Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthOctober 11, 1889
Place of BirthChatteris, Cambridge
CountryEngland
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinMrs. Harriet Angood (mother), 32 Aspley Road, Bedford, Bedfordshire, England
Trade / CallingFireman
ReligionWesleyan
Service Details
Regimental Number439269
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion52nd Battalion
ForceArmy
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Date of EnlistmentMay 25, 1915
Age at Enlistment25
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Decorations and MedalsMilitary Medal
Death Details
Date of Death19700628
Age at Death81
Buried AtLake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario
Plot5E-34-4

Angood, Ernest Frederick

Ernest, his mother Harriet (seated) and new wife Florence, likely taken in 1918

Ernest Frederick Angood, son of Frederick Angood (1844) and Harriet Boyden (1847), was born in Chatteris, Cambridge, England on 15th October 1889. He had several siblings, including George (1869-1951), Louisa (1877-1963) who immigrated to Australia, sister Mabel (1886, married last name Rae) who lived in Toronto, and brother Harold (1892-1974) who remained in England. Ernest immigrated to Canada around 1910, first to Winnipeg but when it was found that they would have to wait for a job there with the CPR, he and his friends took the next passenger train to Kenora where they started work immediately.

He was a member of a group nicknamed ‘the Peterborough Boys’, a nickname given to a group of young English immigrants because they were mostly from the city of Peterborough, England, or nearby communities. They lived together at the YMCA in their early years and because of their accents, were easily recognizable. He commenced employment with the CPR in Kenora as a wiper in 1910. In 1920, following the war, he was promoted to engineer at which he was employed until his retirement on November 1 1954.

In World War 1 he joined the 52nd Battalion of the Lake Superior Regiment. Ernest Angood, and the rest of the lads of the 52nd Battalion from Northwest Ontario, were sent to St. John, New Brunswick where they boarded the S.S. California on November 2, 1915, landing in England the 3rd of December 1915. At Plymouth, they received 8 weeks of training under British instructors. They were sent to France on the 20th of February, 1916. Upon arrival, they boarded a train for Belgium. While in Belgium they joined the 9th Brigade, 3rd Canadian Division. In March they were attached to the 7th Brigade in the Ypres Sector and received trench warfare instruction.

As we follow Angood’s records, we find that he had a series of health problems. By September he was diagnosed with bronchitis, and was sent to No. 8 Station hospital in Boulogne. He rejoined his unit on October 10, but by November 11th, he had an  inflammation of the connective tissue in his  right hand, and was sent to the Division Rest station. He was in and out of the hospital for the remainder of the year, with hand problems and an infection. By January, 1917 he was again with his unit and appointed Acting Sergeant with pay. In April, he was in France, and during action there was awarded the military medal for his ‘splendid example of courage.’

At Chaudierre on the night of April 16, 1917, when guiding a large party of Headquarters details from Vimy Ridge to Chaudierre Wood the enemy opened a heave barrage on the mine shaft and railway killing or wounding about 20 of the party. Sgt. Angood with Pte. J. Bell with great personal risk and by his splendid example of courage rallied the scattered party, collected the wounded under intense fire and brought the remainder of the party safely through the barrage.’ Date of Citation: Apr.24, 1917. Source: London Gazette- 3072 09/07/1917.

In researching on Ancestry family trees, it seems Ernest had a nephew, Percival Angood, who died on September 11, 1917 as a member of the British Royal Flying Corps. Sergeant Ernest Angood was granted 10 days leave to the UK on August 9th, 1917. On August 24th he received a gunshot wound to his left shoulder. This would have been during the Battle of Lens. The following description is from Wikipedia:

The Battle of Hill 70 was a localized battle of World War I between the  Canadian Corps and five divisions of the German Sixth Army. The battle took place along the Western Front on the outskirts of Lens in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France between 15 August 1917 and 25 August 1917.

