Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthJuly 31, 1898
Place of BirthNorthampton, Northamptonshire
CountryEngland
Marital StatusSingle
Next of Kinmother, Jane Wilcox of 16 Cecil Road, Northampton, Northamptonshire, England
Trade / CallingBoot & shoe trade
ReligionChurch of England
Service Details
Regimental Number7810934
Battalion12th Machine Gun Company
ForceBritish Army
BranchMachine Gun Corps
Enlisted / ConscriptedConscripted
Address at Enlistment16 Cecil Road, Northampton
Date of EnlistmentOctober 18, 1916
Age at Enlistment18
Theatre of ServiceEgypt and India
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathJanuary 16, 1975
Age at Death76
Buried AtLake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario
Plot12E-39-2

Wilcox, Henry

Henry Wilcox was born on 31 July 1898 in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England.   He was the youngest son of William and Jane Wilcox. Siblings included Jane, Lizzie, Mercy, Elsie, Dora, John and William.   His father was a shoemaker and Henry followed in his footsteps working in the boot and shoe trade.

When Henry was called up for service in the British army on 18 October 1916 he listed a preference to serve with the ‘Canadians’.   However, he was placed in the reserve until 31 August 1917 when he was assigned to the Middlesex Regiment as a private and given the # 194038. On the 06 November 1917 Henry was transferred to the Machine Gun Corps and given the #126664.   He served in Egypt as a machine gunner  and was evaluated as being ‘thoroughly reliable, intelligent and painstaking’.   In March of 1919 Henry reattested with the Machine Gun Corps and his number was changed again to #7810934.   By December of 1919 he was a Sergeant with the 12th Battalion Machine Gun Corps serving with the European Expeditionary Force in Bombay, India. In April of 1920 he received the evaluation ‘a smart, steady, sober man –  industrious, trustworthy and well conducted’.   Henry continued to serve until 21 March 1921.

In April of 1927 Henry immigrated to Canada and under a Land Settlement grant took up farming in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.   He married Ellen Kirton in Swift Current, Saskatchewan in 1928.   They had five children: Pauline, Margaret, Douglas, Jim and Bob.   After spending some time in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan the family relocated to Kenora, Ontario  in 1950.   Henry was employed by the Canadian Pacific Railway as a gardener and retired in 1959.   He then worked for the Town of Kenora as a gardener until 1968.

Henry died on 16 January 1975 in Kenora and is buried in Lake of the Woods Cemetery.

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