Personal Details | |
Date of Birth | July 1, 1892 |
Place of Birth | Almonte, Lanark County, Ontario |
Country | Canada |
Marital Status | Single |
Next of Kin | Robert Craig (father), Arnprior, Ontario |
Trade / Calling | Trainman |
Religion | Church of England |
Service Details | |
Regimental Number | 2381391 |
Service Record | Link to Service Record |
Battalion | 76th Depot Battery |
Force | Canadian Expeditionary Force |
Branch | Canadian Field Artillery |
Enlisted / Conscripted | Conscripted |
Address at Enlistment | Kenora, Ontario |
Date of Enlistment | March 21, 1918 |
Age at Enlistment | 25 |
Theatre of Service | Canada |
Prisoner of War | No |
Survived War | Yes |
Death Details | |
Date of Death | 19561007 |
Age at Death | 64 |
Buried At | Mountain View Cemetery, Thunder Bay, Ontario |
Plot | Block 146, Row 4, Lot 173 |
Gunner William Henry Craig was the son of Robert Craig Jr. and Julia McCormick of Arnprior, Renfrew County, Ontario. Robert was born in Ontario and Julia was from Ireland. They were married on 2 July 1891 and William, their oldest child, was born on 1 July 1892 in Almonte, a small village near Arnprior. William had three brothers, Robert Harvey, Herbert Nelson and Albert Lionel, and two sisters, Annie Maria May and Margaret Jane. When the 1911 census was taken the family was living on MacDonald Street in Arnprior. Robert and the three oldest boys were all working as labourers at a local mill. Julia passed away in November 1913 and Robert remarried in 1918. His second wife, Sarah Jane Lowry (née Davis) was a widow with two daughters.
Conscription started in Canada in 1917 and single men age 20 to 34 were required to register that fall. By then William was living in the town of Kenora in northwestern Ontario where he was working for the Canadian Pacific Railway. He reported as required and his medical exam on 24 November found him fit for overseas service. He was called up in the spring and he signed his recruitment papers on 21 March 1918 in Winnipeg. William was assigned to the 1st Depot Battalion, Manitoba Regiment but a week later he was transferred to the 76th Depot Battery, Canadian Field Artillery, with the rank of Gunner. The 76th Battery trained in Manitoba and at Camp Petawawa in Ontario. William served in Canada for eight months, getting his discharge on demobilization on 2 December 1918 in Winnipeg. His brother Robert served overseas with the 1st Divisional Ammunition Column and returned to Canada in May 1919.
After the war William went back to Kenora and to his job with the CPR. He was married in Kakabeka Falls on 14 March 1923. His wife, Catherine Ingram, was born in Glasgow, Scotland and came to Canada with her mother in 1907, at age 11. Her father had arrived a year earlier and they made their home in Kakabeka Falls.
After their marriage William and his wife moved to Fort William and he had a long career with the CPR, becoming a conductor. He was a member of the Shriners, the Lake of the Woods Lodge AM and FM and the Fort William Legion. William and Catherine had two children, John and Mona Catherine. Around 1954 they moved to Winnipeg where William continued to work as a conductor for the CPR. He passed away in Winnipeg on 7 October 1956, at age 64. His funeral was held in Fort William and he’s buried there in Mountain View Cemetery. He was survived by his wife Catherine, his son John and his daughter Mona (Mrs. Jack Mountstephen). Catherine died in April 1959 and she’s interred beside her husband.
William is commemorated in the Veterans Book for the Town of Arnprior.
By Becky Johnson
Grave marker photo courtesy of Lynda Piilo.