Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthJune 7, 1891
Place of BirthUlverston, Lancashire
CountryEngland
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinEleanor Tyson (mother), 27 Oubas Hill, Ulverston, Lancashire, England
Trade / CallingStoreman for Canadian Pacific Railway
ReligionChurch of England
Service Details
Regimental Number2380600
Service RecordLink to Service Record
Battalion5th Battalion
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Garrison Regiment
Enlisted / ConscriptedConscripted
Place of EnlistmentWinnipeg, Manitoba
Address at Enlistment2054 Gallagher Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Date of EnlistmentFebruary 15, 1918
Age at Enlistment26
Theatre of ServiceCanada
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathJuly 25, 1966
Age at Death75
Buried AtLake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario
Plot11E-4-3

Tyson, Harry

Private Harry Tyson immigrated to Canada in August 1913, at age 22. The war started a year later and he was called up in February 1918. He served for ten months in Manitoba and Quebec.

Harry was the youngest son of Henry Tyson and Eleanor Holmes of Ulverston, Lancashire, England. Henry was born in Ulverston and Eleanor in the nearby village of Cartmel. They were married in 1881 and they had three children, all born in Ulverston: Eleanor Jane (1882), Alfred (1889) and Harry (7 June 1891). Eleanor Jane married Robert Gill in 1907 and they immigrated to Canada not long after that. They settled in Winnipeg, Manitoba and Alfred joined them there in 1911. Henry passed away in 1912 and the following year Harry and his mother also moved to Canada. They sailed on the SS Scandinavian in August 1913, arriving in Quebec. Their destination was listed as Winnipeg.

The war started in August 1914 and the following month Alfred returned to England, travelling via New York. When the 1916 census was taken Harry was living in Winnipeg with his sister Eleanor and her husband, and working as a storeman for the Canadian Pacific Railway. His brother-in-law Robert Gill also worked for the railroad. Conscription started in Canada in the summer of 1917 and Harry registered as required and had his medical on 24 November in Winnipeg. He was called up on 15 February 1918 and assigned to the 1st Depot Battalion, Manitoba Regiment. His occupation was railroad storeman and next of kin was his mother, who had returned to England by then. Her address was on Oubas Hill in Ulverston.

On 7 April 1918 Harry was transferred to “A” Company of the Manitoba Special Service Unit. Two weeks later the Special Service units were absorbed into the newly-organized Canadian Garrison Regiment. Harry was sent to Quebec where he served with the 5th Battalion, Canadian Garrison Regiment. The Armistice ended hostilities on 11 November and he was discharged on demobilization on 7 December in Quebec. His intended residence was Winnipeg. Sadly, his sister Eleanor Gill died a month later, on 10 January 1919, at age 37. She’s buried in Brookside Cemetery in Winnipeg.

Harry returned to his job as a storeman with the CPR, working for them for another 25 years. He was married in Winnipeg on 20 September 1928. His wife, Irene Emily Elizabeth Bacon, was born on 30 November 1903 in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. Her parents were William James Bacon and Emily Louisa Bennett. The family immigrated to Canada in June 1913, sailing on the SS Scotian, and they settled in Winnipeg. Irene had two sisters, Janet and Winnifred, and a brother Wilfred. Their father enlisted in June 1915 and he served for three and a half years in Canada, England and France, most of that time with the Canadian Ordnance Corps.

Harry and Irene had one daughter, Janet Eleanor, who was born in Winnipeg in 1937. In 1944 they moved to northwestern Ontario and settled in Laclu, a small community near the towns of Keewatin and Norman. They operated a tourist camp at Laclu and Harry also worked for the Department of Lands and Forests. They were members of the Bethesda Lutheran Church and Irene was the organist for the congregations in Laclu and Norman. She was also a piano teacher and she played piano at many local social gatherings.

Harry passed away in the Kenora General Hospital on 25 July 1966, at age 75. His funeral was held two days later and he’s buried in Lake of the Woods Cemetery. Irene spent a few years living in Victoria, British Columbia with her widowed mother. Around 1985 she moved into Pinecrest Home for the Aged in Kenora and she died there on 28 September 1999, at age 95. Their daughter Janet (Mrs. Garnet Bennett) passed away in 2002 followed by her husband Garnet in 2014. They are all buried in Lake of the Woods Cemetery.

By Becky Johnson


« Back To Soldier Biographies