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Lance Sergeant Joseph Spooner

By • On • In Commemoration

Joseph Spooner was born on May 22nd, 1870 in Bury Saint Edmunds, Suffolk, England. Joseph married Alice S. Franks and together they had nine children before immigrating to Canada in 1904, where they had their final child. Their children’s names were (in order of birth) George, Alice, William, Rose, Margaret, Florence, Arthur, Edward, James, and Wilbert. The family arrived in Canada on board the SS Lake Champlain on November 28th 1904, and they settled in Galt (Cambridge), Ontario. Joseph was a successful in real estate, and his children, many of whom were now in their late teens and early twenties worked as well to support the large family. Joseph also spent seven years with the 29th Waterloo Regiment as a Field Artillery Driver.

At 44 years old, Joseph joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force in late October 1914, a couple of months following the outbreak of the First World War. Joseph was promoted to Lance Sergeant of the 18th Battalion (Western Ontario) in Belgium. On November 14th, 1915 Lance Sergeant Joseph Spooner was killed in action and was later buried at Ridge Wood Military Cemetery. In February 1916 Joseph’s third eldest son Albert volunteered to join the Canadian Expeditionary Force at age 18. Albert was the only one of Joseph’s sons to enlist, and he returned home after the war ended.

Service number: 53878

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“Canadian Virtual War Memorial: Joseph Spooner,” Veterans Affairs Canada, accessed March 21, 2015, http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/443500?Joseph%20Spooner
“Ridge Wood Military Cemetery,” Commonwealth War Graves Commission, accessed March 21, 2015, http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/51100/RIDGE%20WOOD%20MILITARY%20CEMETERY

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Private Reginald Sears

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Reginald Sears was born on November 5th, 1889 to Thomas and Jennie Sears in Welland, Ontario. Reginald worked as a manufacturer in the Waterloo region. He was also a skilled horseman and was qualifying for a commission with the 2nd Dragoons, Brantford in 1915. Reginald did not volunteer to fight in 1914, but following the sinking of the Lusitania on May 7th 1915 he “threw up his commission” and enlisted. Reginald joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force on May 11th, 1915 as a Private in the 4th Regiment of the Canadian Mounted Rifles. Reginald fought in Belgium, but on December 4th, 1915 he was killed in action in the trenches at Ploegsteert. Private Reginald Sears was buried at Berks Cemetery Extension.

Service number: 109591

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“Canadian Virtual War Memorial: Reginald Sears,” Veterans Affairs Canada, accessed March 21, 2015, http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/107086?Reginald%20Sears

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Private John Gerbig

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John Gerbig was born on October 4th, 1887 in Berlin (Kitchener), Ontario to Conrad and Catherine Gerbig. John’s father worked as a night watchman at a local Sugar Factory. While John’s father Conrad was a Lutheran of German heritage, John’s mother Catherine was a Roman Catholic immigrant from Germany and she raised John and his older sister Ida in the Catholic Church. Ida married a man named Theodore Schmidt and they had a son named Gordon in 1908 and another named Roy in 1912. Following Catherine’s death, the family moved in with Ida and Theodore. John worked as a painter while Theodore worked as a machinist.

Just after his 27th birthday, on October 28th, 1914 John enlisted for the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Galt (Cambridge). He fought for the 18th Battalion as an infantry soldier in Belgium. Five days before Christmas in 1915 John was killed in action in Ridgewood. Private John Gerbig is buried at the Ridge Wood Military Cemetery West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

Service number: 53918

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“Ridge Wood Military Cemetery,” Commonwealth War Graves Commission, accessed March 21, 2015, http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/51100/RIDGE%20WOOD%20MILITARY%20CEMETERY

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Private Eric Carthy

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Eric Carthy was born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, England on March 13, 1896 to Joseph and Harriet Boothby Carthy. Eric and his older brother Percy immigrated to Canada in 1913 on board the SS Cymric. Eric had worked as a woodworker and lived at 39 Waterloo Street, Berlin (Kitchener).

At 18 years old Eric enlisted in February 1915 in Berlin, Ontario and joined the 18th Battalion, Canadian Infantry, Western Ontario Regiment. His older brother Percy joined a few months later. Eric went overseas in April 1915 and made it to the front on September 16, 1915. Eric was killed in action on Boxing Day, December 26th, 1915. Private Eric Carthy is buried at Ridge Wood Military Cemetery near Ypres, Belgium. The Royal Canadian Legion: Branch 50 also remembers him on the Wall of Remembrance. Percy was also killed in action nine months later in September 1916.

Service number: 54209

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“Canadian Virtual War Memorial: Eric Carthy,” Veterans Affairs Canada, accessed March 7, 2015, http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/443089?Eric%20Carthy
“Canadian Virtual War Memorial: Percy Carthy,” Veterans Affairs Canada, accessed March 7, 2015, http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/1566177?Percy%20Carthy
Source: A Book of Remembrance: Members of the Church of St. John the Evangelist, Kitchener, Ontario.