Personal Details | |
Date of Birth | April 10, 1895 |
Place of Birth | Stoney Lake, Peterborough County, Ontario |
Country | Canada |
Marital Status | Single |
Next of Kin | David Nixon (father), Portage la Prairie, Manitoba |
Trade / Calling | Electrician |
Religion | Methodist |
Service Details | |
Regimental Number | 2382428 |
Service Record | Link to Service Record |
Battalion | 76th Depot Battery |
Force | Canadian Expeditionary Force |
Branch | Canadian Field Artillery |
Enlisted / Conscripted | Conscripted |
Place of Enlistment | Winnipeg, Manitoba |
Address at Enlistment | Portage la Prairie, Manitoba |
Date of Enlistment | April 26, 1918 |
Age at Enlistment | 23 |
Theatre of Service | Great Britain |
Prisoner of War | No |
Survived War | Yes |
Death Details | |
Date of Death | February 16, 1961 |
Age at Death | 65 |
Buried At | Chapel Lawn Memorial Gardens, Winnipeg, Manitoba |
Plot | Garden of the Apostles, Plot 91 A3 |
Gunner Harry Jordan Nixon was 23 years old and living in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba when he was called up for service. He spent nine months overseas and returned to Canada in June 1919.
Harry was born on 10 April 1895 at Stoney Lake, Dummer Township, Peterborough County, Ontario. His parents were David Nixon and Margaret Ann (Maggie) Crowe. David and Maggie were both born in Dummer Township and they were married there in September 1888 at the home of Maggie’s father Jordan Crowe. They had six children, two daughters (Stella Elvira and Lucinda Pearl) and four sons (Ira, Harry Jordan, William and Rufus), all born in Peterborough County. Two of the children died young, Stella at age 11 and William as an infant. David was a farmer and the family was still living in Dummer Township at the time of the 1901 census but by 1906 they had moved to Manitoba. They settled in the town of Portage la Prairie and when the 1916 census was taken David was working as a teamster for a grocer. His oldest son Ira was in training at Camp Hughes. Ira had enlisted with the 222nd Battalion in April 1916 and he was sent overseas in November. Rufus also enlisted, signing up underage in October 1916, at age 16.
Conscription started in Canada in 1917 and all single men age 20 to 34 were supposed to register by that fall. Harry was working in Portage la Prairie as an electrician at the time. He reported as required and his medical exam on 15 November found him fit for overseas service. Just three months earlier, on 4 August 1917, his brother Ira had been declared missing in action in France and presumed killed.
Harry was called up for service in the spring and he signed his recruitment papers on 26 April 1918 in Winnipeg. He was assigned to the 1st Depot Battalion, Manitoba Regiment but on 2 May he was transferred to the 76th Depot Battery, Canadian Field Artillery.
Harry was sent to Petawawa, Ontario for his training and he left for England in the fall. He embarked from Quebec with the 145th Draft, 76th Depot Battery on 10 September 1918 on HMT Themistocles and they arrived in London two weeks later. He served in the UK for nine months, first with the Canadian Field Artillery Reserve Brigade then at Kinmel Park with No. 10 Wing (Manitoba), Permanent Cadre. He returned to Canada in the summer of 1919, arriving in Montreal on 28 June on the SS Saturnia and getting his official discharge on 1 July in Winnipeg.
Harry returned to Portage la Prairie after his service and he was married there on 22 March 1920. His wife, Annetta Roberts, was a 25-year-old nurse from Wales. She had arrived in Canada five days earlier on the SS Metagama, listed on the passenger manifest as going to Portage la Prairie ‘to marry Harry Nixon.’ Harry and Annetta made their home in Kenora, Ontario and he joined the Canadian Legion, Kenora branch. Around 1944 they moved to Winnipeg where he was employed at National Motors Ltd. He was a member and Past Master of Fidelity Masonic Lodge and a member of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. Harry passed away in Winnipeg on 16 February 1961, at age 65, and he’s buried at Chapel Lawn Memorial Gardens. He was survived by his wife and one sister, Mrs. Edward (Lucinda Pearl) Campbell of Winnipeg.
By Becky Johnson