Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthOctober 26, 1896
Place of BirthOttawa, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinJohn McFarlane Craig, father, 422 Tweed Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Trade / CallingLocomotive Fireman
ReligionPresbyterian
Service Details
Regimental Number3345501
Service RecordLink to Service Record
Battalion1st Depot Battalion, Manitoba Regiment
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedConscripted
Place of EnlistmentWinnipeg, Manitoba
Address at Enlistment422 Tweed Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Date of EnlistmentMay 10, 1918
Age at Enlistment21
Theatre of ServiceCanada
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathJanuary 22, 1975
Age at Death78
Buried AtLake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario
Plot46E-13-3

Craig, Henry Hill

Henry Hill Craig was born on 26 October 1896 in Ottawa, Ontario. His father John McFarlane Craig was from Paisley, Scotland while his mother Elizabeth Hill was from Ireland. The couple married during the month of August in 1886 at the Saint Andrew Presbyterian Church in Montreal, Quebec. Settling in the Ottawa area, at the time of the 1891 census John, Elizabeth and their children were living with John’s parents, with John Jr’s occupation given as miner although he would later work as a carpenter. Children born in Ottawa were Walter Robert (1887), Christina McFarlane (1889), John McFarlane (Jack) (1891), Ellen Hill (1894), Henry, David Hill (1899), Edna Adelaide (1902), and Wilhelmina (1905). Moving to the Winnipeg, Manitoba area, children born in Manitoba were Elizabeth Hill (1908), and Thomas Alfred (1911).

With the onset of conscription in the latter part of the war, drafted under the Military Service Act of 1917 Henry was called up for service on 10 May 1918 in Winnipeg, having had his medical examination on the same day. Address given as his parents’ home in Winnipeg, his occupation was given as locomotive fireman and his father John as next of kin. Assigned to the 1st Depot Battalion, Manitoba Regiment, Henry was given a conditional leave and then was discharged from service on demobilization on 2 January 1919 in Winnipeg, rank of Private.

Henry’s oldest brother Walter enlisted in February of 1917 in Winnipeg with the No 1 Section Skilled Employees, Canadian Railway Troops. Once overseas the unit was later redesignated as the 12th (Canadian) Light Railway Operating Company, Royal Engineers on 16 March 1917 and as No 58 Broad Gauge Railway Operating Company (Canadians) Royal Engineers on 7 April 1917. He later briefly served with the 13th Battalion, CRT. Walter married Hester Bull during the 3rd quarter of 1918 in the registration district of Romford in Essex. They returned to Canada in August of 1919. Henry’s brother Jack was also drafted under the Military Service Act and served overseas with the 5th Battalion, Canadian Engineers during the last months of the war. His brother David enlisted in Winnipeg in April of 1918 and served in England with the Canadian Railway Troops Depot. During the 1st quarter of 1919, in the registration district of Lewisham, London, he married May Birkhead, the couple returning to Canada later that year.

According to a later obituary, Henry married Gladys Josephine Green on 25 October 1925 in Winnipeg. Born on 7 January 1903 in Perth, Ontario, Gladys was the daughter of David Wesley Green and Seferina Paquet. Her parents had married on 21 April 1894 in Mountain Grove, Frontenac in Ontario. With David working as a section foreman for the Canadian Pacific Railway, at the time of the 1921 census Gladys and her family were living in the Bird’s Hill area outside of Winnipeg. Gladys’ brother Percy had enlisted in Winnipeg in September of 1917 and served overseas with the 8th Battalion.

Henry and Gladys were to make Kenora in northwestern Ontario their home, giving birth to two children, daughters Grace and Georgina. Henry worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway in the Kenora Division for forty-seven years, retiring in 1962.

Henry died on 22 January 1975 in the Pinecrest Home for the Aged in Kenora. At the time of his death he was survived by his daughters Grace Faulkner of Dryden, Ontario and Georgina Phillips of Regina, Saskatchewan, three grandchildren, and siblings Ellen Carter of Mount Clemens in Michigan, USA, John of Seven Sister Falls in Manitoba, and Tom of Winnipeg. He was predeceased by his wife Gladys on 9 October 1955 in Kenora, his mother Elizabeth in 1925 and father John in 1929, both in Winnipeg, siblings Elizabeth in 1916 in Winnipeg, Wilhelmina (Harry) Almond in 1949 in Windsor, Ontario, David in 1957 in Kenora, Walter in 1960 in Winnipeg, and Edna (Lawrence) Toby in 1974 in Victoria, BC. His brothers Jack later died in 1980 in Beausejour, Manitoba and Tom in 1983 in Victoria, BC. Henry and Gladys are interred in the Lake of the Woods Cemetery in Kenora.

By Judy Stockham


« Back To Soldier Biographies