Edward James Worringham Stevens
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SOLDIER DETAILS:
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Victoria Park Cenotaph
R. Laughton
Vis-en-Artois Cemetery
Commonwealth War Graves
Maple Leaf Legacy Project
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Private Stevens
is remembered on the Victoria Park Cenotaph in Milton
ON.
Private
Stevens
is buried in the Vis-en-Artois Cemetery in France.
Interestingly, he shares his grave stone with another
soldier of the Great War.
II. A. 26.
He is there with other lads from Milton.
(Google
Earth)
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SOLDIER SUMMARY:
| Private Stevens was one of the few Milton men
with a family and children that left to go and serve his new
country in the Great War. He was the son of Henry and Rachel Stevens of Milton
and the husband of Harriet
Stevens and their 3 children Neil, Bessie and Edward.
Although
the records suggest that he moved quickly to enlist (his
attestation papers show he signed up on November 12, 1914) to
the 20th Battalion (2nd Division, 4th Infantry Brigade).
At that time, the unit would have been the "1st Central
Ontario Regiment", as the organization of the 20th Infantry
Battalion was not complete.
His medical records show extended time in hospital for influenza, myalgia, bronchitis,
lumbago and scabies - reported to suffer from frequent fainting
spells. He was sent to the Canadian Casualty Training Battalion.
From there he went to the 5th Reserve Battalion and was in and
out of the 20th Battalion.
Private Stevens was killed in action during the Battle of the
Scarpe on August 28, 1918, during "Canada's Hundred
Days" and only 3 months before the end of the war. The
Canadians were moving through the Hindenburg Line to Cambrai,
along the Arras Cambrai road. The war diary of August
28th speaks of the advance on the Drocourt-Quéant Line, but
Private Stevens did not make it that far. Initial heavy
artillery fire was met by subsequent intense machine gun
fire. Almost all Officers and Section Commanders were
killed. The history reports it being a "warm bright
day" but the battalion was reduced to a composite battalion
with HQ staff, batmen and cooks fighting in reserve. |
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The soldier pages contain information
that is available from a number of resources. The following hyperlinks
are active where the information is available:
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. |
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