| Personal Details | |
| Date of Birth | August 8, 1883 |
| Place of Birth | Little Bay |
| Country | Newfoundland |
| Marital Status | Single |
| Next of Kin | James Knight, brother, Glace Bay, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia |
| Trade / Calling | Miner |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Service Details | |
| Regimental Number | 198902 |
| Service Record | Link to Service Record |
| Battalion | 94th Battalion |
| Force | Canadian Expeditionary Force |
| Branch | Canadian Infantry |
| Enlisted / Conscripted | Enlisted |
| Address at Enlistment | Kenora, Ontario |
| Date of Enlistment | February 4, 1916 |
| Age at Enlistment | 32 |
| Theatre of Service | Canada |
| Prisoner of War | No |
| Survived War | Yes |
| Death Details | |
Knight, John William
According to his attestation papers, John William Knight was born on 8 July 1883 in Little Bay, Newfoundland. He was the son of John and Mary Ann Knight, both born in Newfoundland. He had a younger brother James who was born in 1884 in Newfoundland. By the time of the 1901 census the family was living in Glace Bay, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia where John Sr and the two boys were working in the coal mine. Sadly Mary Ann died in a steam engine accident in 1913 followed by John Sr of heart failure in 1914. Both are interred in St Anne’s Cemetery, Glace Bay.
John signed his attestation papers in Kenora on 4 February 1916. His occupation was given as miner and his brother James in Cape Breton as next of kin. Organized in November of 1915 under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel H Machin and mobilized in Port Arthur, Ontario, the 94th Battalion had recruited throughout northwestern Ontario, including the town of Kenora. A crowd gathered at the Kenora train station in May to see the fellows off as they headed to Port Arthur for training. The battalion left for Valcartier, Quebec in early June before heading overseas. On 25 June, at Valcartier, John was discharged from service as medically unfit. Although he had passed the medical examination that February in Kenora, he suffered from kyphosis, an excessive convex curvature of the spine.
Details of John’s life after discharge are unknown. His brother James enlisted in November of 1914 in Glace Bay and served in Canada for the duration of the war with the 6th Battalion, Canadian Garrison Regiment.
by Judy Stockham