The primary objective of the assault was to inflict casualties and draw German troops away from the 3rd Battle of Ypres, rather than to capture territory. To achieve this objective, The Canadian Corps executed a limited operation to occupy the high ground at Hill 70 quickly, establish defensive positions and utilize combined small arms and artillery fire, some of which used the technique of predicted fire for the first time, to repel German counterattacks and inflict as many casualties as possible. A later attempt by the Canadian Corps to extend its position into the city of Lens itself failed. The Canadians and the Germans both suffered high casualty rates, and Lens remained under German control. The German assessment of the battle was that it succeeded in its attritional objective.

The battle consisted of extensive use of poison gas by both sides, including the newly introduced German Yellow Cross shell containing the blistering agent sulfur mustard. Ultimately, the goals of the Canadian Corps were only partially accomplished. The Canadians were successful in preventing German formations from transferring local men and equipment to aid in defensive operations in the Ypres Salient but failed to draw in troops from other areas.

On September 1, 1917 he was invalided wounded as a result of this action to Setliffe, England. He spent a period of time in various hospitals and from his records, doesn’t seem to have returned to Europe. In March 1918, he was on command to the 8th Canadian Reserve Battalion in Sandling. In April, he ‘ceases to be attached from the 18th Reserve Battalion, Dibgate.’ Also in April, he was operated on at West Cliff Canadian Eye and Ear Hospital in Folkestone for a nasal obstruction. He was discharged fit for duty in Category ‘A’ on April 23rd. On a happy note, in July, 1918, he was granted permission to marry.

The next notes show that on February 19th, 1919, he was on command to CDD Buxton, and on March 8th, was on his way back to Canada aboard the RMS Minnedosa, destination Kenora, where his job with the Canadian Pacific Railway awaited him. He arrived back in Canada on March 17th, to St. John, where he had first set sail for war duty so many years before.

Ernest and his war bride Florence Waites had three children, Margaret (m. W.H. Clipperton), lived in Toronto, Joyce (m. George Weeks), lived in Windsor, and son Brian Angood (married Shirley, and had Marnie and Peter) of Winnipeg. Brian had a cottage in Keewatin, and is buried in the Lake of the Woods Cemetery. Ernest also had six grandsons and two granddaughters. He returned to England in 1924, with wife Florence for three months. He again visited in 1956, but this time alone, as a retired engineer from the CPR.

Ernest Angood was instrumental in the founding of the Great War Veterans’ Association (Canadian Legion). He was an active member of the Locomotive Engineers and the Pequonga Lodge. He was a member of Knox United Church and he and his wife were responsible for the development of the Church’s Christian Education Centre.

Ernest died on 28 June 1970 in Kenora, Ontario and is buried in Lake of the Woods Cemetery.

by Penny Beal

Research notes:

Discrepancy between Birth date on Attestation papers/ancestry record (October 11/15).
Details of Ernest’s early life in Kenora/Keewatin can be found in Common Ground: Stories of Lake of the Woods c. 2010 – ‘the Peterborough Boys in Kenora 1910-1918’ by Stan Clark
Angood, Ernest F, A/Sgt, 439269
Listed in London Gazette 30172/p6839, 06 Jul 1917
Sgt Angood won his MM for work at Vimy Ridge.
The 52nd Battalion -from website http://www.52ndbattalion.com/
Terms Military Medal: The medal is awarded to Warrant Officers, non-commissioned officers and men for individual or associated acts of bravery on the recommendation of a Commander-in-Chief in the field.

ErnestErnest Angood and Railway gangKenora group of a few of 'the Peterborough Boys' - making their own fun (before WW1) Before the War - Making their own Fun; Ernest Angood on the left, Ernie Bradley, Bill Hales, Charlie Clark "Letters From the Front" from Kenora Miner & News (January 13, 1917)Kenora Miner and News 10 October 1917"Angood Wounded" from Kenora Miner & News (October 10, 1917)"Five Young Men From Peterborough Come Back From Kenora to England To Fight For the Empire"E.F. Angood Called to Rest - from Kenora Miner & News (June 28, 1970)Kenora Legion application cardLake of the Woods Cemetery


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