Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 55 World War I Veterans from Mahone Bay, NS continued.... GREAT WAR VETERANS OF MAHONE BAY The following list attempts to make note of all men and women of Mahone Bay and area who served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF), the full time reserve force in Canada or the US forces during the Great War of 1914 to 1918. The catchment area, used to compile this list, was established based upon Veteran lists found at the Mahone Bay Branch #049 of The Royal Canadian Legion. Approximately 60%of the names can be found on various memorial lists found at the local Legion and in some churches. Two militia units existed in the area prior to the outbreak of the war on August 4, 1914. The 75th Regiment (Lunenburg) was an infantry unit. The 'No. 1 Siege Company, CGA (Canadian Garrison Artillery) was originally known as 'Mahone Bay Company of Garrison Artillery' (1893) and was re-designated as the 'Mahone Bay Company of Garrison Artillery, CA’ (1895). Locally, the artillery unit had many names: Mahone Bay (Howitzer) Battery, Mahone Bay Brigade, No.1 Siege Battery, Composite Artillery, and Mahone Bay Artillery Battery. In 1911, it was designated as “No.1 Battery, 7th Regiment, Canadian Artillery” and in 1912 it was again re-named as “1st Siege Company, Canadian Artillery” under command of Major P. A. Ernst. ADAMS, Irvine St. Clair (733656) Irvin was the son of Henry and Mary Adams of Mahone Bay, NS, and enlisted in Lunenburg on December 29, 1915. Upon enlistment, he gave his occupation as “fisherman”. During the 2nd Battle of Arras, the Battalion sent out reconnaissance patrols on the nights of June 12 and 13, 1918. Twenty-one men would be wounded on the June 12 patrol and twenty-two men would be wounded on the June 13 action. Irvin was one of the wounded and would die of his wounds on June 14, 1918. His remains can be found in plot 2 H 22 in the Wailly Orchard Cemetery. ALBRECHT, John Frederick (1274164) John was born in Mahone Bay on December 23, 1897 and was a school teacher there before enlisting. He was the son of Mrs. Elizabeth Albrecht of Mahone Bay. John enlisted in the full-time militia of Royal Canadian Garrison Artillery (RCGA) on March 26, 1916 in Halifax and spent two years at the Sandwich Point Battery outside Halifax prior to transferring to the CEF on June 22, 1918. He was discharged in Halifax on December 21, 1918 with the rank of corporal. ANDREWS, Charles Abner (103006) Charles was the husband of EdithAndrews of Mahone Bay and the son of Charles and Eleanor (Earnst) Andrews, also of Mahone Bay. He was born in Mahone Bay on May 31, 1872 and was living there when war was declared. At age 42, he had 27 years of service in the 75th Lunenburg Regiment (militia) and had been promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1902. In mid-August, 1914, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Andrews was able to secure a permanent militia appointment to help create what would become the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF). He went overseas with the 14th Battalion in October 1914; however, there is no record indicating that he was an official member of the CEF at that time. He was returned to Canada in December 1914, as a “surplus” officer (according to a letter from Private Bruce Cameron in England, dated December 14, 1914, Andrews had turned down an opportunity to serve in a British regiment.) Andrews enlisted in the 40th Battalion of the CEF on September 13, 1915, in Val Cartier, Quebec, claiming that he was a building contractor. He served in the 40th Battalion as a major and accompanied the 17th Battalion (NS Highlanders) to England, in October 1915, as an attached acting lieutenant colonel. While in England a medical officer noted that Andrews' left arm was not functioning as it should. Andrews admitted that on September 20, 1914, while in Val Cartier, he had passed out for eighteen hours and awoke to find that his left arm was somewhat disabled. The doctors decided that he had had a slight stroke on that day and only had 50% use of his arm. He was returned home to Canada and was discharged from the CEF in April 1916. Former Lieutenant Colonel Andrews was determined to get overseas and into the fight somehow; so he enlisted as a private in the 236th Battalion (NB Kilties – Sir Sam's Own) in Fredericton on July 10, 1916, and was immediately promoted to the rank of “provisional” sergeant (he declared that he was a blacksmith by trade, but failed to declare that he had had been a senior officer in the 75th Regiment, the 40th Battalion and the 17th Battalion or that he had been to England). Somehow, he fooled the medical officer about the limited use of his left arm. He served as a sergeant in the 236th Battalion before being discharged as medically unfit in May 1917 in Fredericton. Charles Andrews never did make it to the front and passed away in 1949 in Liverpool of a heart attack.
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