Military Services Act was introduced by Prime Minister Borden on June 11, 1917 for all British Subjects (there were no Canadian Citizens at that time) between the ages of 20 and 45. These men were drafted into Depot Battalions and then dispersed overseas to the Reserve Battalions and then on to the front line units. For more information on Conscription see Nicholson Chapter XI.

SOLDIER SUMMARY:

Thomas Frederick Hilson was the son of John and Margaret Hilson of Milton, Ontario. Unlike many of the men from Milton, Thomas did not enlist in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, rather he was drafted in January 1918 under the Military Services Act. He was 30 years old at the time.

Private Hilson was assigned to the 2nd Depot Battalion, of the 2nd Central Ontario Regiment (not the 2nd Battalion). He arrived in England on Mary 4, 1918 where he was taken into the 8th Reserve Battalion but did not leave for France until August 19, 1918 where he was taken-on-strength to the 54th Infantry Battalion and then to the Canadian Corps Reinforcement Camp, which led to him being taken-on-strength by the 22nd Infantry Battalion on September 5, 1918. Less than a week later he was transferred to the 87th Infantry Battalion "Grenadier Guards" (4th Division, 11th Infantry Brigade) and within 2 weeks he was reported "Missing in Action" on September 30, 1918 and presumed dead.

During "Canada's Hundred Days" in the closing days of the war, the Canadian were moving quickly across France from Arras to Cambrai, then on to Amiens. On September 30, 1918 the Battle of Canal du Nord and Cambrai was intense. The War Diary of September 30th places the 87th Battalion at Bourlon Wood, south of the Arras-Cambrai Road (see Nicholson Map 13). At the end of the day there were only 4 officers and 124 other ranks left in the battalion. Private Hilson perished that day with many of his friends.

The soldier pages contain information that is available from a number of resources. The following hyperlinks are active where the information is available:

	Soldier Name: Veteran Affairs Canada, Canadian Virtual War Memorial
	Soldier Number: Library and Archives Canada, Attestation Papers
	Cemetery: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Debt of Honour Register
	Remembrance: Maple Leaf Legacy Project, Remembrance of Canada's War Dead

The summary of the service is taken from the soldier's service records, if they were available from Library and Archives Canada. A complete copy of the service record is available in electronic and paper format in the Alex Cooke Memorial Archives at the Milton Historical Society. Using that summary, combined with the key references, a summary of the events leading up to the death of the soldier has been prepared. The research information available is as noted on the Canadian Expeditionary Force Study Group web site Matrix Project as well as in the Library and Archives Canada On-Line War Diaries.

A summary of all the soldiers is contained on the Web Blog "Great War Soldiers of Milton, Ontario CANADA". Please also be sure to purchase your own copy of "Milton Remembers World War I - The Men and Women We Never Knew" by John Challinor II and Jim Dills, edited by Ken Lamb.