Veteran's Stories
& Articles of History

Vincent enlisted  in Halifax on January 8th, 1917.  He was twenty years  old, gave his trade as butcher and his religion as Baptist. He was six feet tall and weighed one hundred and seventy-five pounds.  He sailed for England  and reached France on May 17th, 1917, joining No. 37 Canadian Forestry Company in La Jura.

Russell Miller enlisted in the No. 2 Construction Battalion in London, Ontario on September 20th, 1916.  On January 1st, 1917 he was docked thirty-four days pay for having been Absent Without Leave for twenty days in December.  On February 2nd he was transferred to No. 2 Ditching Company, but he sailed for England with his unit and landed in France on March 17th, 1917. 

Frank Blencowe Frank Blencowe was born in Oro, Simcoe County, Ontario on May 24 th , 1888. His father Thomas Blencowe, an Englishman who...

John was part of a contingent of 525 No. 2 Construction men that crossed the English Channel to France in mid-May 1917 and travelled to the Jura District of France for service with the Canadian Forestry Corps (CFC).

The registry of deaths for Queen’s County [Shelburne West] indicates that Arthur Farmer, ‘Soldier’ and cousin to Zachariah Farmer died on March 19th, 1919.  The cause of death was given by a coroner’s jury as ‘Accidental Shooting… Died Immediately.’   

Samuel Austin Williams was one of 495 No. 2 Construction soldiers who crossed the English Channel to Havre, France, on May 17, 1917. The party , with 11 officers travelled by train to France-Comte, near the Swiss border where they were assigned to No. 5 District which had established a large forestry operation  harvesting and processing timber in the Jura mountains.

Alexander Benjamin Elms with Brother Alexander Benjamin Elms was born in Big Tracadie, Guysborough County, on March 14, 1897, the son of...

931281 William Daring William Daring enlisted in No. 2 Construction Battalion on 18 September 1916, one of 15 residents of Shelburne....

On November 18th, 1918, one week after the Armistice, Private Carvery was given fourteen days F.P. No. 1 for refusing to work and using obsc

Private Belfield Elliott Hall (Service Number: 931342) was born in Barbados, British West Indies, and later joined the Canadian Army to...

Turner enlisted in the No. 2 Construction Battalion at Windsor, Nova Scotia, on October 28th, 1916. He was six feet tall and weighed one hun

Prescott Hilton Hamilton enlisted at Truro on December 30th, 1916. He was nineteen, five feet seven inches and a Methodist. He listed his m

He had served one year in the 8th Regiment, US Army, a Michigan unit. Private Binga left Canada on March 27th, 1917, with No. 2 CB and w

‘Garfield Parris’ enlisted On December 30th, 1916, at Truro, Nova Scotia. He was nineteen, five feet one inch tall and worked in a quarry.

No. 2 Construction Battalion was authorized on 5 July 1916, the largest Black unit in Canadian military history.

Walter Haley Modesty was born in Platt City, Missouri, USA in the 1870s. He arrived in Canada in the early 1900s and settled in Junkins...

He was a member of No 2 Construction Battalion Band and played the tuba. His wife’s brothers also enlisted in the Battalion.

Charlie Some Some people came so far only to have their hopes and dreams fade too suddenly. Charlie Some of No. 2 Construction Battalion...