Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthMay 10, 1886
Place of BirthPortland, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusMarried
Next of KinMartha Byington, wife, Kenora, Ontario
Trade / CallingTrainman
ReligionChurch of England
Service Details
Regimental Number439392
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion5th Battalion, CRT
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Railway Troops
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Date of EnlistmentJune 3, 1915
Age at Enlistment29
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathApril 6, 1956
Age at Death70
Buried AtLake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario
Plot38E-36-4

Byington, Charles Floyd

Charles Floyd Byington was born on 10 May 1896 in Portland, Leeds, Ontario. His parents were Charlotte Byington and George Warren but he was raised by his grandparents Napoleon and Ruth (Dunn) Byington as their son. Napoleon and Ruth’s children, thought as siblings to Floyd, were David (1872), George (1875-1942), Milton (1877), Charlotte (1880-1973), Johanna (1881-1960), Melbourn (1882-1962), and Napoleon (1888-1970). Charlotte later married Samuel Gunn and they gave birth to a daughter Florence (1901-1986), half sister to Floyd.

At some point after the 1911 Canada census, Floyd, along with Ruth, Melbourn, and Napoleon JR, moved to Kenora where Floyd found work as a brakeman with the Canadian Pacific Railway. On 29 March 1914, in Kenora, Floyd married Martha Ruth Moore, daughter of Andrew and Adela (Hepelle) Moore.

With occupation given as trainman and wife Martha listed as next of kin, Floyd signed his attestation papers on 3 June 1915 in Kenora. With recruitment throughout northwestern Ontario including Port Arthur, Kenora, Fort Frances, Fort William, and Dryden, the 52nd Battalion was organized and mobilized in Port Arthur. Along with a number of other local fellows, Private Charles Floyd Byington trained in Port Arthur with the 52nd Battalion before embarking from Saint John, New Brunswick on 23 November 1915 aboard the California.

Once in England the battalion trained at Witley for six weeks followed by another two weeks at   Bramshott before embarking for France on 20 February 1916. By the end of July Floyd had been appointed Lance Corporal. By mid September Floyd had been admitted to the No 3 Canadian General Hospital in Boulogne, suffering a gunshot wound to the face sustained on the 15th at the Somme. A week later he was invalided to the 3rd West General Hospital in Cardiff and then on to the Bearwood Convalescent Hospital in Wokingham.

Upon discharge from the hospital in late November of 1916, Floyd was attached to the Canadian Casualty Assembly Centre until he was struck off strength to the 5th Battalion Canadian Railway Troops at Purfleet in February of 1917. Organized that month, the battalion arrived in France on the 24th. In May Floyd was promoted to Corporal and over the course of the war was granted two leaves, one in September of 1917 and the other in July of 1918, both to Rouen. Floyd was transferred to the Canadian Railway Troops Pool in February and embarked for Canada in early July.

During the war Martha had first moved to Saskatchewan and then to Norwood Manitoba where she was living at the time of Floyd’s discharge. At some point Floyd and Martha gave birth to at least two children, a daughter Ruth and son Alfred. The family was to make Kenora their home. The 1935 Voter’s List for Kenora gave Floyd’s occupation as labourer while on the 1945 list Martha only was listed as living in the family home.

Following a lengthy illness, Charles Floyd Byington died on 6 April 1956 in Deer Lodge Hospital, Winnipeg. At the time of his death he was survived by his wife Martha, daughter Mrs Ruth Johnson, son Alfred, brother Melbourn, and sister Mrs Florence (Ture) Carlson, all of the Kenora area, as well as his brother Napoleon of Portland. With members of the Kenora Branch of the Canadian Legion acting as pallbearers, Floyd was interred in the Lake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora.

by Judy Stockham

 


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