838501 Pte. William Milton Davis born on September 9th, 1897, in Flesherton, Ontario, the middle child of the three sons born to William and Mary Davis. Having been named after his father, William would be known by his middle name, Milton, to avoid confusion.
At the time of his attestation in Owen Sound, Milton was living and working on the family farm in Flesherton when hostilities broke out. Assigned to "A" Company under the command of Captain Corrie, Milton attested into the 147th Battalion on January 3rd, 1916.
Billeted locally over the winter the 147th Battalion mobilized in Owen Sound in the spring of 1916 and left for training at Camp Niagara. As the conditions in the Camp were wanting the unit moved to the new training facility of Camp Borden in late June. In September the unit received their orders to proceed overseas, but due to an outbreak of diphtheria they were detained in Amherst, Nova Scotia, for over a month. The unit finally sailed for Great Britain, aboard the S.S. Olympic on November 14th 1916.
On January 1st, 1917, the 147th Battalion ceased to exist when it became the nucleus for the 8th Reserve Battalion, whose task it was to supply reinforcements to the 58th Battalion and the 4th C.M.R.
February 17th, 1917, Milton was taken on strength of the 4th C.M.R. in the build-up for the Battle of Arras which included the storming of the Vimy Ridge by the Canadian Corps.
Milton saw service with the 4th C.M.R. through the summer of 1917, but was twice wounded: firstly, on September 7th, 1917, while serving in the front lines near Mericourt; then again on August 10th, 1918, during the Battle of Cambrai. His last wound appears to have been severe enough to knock Milton out of the war as he was struck off strength on September 25th, 1919, months after the 4th C.M.R. had returned to Canada for general demobilization.
Pte. William Milton Davis' service during the Great War is remembered on the back of the Flesherton Cenotaph, Ontario.
Biography and image credit: George Auer