Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 75 World War I Veterans from Mahone Bay, NS continued.... ERNST, William Gordon, PC, MC and bar, KC William was born on October 18, 1897 and enlisted in the 193rd Battalion on April 4, 1916 in Windsor. Upon enlisting he noted that he had been born in Mahone Bay; was a student at Kings College; and that his next of kin was his father, E.A. Ernst of Mahone Bay. William would end the war as a captain. He served at the front with the 85th Battalion and was wounded on August 17, 1917, again in April and in May 1918. William was awarded the Military Cross with Bar for bravery in the field – twice. Citation: 17 May 1918: For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. This officer organized and carried out a night raid for identification purposes. Finding his original objective unoccupied, he pushed along the enemy's front-line trench for 200 yards with only 3 men until he met an enemy post. A bombing fight ensued, in which two of the enemy were killed and one wounded and identification was procured. He was wounded the next day on a reconnaissance patrol. Citation for second award – 5 November 1918: For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty throughout the Valenciennes operations from 1st to 6th November, 1918, during which he made an extremely dangerous and difficult reconnaissance, which required the utmost skill and daring, and resulted in information which ensured the complete success of the attack by the battalion on Quarouble on the 5th November. After the war he earned a BA from Kings College, was a Rhodes Scholar in Oxford in 1921 and graduated from Dalhousie Law School in 1922. As a conservative he was elected to the House of Commons in 1926 and 1930. In 1935 he became the youngest Minister of Fisheries in the government of Canada. He was an avid sportsman and passed away suddenly in his law office on July 12, 1939. His son, Flying Officer William Burton Ernst, was a navigator in the RCAF during WWII and was killed during training in 1944. The sons of Captain John and Mary Freeman of Mahone Bay: FREEMAN, Arol Henry (3181575) Arol was conscripted into the 1st Depot Battalion of the NS Regiment on April 16, 1918 in Halifax. He declared that his mother, Mrs. Mary Freeman of Mahone Bay was his legal next of kin and that he had been born in Mahone Bay on November 21, 1899. Upon enlisting he stated that he has served 34 months in the Halifax Composite Battalion. He passed away in 1956 of a heart condition. FREEMAN, Howard Pearson (282358) Howard was only sixteen years old when enlisted in the 219th Battalion on March 10, 1916, in Mahone Bay. He lied about his age when he enlisted stating that he was born in 1899 (he was born in Mahone Bay on June 14, 1900) and declared that his mother, Mrs. Mary Freeman of Mahone Bay his next of kin. FEENER, John Edward Freeman (282371) John enlisted in the 219th Battalion on March 10, 1916 in Mahone Bay. Upon enlisting he declared that he was born in LaHave in November 1875 (in fact his real date of birth was November 8, 1873), was living in Mahone Bay and that his next of kin was his wife, Almina Feener. He was later transferred to the 246th Battalion (NS Highlanders). GABRIEL, John A. (2329410) John was born on April 3, 1889 in St. George's Bay, Newfoundland and was a lumberman living in Mahone Bay when he married Lilla Mosher of Blockhouse in 1911. He was farming in Blockhouse when he enlisted in the 1st NS Forestry Company of the Canadian Forestry Corps on April 17, 1917, in Truro. Upon enlisting he noted that his next of kin was his wife, Lillie Gabriel of Blockhouse and that he had previous service in the “Mahone Bay Howitzer Battery.”
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