Robert Norman Bittle was born to Mr. and Mrs. John Bittle on August 31st 1892 in Guelph, Ontario. The young Robert, a pale blue-eyed boy with dark brown hair was baptized in the Church of England. His parents later moved to Toronto, but Robert stayed and was working in Guelph as a bookkeeper when the First World War broke out.
With no prior military or militia experience on September 22nd 1914 he volunteered to join the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He travelled with 1st Canadian Infantry and fought with the 3rd Battalion (Toronto Regiment). Robert was 23 years old when he killed in action in Vlamertinghe, Belgium on April 23rd 1915. He was shot and killed instantly while fighting in the Second Battle of Ypres. Private Robert Norman Bittle is commemorated at the Menin Gate in Ypres.
Service number: 9775
“Canadian Virtual War Memorial: Robert Norman Bittle,” Veterans Affairs Canada, accessed March 15, 2015, http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/922214?Robert%20Norman%20Bittle
